C. Eugene Steuerle's Blog: The Government We Deserve, page 5

Charities Have Plenty of Opportunity to Advance Giving Despite Tax Law Losses

This column originally appeared in TaxVox. A longer version of this essay was first published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. By substantially cutting the number of taxpayers who will receive a charitable deduction, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has created an opportunity for charities to help redesign the tax subsidies that are so important to […]

Did the President and Congress “Give” Us a Tax Cut?

While Congress and the President credit themselves for giving us something, they really are transferring public resources to some of us from others. In aggregate and over time, we must pay for anything they claim to give.

The TCJA Will Create More Complexity for Taxpayers Than It Claims

This column originally appeared on TaxVox. Among the most complex provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is its special tax deduction for income earned by pass-through businesses. In an attempt to prevent the new tax break from turning into an unmitigated revenue loss for the Treasury, Congress created a set of complicated […]

Ten Wishes for the New Year

I wish… that presidents, Cabinet members, legislators, and other elected officials would be held to the same ethical standards and penalties for wrong-doing as entry-level civil servants; that Congress would attack sycophancy directly by slashing the number of political appointees and the larger number of would-be appointees who view it as the route to power; […]

How Congress Violates Its Own Goals for Tax Reform

Here are just a few examples of how either the House or Senate Finance Committee versions of the TCJA would move backward from stated goals of reform.

Why Tax Reform Flounders: The Case Of Doubling The Standard Deduction

This post originally appeared on TaxVox. Do you want to know why tax reform is so hard? Consider one seemingly simple idea that has been floated by President Trump and congressional Republicans in their Unified Framework: roughly doubling the standard deduction. The closer you look at this proposal, the more you see how complicated it […]

How to Design Tax Reform: 8 Lessons from 1986

This post originally appeared on Forbes. Saying that one is for tax reform doesn’t provide much information about what is being sought or how to do it. Potential options extend almost infinitely, as do amendments to any set of options. So how does one both focus and ensure that reform, proposed or enacted, serves the […]

Come The Flood, Who Should Pay To Help?

Why should we have to pay taxes when it appears almost nobody else does? But then there are those people suffering in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Tax Reform: Start with the Fundamentals

For the umpteenth time, Congress and the Trump Administration are going back to the tax reform drawing board, just as they have had to do for health reform. These policymakers could help themselves by recognizing that you can’t go back to a place you’ve never been.

Tax Reform Isn’t Just About Revenue but Health Insurance, Housing, and More

This post originally appeared on TaxVox. Taxes aren’t just about raising money for government. Policymakers engaging in tax reform must recognize how their decisions can disrupt markets for a wide range of economic activity, including healthcare, housing, and charitable giving. Some of those behavioral reactions may be secondary and unintended, but they can’t be ignored. […]