Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Think Tank Reports
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Was Warren Buffett Right? Do Workers Pay a Higher Tax Rate Than Their Bosses?
Tax Vox Blog, Was Buffett Right? Do Workers Pay More Tax than Their Bosses?, by Roberton Williams: When Warren Buffett called for higher taxes on the wealthy in a New York Times op-ed last week, the billionaire investor argued that he and wealthy people like him face lower federal rates than the rest of us.…
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CTJ: The WSJ on ‘Millionaires Go Missing’
Following up on last week’s post, WSJ: The Number of Millionaires Has Dropped 39% in Two Years: Citizens for Tax Justice, WSJ Accidentally Admits that ‘Millionaires Go Missing’ Because of Economy, Not Taxes: We couldn’t help but laugh when we saw the title of last week’s Wall Street Journal editorial. For those of you that…
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Rick Perry, Texas, and Taxes
TaxVox Blog, Rick Perry, Texas, and Taxes, by Howard Gleckman: Texas Governor Rick Perry, the latest entrant in the GOP presidential sweepstakes, swaggers into the race as the very personification of a low-tax, small-government, Lone Star politician. But his record on taxes over more than two decades as a legislator and governor turns out to…
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CBPP Tax Reports
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published: 5 Reasons Why the “Supercommittee” Must Consider Tax Increases: President Bush’s tax cuts are a significant contributor to projected deficits Higher-income people can and should share in the sacrifices needed to reduce long-term deficits Taxes are low both in historical terms and in comparison with other…
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An International Perspective on the Role of Taxes in Deficit and Debt Reduction
The Tax Foundation has released The Proper Role of Taxes in Deficit and Debt Reduction, by David S. Logan: The White House and Congress are currently embroiled in debate concerning how to best reduce the nation’s deficit and debt. Similar international experiences provide evidence of what the most effective methods have historically been. These methods…
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Corporate America Untaxed: Tax Avoidance on the Rise
The Greenlining Institute yesterday released Corporate America Untaxed: Tax Avoidance on the Rise. Here is the Executive Summary: In 2010, U.S. corporations avoided approximately $60 billion in U.S. corporate income taxes by using a variety of devices and gimmicks to shift profits to foreign subsidiaries, while the Fortune 100 companies received some $89.6 billion in…
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Pew: Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics
The Pew Research Center has released Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics: The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009. These lopsided wealth ratios…
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TPC Hosts Program Today on Rethinking the Mortgage Interest Deduction
The Tax Policy Center hosts a lunchtime program today on Rethinking the Mortgage Interest Deduction at noon EST (webcast): The mortgage interest deduction has long been one of the sacred cows of tax policy. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, however, many observers have begun to wonder whether the time has finally come for…
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TPC: Why Do 46% of Americans Pay No Federal Income Tax?
The Tax Policy Center today released Why Some Tax Units Pay No Income Tax, as explained in Why Do People Pay No Federal Income Tax?: Much has been made of TPC’s estimate that fully 46% of Americans will pay no federal individual income tax this year. Commentators have often misinterpreted that percentage as indicating that…
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Tax Aspects of the ‘Gang of Six’ Deficit-Reduction Plan
David Miller (Cadwalader, New York), Tax Aspects of the "Gang of Six" Plan to Reduce the Deficit Daniel Shaviro (NYU), I Am Not Thrilled by the "Gang of Six" Tax Plan TaxProf Blog, The Gang of Six's Tax Cut-Tax Increase Flimflam Bloomberg, Obstacle Course Awaits Congress in Quest for Simpler Tax Code Center on Budget…
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Pew Launches Tax Expenditure Database
Following up on my January post: the Pew Economic Policy Group today launches the full version of its Tax Expenditure Database: Pew’s Subsidyscope presents a first-of-its-kind database of federal tax expenditure estimates from the Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). The database allows users to easily view specific tax expenditures…
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Burman: Should We Care About Rising Income Inequality?
Leonard Burman (Syracuse University, Maxwell School) discusses the above chart in Should We Care About Rising Income Inequality?
