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Tax Cuts & the IRS blog
Divided government gave us welfare reform and a balanced budgetWith Democrats set to run both chambers and Trump in the White House, the record of divided government shows which deals are possible and what they cost.Republican tax cuts side by side, from Harding all the way to TrumpEach Republican tax cut had its own design and result. A table of top rates and a hard look at the claim that cuts pay for themselves keep both sides honest.Do churches pay taxes? Eleven questions about churches and the tax manStraight answers on church property and income tax, the Johnson Amendment, the parsonage allowance, Form 990, IRS audits and the best case against exemption.How Proposition 13 Started the Tax Revolt That Reshaped the GOPA 1978 California ballot measure capped property taxes and turned a local grievance into a national movement; here is how it worked and what it did.Does your giving change your tax bill? A worksheet for church familiesA step-by-step worksheet to test whether gifts to church and charity lower your taxes, with worked examples, the bunching trick and where to find real numbers.Four Farm Families, Four Ways to Hand the Land to the Next GenerationPassing on a farm is about fairness among heirs as much as taxes. Four hypothetical households show the trade-offs, with the arithmetic.Jack Kemp argued that growth could win the war on povertyKemp took supply-side economics into neighborhoods Republicans had written off, and his agenda still deserves a hearing.Does Your Farm Owe Estate Tax? A Worksheet You Can Run at the Kitchen TableMost farm families owe no estate tax, but land-rich, cash-poor operations can. A step-by-step worksheet with a labelled hypothetical example.The child tax credit from $400 to $2,000, told bill by billA dated timeline of the child tax credit, from a 1994 Republican promise to $2,000 in 2017, with refundable and nonrefundable credits explained.Answering the Charge That Conservatives Only Care About the RichThe charge deserves a fair hearing and a numbered answer, from the EITC to welfare reform to school choice, plus where the evidence is mixed.Why your raise feels smaller than the number your boss pays outEvery job has two prices: what the employer pays and what you take home. How payroll taxes, mandates and a health-insurance tax rule build the gap.Why the National Firearms Act of 1934 taxed guns instead of banning themCongress wanted to curb machine guns but doubted it could ban them, so it reached for the taxing power. Gangland, a $200 stamp, Sonzinsky, Miller and Heller.Seven myths about Reagan's economy that both sides still repeatReagan's economic record is better and messier than the slogans on either side, and Republicans argue best when they know the difference.The Mellon Tax Cuts of the 1920s and What Happened to RevenueThe 1920s tax cuts are the oldest test case for the idea that lower rates can grow the economy. Here is the law, the logic and the best critique.The new employer's checklist for the first year of payroll and taxesA grouped checklist for the first hire, with the reason behind every item, from the EIN to the W-2, plus payroll arithmetic worked on a hypothetical employee.Four families, one tax change, and how a deduction differs from a creditThe same thousand-dollar tax break helps four hypothetical households by very different amounts, depending on whether it is a deduction or a credit.Your big tax refund is a loan you made to the government for freeA large refund means you overpaid all year and Washington held your money without interest. How withholding began, how the W-4 controls it, and what to do.Walking through Form 1040 from the first line to the refundA step-by-step walk through the 1040 in the order the decisions come, with what to expect at each and where to find this year's thresholds.A paycheck worksheet that shows where every dollar of your pay goesWork through one hypothetical $1,000 paycheck line by line, from Social Security and Medicare to withholding, then add the employer's half.Kennedy cut tax rates too, and what the 1964 law provesA Democratic President proposed cutting the top tax rate from 91 to 70 percent. Here is the 1964 story, its honest caveats, and how to use it at the table.Silent Cal said little and ran one of the loudest budget records in historyCoolidge made restraint a governing philosophy, from the Boston police strike to the federal ledger. His record deserves praise and an honest critique.The Laffer curve explained, and the claim it never actually madeThe Laffer curve says a revenue peak sits between 0 and 100 percent. It never said every tax cut pays for itself. Here is the honest version and how to use it.Five changes in the 2017 tax law that reached the kitchen tableJudge the 2017 law one change at a time: the standard deduction, child credit, corporate rate, pass-through deduction and SALT cap, with the critics' best case.The 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and why they came with an expiration dateA Senate rule forced two big tax cuts to expire, and that rule explains a decade of cliff fights. Here is how the reconciliation trap works.The 1986 tax reform that lowered rates by closing loopholesReagan and a Democratic House traded a 28 percent top rate for a wider base. Here is how the bargain worked, why it frayed, and what a copy would need.Reagan's 1981 tax cut and the quiet end of bracket creepThe 1981 tax law cut rates, but its indexing clause did the lasting work: Congress could no longer tax inflation as if it were a raise.