TPC Tax Topics | Tax Topics

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The Tax Policy Center offers a broad range of explanatory and analytical publications, distributional and revenue estimates, and background information on the nation’s most pressing tax issues.

General Resources

Guide to TPC Tables
Helpful links to find tables relating to a variety of topics.
TPC Calculators
TPC’s calculators let you see how current tax policy affects real families and how various policy changes would affect the taxes we pay.
State and Local Finances Data Query System
Create your own tables with our state and local finance data query system (SLF-DQS) and find information on revenue collections and spending of state and local governments
Tax Encyclopedia Index
Links to select entries on key tax concepts from the NTA Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy

Tax Policy and Charities Project
The Tax Policy and Charities project analyzes the many interactions between the tax system and the charitable sector, with special emphasis on ongoing fiscal debates at both the federal and state levels.
Tax Policy Briefing Book: A Citizens' Guide for the 2008 Election and Beyond
Information on tax and budget topics in Q&A format

Resources on the Tax Policy Center's Microsimulation Model

The following pages provide material that may aid in the interpretation and understanding of Tax Policy Center estimates.

Brief description of the tax model
An abbreviated explanation of the Tax Policy Center's tax simulation model.
Tax model documentation
A detailed description of how the Tax Policy Center's tax simulation model works, including discussion of the underlying data and the model's tax calculator.
Explanation of the use of distribution tables
Definitions of various statistics reported in the distribution tables and how to interpret them.
Explanation of income measures
Detailed definition of the income measure used in distribution tables.

Explanation of baselines
Detailed definitions of TPC's current law and current policy baselines.
Income breaks for distribution tables
Income levels that define different percentile ranges of the income distribution for all years covered by the tables, with ranges provided for three income measures: cash income, economic income, and adjusted gross income (AGI).
Interpreting dividend relief estimates
The Tax Policy Center's method for calculating estimates of the tax relief afforded by the 2003 tax cuts and recommendations for how those estimates should be interpreted.
FAQ
Answers to common questions about the Tax Policy Center's tax simulation model, the estimates it generates, and the organization of tables in the Center's database.

Tax Topics

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
Revenue and distributional effects of the current AMT with analysis of reform alternatives
Business Income
TPC resources discussing taxation of business income
Current Law Distribution of Taxes
Who pays federal taxes under current law, grouped by cash income level and percentile income rank
Education Tax Incentives
TPC papers exploring the history of subsidizing higher education
Estate and Gift Taxes
All you ever wanted to know about the tax people are dying to pay
Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts
The effects on taxpayers of the expiration or extension of the 2001-2003 Tax Cuts
Fiscal Crisis
The 2009 federal deficit totaled $1.4 trillion, nearly 10 percent of GDP, the highest since World War II.
Health Insurance Tax Incentives
Who has and who lacks health insurance coverage and analysis of reform alternatives

Homeownership
Homeowners benefit from deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes to temporary tax credits for homebuyers
Marriage Penalties
How and why marriage penalties occur and attempts at marriage penalty relief
Payroll Taxes
An overview of payroll taxes with links to additional statistics and publications
Retirement Saving
How and where workers save for retirement
Tax Expenditures
TPC resources discussing tax expenditures
Who Doesn't Pay Federal Tax?
Which tax units don't pay income and payroll taxes.
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
A tax on the sales of goods and services to consumers.
Working Families
Papers examining various federal tax policies to help working families
Fiscal Cliff
TPC's analysis of tax increases scheduled for 2013, including effects on revenue, distribution, and marginal tax rates.

Legislation and Tax Reform Proposals

The American Jobs Act of 2011
TPC's estimates of the distributional effects of tax cuts and revenue offsets for President Obama's proposal to reduce unemployment.
2010 Compromise Tax Agreement
Distributional analysis of the tax provisions in the compromise agreement between President Obama and Congressional Republicans
Distribution of the 2001-2008 Tax Cuts
How tax cuts since 2001 have affected taxpayers, grouped by cash income categories and percentile income rank

2009 Economic Stimulus
The TPC analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009
Tax Reform Proposals
Resources related to tax reform proposals.
Senate Proposals to Extend the 2001-2010 Tax Cuts
TPC's estimates of the distributional effects of Senate Democratic and Republican proposals to extend the tax cuts. Includes a summary of JCT revenue estimates.

Presidential Elections and Transitions

2012 Election
- 2012 Candidates' Tax Plans
  Analysis of the tax plans proposed by the 2012 presidential and vice-presidential candidates
- 2012 Candidates' Tax Returns
  An interactive infographic comparing the 2012 presidential candidates' tax returns.

2008 Election
- 2008 Candidates' Tax Plan
  Comparison of the tax proposals of the 2008 Presidential Candidates
- 2008 Presidential Transition
  Description and analysis of President-elect Barack Obama's tax proposals

Federal Budgets

Federal Budget
Descriptive information about the current budget situation, historical statistics, and examination of long-run budgetary issues

President's Budget Proposals
TPC guide to the President's current as well as older budget proposals