Tax Policy Center

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The Tax Policy Center (TPC) is a non-partisan joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Based in Washington D.C., TPC aims to provide independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues and to communicate its analyses to the public and to policymakers in a timely and accessible manner. The Center combines top national experts in tax, expenditure, budget policy, and microsimulation modeling to concentrate on four overarching areas of tax policy that are critical to future debate: fair, simple and efficient taxation, social policy in the tax code, long-term implications of tax and budget choices, and state tax issues.

Contents

[edit] History

In 2002, tax experts who had served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton administrations established the Tax Policy Center to provide unbiased analysis of tax issues. The following year TPC developed a comprehensive tax simulation model to analyze the federal income tax and proposals to change it. That model has evolved to incorporate new and additional data, changes in federal tax law, and other aspects of the tax system and the economy.

[edit] Staff and Expertise

The center is currently headed by Director Len Burman, an institute fellow at the Urban Institute, former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, and former senior analyst for the Congressional Budget Office. Co-directors are William Gale, Vice President and Director of the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and Rosanne Altshuler, senior fellow at the Urban Institute. The Center's TaxVox blog is spearheaded by nationally recognized tax correspondent Howard Gleckman.[1]

[edit] Current Analyses

TPC publications examine the impacts of a variety of tax issues. A recent report outlines the presidential candidates’ tax proposals and analyzes their distributional and revenue impacts.[2] Other studies have examined the 2001-2006 tax cuts,[3] the alternative minimum tax,[4] the impact of tax provisions on low-income families,[5][6] [7] and tax incentives for education.[8] An extensive collection of tables provides estimates of the impact of current taxes as well as the implications of proposals to change tax law.

TPC experts testify frequently before Congress regarding tax and health care reforms.[9] [10] [11] TaxVox, the TPC blog, discusses current tax and budget issues.[12] The Tax Policy Briefing Book is an on-line collection of short articles that explain a broad range of important tax issues.[13] Entries offer background information, describe key elements of the tax system, propose changes to improve the tax system, and provide information on state and local tax policy. The center has also collected a wide variety of data tables in "Tax Facts," which cover many aspects of the U.S. tax system, ranging from tax rates and revenues collected to changes over time in state and local tax collections. TPC’s State and Local Finance Data Query System (SLF-DQS) provides tools with which users can create their own tables related to state and local finances based on data from the Census of Governments State and Local Finance series.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tax Policy Center Staff page
  2. ^ "An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans: Updated September 12, 2008" by Leonard E. Burman, Surachai Khitatrakun, Greg Leiserson, Jeff Rohaly, Eric Toder, and Roberton Williams
  3. ^ "Distribution of the 2001-2006 Tax Cuts" by Greg Leiserson and Jeff Rohaly
  4. ^ "The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections"by Greg Leiserson and Jeff Rohaly
  5. ^ "Refundable Credits Have Cut Taxes for Low-Income Households" by Roberton Williams
  6. ^ "Reforming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit"by Jeff Rohaly
  7. ^ "Eligibility for Child Tax Credit by Age of Child" by Leonard E. Burman and Laura Wheaton
  8. ^ "Subsidizing Higher Education Through Tax and Spending Programs" by Elaine Maag, David Mundel, Lois Rice, and Kim Rueben
  9. ^ "Tax Reform and Taxation of Small Business: Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance"June 5, 2008. Eric Toder
  10. ^ "Individual Taxpayers and Federal Tax Reform: Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance" May 14, 2008. William Gale
  11. ^ "A Blueprint for Tax Reform and Health Reform: Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance" May 13, 2008. Leonard E. Burman
  12. ^ TaxVox
  13. ^ The Tax Policy Briefing Book, A Citizens' Guide for the 2008 Election and Beyond

[edit] External links

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