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CTJ: U.S. Is Third Least Taxed Developed Country
Citizens for Tax Justice, U.S. Is One of the Least Taxed Developed Countries; Revenue Increase the Obvious Answer to Deficit Impasse: Some members of Congress are threatening to allow the U.S. to default on its debt obligations— and send financial markets into a tailspin — unless the President agrees to large, sudden cuts in the…
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Tax Reform and Tax Expenditures
National Affairs. Sepnding in Disguise, by Donald P. Marron (Tax Policy Center): The argument over how to close that gap is often dominated — sometimes debilitated — by sharp disagreements about how much should come from spending cuts and how much from tax increases. But that division can be misleading. A great deal of government…
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CBPP Opposes Repatriation Tax Holiday
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities yesterday released Tax Holiday for Overseas Corporate Profits Would Increase Deficits, Fail to Boost the Economy, and Ultimately Shift More Investment and Jobs Overseas: [A] recent study by Northwestern University law professor Thomas J. Brennan strongly suggests that firms, anticipating a second holiday, have already aggressively shifted profits overseas. Analyzing…
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The Shelf Project Goes to Washington, D.C.
University of Texas School of Law Alumni Magazine, Professor Calvin Johnson’s Shelf Project Seeks to Provide Congress with Efficient Revenue Options: Calvin Johnson has fifty ways to raise $1 trillion in taxes without raising rates, and he wants to convince Congress to adopt them. Now, he may get his chance. Johnson, the Andrews & Kurth…
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The 2010 Tax Deal as Groundwork for Tax Reform
Curtis S. Dubay (Heritage Foundation) has published The 2010 Tax Deal: A Chance for Congress to Lay the Groundwork for Tax Reform. Here is the abstract: The 2010 Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act—which extended the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for two years—also extended the lifespan of other policies that will not…
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GAO: IRS Needs Better Data on Abusive Tax Transactions
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions: IRS Needs Better Data to Inform Decisions About Transactions (GAO-11-493): Abusive tax avoidance transactions (ATAT) range from frivolous tax schemes to highly technical and abusive tax shelters marketed to taxpayers by promoters selling tax advice. ATATs threaten the U.S. tax system’s integrity if honest taxpayers believe that others…
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The Top Tax Rate on Corporate Profits, 1913-2011
Jim Nunns (Tax Policy Center) has published The Top Total Income Tax Rate on Corporate Profits, 1913-2011, 131 Tax Notes 1081 (June 6, 2011): Corporate profits are taxed under both the corporate and individual income taxes. The total income tax rate on corporate profits therefore depends on the corporate rate and the individual rates on dividends…
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CBPP: Let’s Return to 2009 Estate Tax Law in 2013
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released New Estate Tax Rules Should Expire After 2012: Shrinking the Tax Beyond the 2009 Level Is Unaffordable and Unnecessary: The tax-cut compromise enacted in December established estate tax rules for 2011 and 2012 that are considerably weaker than those in effect in 2009, the last year…
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CBPP: Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes: A recent finding by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation that 51% of households owed no federal income tax in 2009 is being used to advance the argument that low- and moderate-income families do not pay sufficient taxes. Apart from…
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State Tax Revenues Surge 9.1%
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that state tax revenues surged 9.1% in the first quarter of 2011, the fasted rate of growth in five years. Here are the ten states with the biggest and smallest tax revenue gains: 1 North Dakota 39.4% 2 Illinois 22.2% 3 Delaware 20.7% 4 North Carolina 20.3% 5 Oregon…
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The Economic Value of College Majors
The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has released What’s It Worth: The Economic Value of College Majors: [T]his first-time research demonstrates just how critical the choice of major is to a student‟s median earnings. While there is a lot of variation in earnings over a lifetime, the authors find that all undergraduate…
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Flip It to Fix It: Inverting State Tax Structures to Increase Progressivity
United for a Fair Economy today released Flip It to Fix It: An Immediate, Fair Solution to State Budget Shortfalls. Here is part of the Executive Summary: At the core of the budget crises facing states are regressive state tax structures (comprised of the major state and local taxes) that are unfair, unsound, and unsustainable…
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The Heritage Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity
The Heritage Foundation has released Saving the American Dream: The Heritage Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity. Here is the summary of the tax component of the plan: The existing tax system is manifestly indefensible, especially in its complexity and its drain on economic vitality. The complexity of the tax system…