Congressman Rangel's Tax Bill Would Make the Tax Code Simpler, More Progressive, and the Changes Are All Paid For
House Ways and Means Chairman Charles
Rangel introduced his proposal Thursday
to address the Alternative Minimum Tax and simplify the tax code
without increasing the federal budget deficit. One title of the bill
would address the income tax for individuals, including the AMT reform
which would be paid for by reducing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest
Americans and closing some unfair loopholes that benefit the very
richest taxpayers. The other title of the bill would simplify the
corporate tax by trading a lower corporate tax rate for the elimination
of some inefficient loopholes. Lawmakers may
take some of the provisions, such as a one-year fix for the AMT,
and pass them more quickly as a separate, smaller bill.
Individual Income Taxes Would Be Simpler and More Progressive
Several Republican lawmakers demand that Congress repeal the AMT without replacing the revenue because it was never "intended" to be collected. This is nonsense, because the Bush Administration very intentionally declined to address the AMT when it passed tax cuts. The President's most recent budget assumes that the AMT will, in fact, expand its reach to millions of families after 2007.
Congressman Rangel's bill includes a "patch" for the AMT for this year and then repeals it altogether. The revenue is replaced largely with a surtax on families with incomes over $200,000. These families have benefited the most from the Bush tax cuts. Nearly half of the benefits from the Bush tax cuts flow to the richest five percent of taxpayers, whose income is above $170,000. In 2010 well over half of the benefits will flow to this group if the Bush tax breaks are not repealed. So Congressman Rangel's bill would reduce the bonanza of tax cuts enjoyed by this elite group of families to help pay for AMT relief for families who are somewhat more likely to be middle-class.
In addition, the bill would eliminate the loophole for "carried interest" as many advocates have urged because it allows wealthy fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than middle-income people.
Congressman Rangel's bill also includes important improvements in the Child Tax Credit and the EITC for childless workers. The Child Tax Credit is currently structured so that the poorest families cannot benefit from it, while the EITC for childless workers is currently so low that childless workers can live in poverty and still pay federal income taxes, in addition to federal payroll taxes.
Corporate Taxes Would Be Simpler and More Efficient
The bill reduces the corporate rate from the current 35 percent to 30.5 percent and replaces the revenue lost from this change by eliminating certain loopholes. Corporations should consider themselves lucky to be offered this lower rate. CTJ has argued recently that Congress should close corporate tax loopholes and not lower the corporate rate but instead use the new revenue for deficit-reduction or to address the many needs this country faces right now.
It's often said that the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent is among the highest in the world, but really the effective rate is much lower because of the loopholes that corporations use to lower their taxes. The United States collects less in corporate taxes as a percentage of GDP than all but two OECD countries. In other words, corporations should be thankful they're being offered any tax breaks at all.
Wisely, the bill includes changes to offset the costs of the rate reduction. These include eliminating several existing tax provisions, including a tax subsidy for manufacturers, an accounting method that allows oil companies to understate their profits, and another provision that encourages companies to move operations offshore.
Republicans Defend Government Interference in the Economy Through the Tax Code, Defend Complexity in the Tax Code
Republicans in Congress have placed themselves in the strange position of defending a system that taxes some millionaires at lower rates than middle-class families, defending a tax system that provides subsidies to certain businesses at the expense of the rest of the taxpayers, and defending the complexity in a tax code that causes business decisions to be made for tax reasons rather than economic ones. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson went so far as to say (subscription required) "The corporate proposals will hurt the ability of our businesses and workers to compete in a global economy." This is despite the fact that closing loopholes to pay for a lower tax rate is an idea that he and others in the Bush administration proposed during the summer.
State Tax Justice News
TABOR Alert: South Carolina
As we noted in last week's Digest, South Carolina will likely face a budget deficit of roughly $430 million in the coming fiscal year. Predictably, this has prompted some, including Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, to call for a constitutional amendment to limit state spending. Similar proposals have been offered before in South Carolina and in other states. The only such limitation that has passed in any state is Colorado's so-called "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" or TABOR. The result for Colorado has been a dramatic deterioration in essential public services and the state chose to suspend that limitation in 2005.
More to the point, as Cindi Ross Scoppe of The State points out, South Carolina's real problem is not runaway spending, but a deeply flawed tax system. Among the tax policy challenges that South Carolina must address are limitations on property tax growth and property tax assessments, wasteful tax breaks for profitable corporations like Michelin, and an excessive reliance on a sales tax that fails to tax services adequately. ITEP's Issue Briefs can help to explain the shortcomings of South Carolina's approach to property and sales taxation - and what can be done about them.
More Misguided Tax Cuts Aimed at Senior Property-Owners
Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal recently proposed a constitutional amendment for his state as well, offering a plan to cut property taxes for the elderly. An amendment is necessary as Wyoming's constitution requires that all property be assigned its full value for tax purposes in one of three classes - mineral, industrial, and personal. More specifically, the Governor's plan would exempt one half of the fair market value of an elderly taxpayer's residence from taxation, up to $100,000, resulting in an average tax cut of $638 for senior property owners and in an annual revenue loss of $15 to $18 million.
Given that Wyoming already has two means-tested property tax relief programs - one targeted to the elderly and another for all taxpayers - and a third not presently funded by the legislature, one could legitimately ask whether the goal of alleviating property taxes for those least able to pay them would be best accomplished through the Governor's amendment. Reed Eckhart of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle poses that question and others in his recent column, arguing for all Wyomingites to contribute to public structures like schools and roads.
If It Sounds Too Good...
This week, taxpayers in Indiana will read promising headlines like, "Daniels announces property-tax plan" and assume that their angst about the property tax will disappear. But one doesn't have to read very far to know that Governor Daniels' proposal is an empty promise for low-and middle-income taxpayers. He is proposing $1 billion in property tax relief by 2009, but the relief comes at a steep price in the form of raising the state sales tax by 1 percent and capping homeowner property taxes at 1 percent of assessed value. Property tax caps are a long proven foe for taxpayers with less ability to pay. For more on property tax caps check out ITEP's policy brief.
Wisconsin Lawmakers Finally Make it to the Finish Line
At long last, the Wisconsin legislature approved a two-year $57.2 billion budget. The agreement comes 4 months after the budget deadline and is expected to be signed by the Governor Friday. A hospital tax and taxes on oil companies didn't make it into the final bill. But the bill did include a cigarette tax increase that will raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 77-cents to $1.77. The bill also includes additional school aid for low-income districts and children's health insurance expansion and eliminates the tax on Social Security benefits.
Wisconsinites may be relieved that the budget impasse is over. Advocates for tax fairness will find the budget compromise lacking. However, advocates seem pleased with the overall spending priorities set forth in the new budget. For more read this statement from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.
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