Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Think Tank Reports
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Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Estate Tax
The Heritage Foundation has published Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Death Tax, by William W. Beach: The House and Senate may soon begin debate on what to do with the federal estate tax. If Congress fails to act before January 1, 2010, current law calls for death taxes to disappear entirely…
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CBPP Criticizes Berkley Estate Tax Bill (H.R. 3905)
The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities has published Berkley Estate Tax Bill Would Add Billions to Deficit While Benefiting Only Wealthiest 1 in 500 Estates: A new estate tax bill introduced by Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and others would cost $119 billion more over the first decade (2012-2021) than extending the tax under its…
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U.S. Is #1 Tax Haven Country
The U.K.-based Tax Justice Network has issued its first-ever Financial Secrecy Index, a ranking of tax haven jurisdictions. The #1 tax haven is the United States. Here are the Top 10: United States (Delaware) Luxembourg Switzerland Cayman Islands United Kingdom (London) Ireland Bermuda Singapore Belgium Hong Kong Press and blogosphere coverage: ABC News Financial Times The Guardian…
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A 95.2% Income Tax Rate?
The Tax Foundation computes the income tax rates necessary to close the deficit:
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The Incredible Shrinking Estate Tax
Tax Vox, The Incredible Shrinking Estate Tax, by Bob Williams (Tax Policy Center): The estate tax is only a faint shadow of its former self. In 2009, less than one-quarter of one percent of deaths—just 5,500 decedents—will leave taxable estates, the smallest percentage since at least the Great Depression. … So what’s next? The share…
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State Tax Revenues Plummet 16.3%
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that state tax revenues continue to decline at a record rate, down 16.3% in the second quarter of 2009. Personal income tax revenues declined 27.5% and sales tax revenues declined 9.5% — the steepest declines since 1963. Combined state and local tax revenues declined 12.2% (again the steepest decline since 1963). State Tax Revenues…
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State & Local Sales Tax Rates
The Tax Foundation has released Updated Combined State and Local Sales Tax Rates. Here are the ten states with the highest and lowest rates: 1 Tennessee 9.41% 41 Wisconsin 5.42% 2 California 9.06% 42 Wyoming 5.38% 3 Washington 8.78% 43 Maine 5.00% 4 Oklahoma 8.44% Virginia 5.00% 5 Louisiana 8.43% 45 Hawaii 4.38% 6…
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State & Local Tax Revenues by Source
The Tax Foundation has examined newly-released Census data to explain Where Do State and Local Governments Get Their Tax Revenue? The report breaks down state and local tax revenues by six sources for each state (as well as for the U.S. average): General Sales Taxes Selective Sales Taxes (e.g., taxes on gasoline, alcohol, and cigarettes) Property…
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TPC Hosts Panel Discussion Today on The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Corporate Tax Rates
The Tax Policy Center hosts a panel discussion today on Easier Said Than Done: The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Corporate Tax Rates: The U.S. imposes a higher statutory tax rate on corporations than any of our trading partners except Japan. To level the playing field, President Obama has suggested cutting the corporate rate while raising the…
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The AMT: Historical Data and Projections
Katherine Lim & Jeffrey Rohaly have posted The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections on the Tax Policy Center website. Here is the abstract: The AMT, which originally targeted high-income taxpayers, requires annual legislation to prevent it from affecting millions of middle-income individuals each year. There are two primary reasons for the AMT's…
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For Whom Do The 47% Who Pay No Income Tax Vote?
