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The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections (Research Report)Author(s): Greg Leiserson,
Jeff RohalyThe individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) was originally enacted in 1969 to guarantee that high-income individuals paid at least a minimal amount of tax. Due to design flaw, however, the AMT threatens to grow from a footnote in the tax code to a major component affecting tens of millions of taxpayers every year. Absent a change in law, more than 30 million taxpayers will become subject to the AMT by 2010. This document presents and discusses updated estimates of AMT participation, revenue, and the distribution of AMT liability.
| Posted: November 10, 2006 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
Forum: Making Taxes and Welfare Work Together (Nov 7, 2006): Audio File (Audio Files / First Tuesdays)Author(s): The Urban InstituteRobert Lerman and Eugene Steuerle, Urban Institute; Iris Lav, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Jon Forman, University of Oklahoma; Janet Holtzblatt, U.S. Department of the Treasury debate combining dozens of uncoordinated tax and welfare programs into a comprehensive system of refundable tax credits. Jon Forman's new book, Making America Work provides the backdrop.
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[First Tuesdays Audio File]
| Posted: November 07, 2006 | Availability: HTML |
Should we subsidize work? Welfare reform, the earned income tax credit and optimal transfers (Research Report)Author(s): Gregory Acs,
Eric ToderDuring the 1990s, US income-transfer and tax policies shifted towards trying to encourage work among low-income families. Optimal tax theory, however, suggests that work subsidies are usually an inefficient way to raise the incomes of poor families unless the work effort of recipients has external benefits and/or taxpayer/voters prefer redistributing income to the working poor rather than the idle poor. This paper discusses the conditions under which work subsidies may be economically efficient and assesses empirical evidence suggesting that welfare reform and expansions of the EITC have increased work effort among low income families, but is inconclusive about whether the policy shift has enabled them to advance beyond entry-level jobs or benefited their children.
| Posted: October 30, 2006 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
Working for a Good Retirement (Series/Older Americans' Economic Security)Author(s): Barbara Butrica,
Karen E. Smith,
C. Eugene Steuerle(Brief) Workers who delay retirement can save more and contribute more to the economy. Using the Urban Institute's Dynamic Simulation of Income model (DYNASIM3), this brief shows that someone who works an extra five years could increase retirement spending by more than half. Also, work-inducing reforms—rather than reforms that simply reduce benefits—help close the Social Security funding gap.
| Posted: October 26, 2006 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