Following up on last week's post, 47% Will Pay $0 Income Tax in 2009: this chart breaks down the 2008 presidential election by income:
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Sin Taxes: Congress’s Latest Vice
The Heritage Foundation has published Sin Taxes on Soda, Alcohol, and Cigarettes: Congress's Latest Vice, by Curtis S. Dubay. Here is the abstract: So-called "sin taxes" are fashionable in Congress because they fall on unpopular behaviors and activities. This makes them easier to increase than other taxes and a politically convenient funding mechanism for expansion…
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CBPP: Debt as % of GDP, 1940-2050
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released Updated Long-Term Fiscal Deficit and Debt Projections:
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47% Will Pay $0 Income Tax in 2009
CNN, 47% Will Pay No Federal Income Tax: In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable tax breaks. Update: For…
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50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Tax/Median Home Value
Following up on last week's post, 50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Taxes Paid: several readers commented that they would like to see a 50 state ranking of median real estate taxes paid as a percentge of median home values. From the Tax Foundation [click on chart to enlarge]:
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CTJ: Six Progressive Tax Options to Finance Health Care Reform
Citizens for Tax Justice has released Review and Comparison of Six Progressive Options to Finance Health Care Reform: This report compares the revenue impact and distributional effects of six progressive revenue measures that have been discussed by members of Congress in recent months as options for financing health care reform. Several of the revenue measures…
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2010 State Business Tax Climate Index
The Tax Foundation has published its 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, which ranks the fifty states according to five indices: corporate tax, individual income tax, sales tax, unemployment insurance tax, and property tax. Here are the ten states with the best and worst business tax climates: 1 South Dakota 41 Vermont 2 Wyoming 42…
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50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Taxes Paid
The Tax Foundation has published New Census Data on Property Taxes on Homeowners, by Gerald Prante: Rank State Median Tax 1 New Jersey $6,320 2 Connecticut $4,603 3 New Hampshire $4,501 4 New York $3,622 5 Rhode Island $3,534 6 Massachusetts $3,406 7 Illinois $3,384 8 Vermont $3,281 9 Wisconsin $2,963 10 California $2,829 41…
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Tax Foundation: NY’s ‘Amazon Tax’ Is Unconstitutional and Unwise
The Tax Foundation today released a new report, "Amazon Tax" Unconstitutional and Unwise: On September 9, 2009, the Tax Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief ("friend of the court") in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, in the case of Amazon.com, LLC v. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, No.…
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Fact-Checking the Tax Treatment of Cash for Clunkers
Following up on my previous posts: Tax Clunkers (Aug. 26, 2009) Tax for Clunkers (Continued) (Aug. 28, 2009) FactCheck.org asks "Clunkers" Credits Taxable?: Q: Will the "Cash for Clunkers" credits be taxed as income for consumers who participated in the program? A: The act establishing the program prohibits the credit from being treated as income for…
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CBPB: Income Concentration Is at Highest Level Since 1928
Following up on last month's post, Saez — New Income Concentration Data: the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities today released Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion; Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows, by Avi Feller & Chad Stone: …
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CTJ: Bush Tax Cuts Cost 2.5x Health Care Reform
Citizens for Tax Justice has published The Bush Tax Cuts Cost Two and a Half Times as Much as the House Democrats’ Health Care Proposal: Newly revised estimates from Citizens for Tax Justice show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010). Preliminary estimates from…
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Sales Tax Holidays: Politically Expedient but Poor Tax Policy
The Tax Foundation has released Sales Tax Holidays: Politically Expedient but Poor Tax Policy, by Mark Robyn, Micah Cohen and Joseph Henchman. Here is the Executive Summary: Sales tax holidays are periods of time when selected goods are exempted from state (and sometimes local) sales taxes. Such holidays have become an annual event in many…
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AMT by State, 2007
Carol Rosenberg, AMT Coverage by State, 2007 (Aug. 3, 2009): The map below shows the proportion of taxpayers paying AMT in each state in 2007. In two-thirds of the states, less than 3.5% of taxpayers were subject to the AMT, but in New Jersey 8.7% of taxpayers paid AMT, and 7.7% owed AMT in neighboring…
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The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12
The Tax Policy Center has published The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12, by Rachel M. Johnson & Jeff Rohaly: Overall, the federal tax system is progressive: on average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income. Under current law, our tax laws will change markedly in each of the next…