Taxes
- Report
How Changes in Funding for the IRS Affect Revenues
CBO describes how funding for the IRS affects CBO’s revenue projections and how CBO estimates the revenue effects of rescissions of such funding. CBO also estimates the budgetary effects of rescinding varying amounts of the IRS’s funding.
- Report
Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2023 to 2032--Volume I: Larger Reductions
CBO issues a volume describing 17 policy options that would each reduce the federal budget deficit by more than $300 billion over the next 10 years or, in the case of Social Security options, have a comparably large effect in later decades.
- Report
Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2023 to 2032--Volume II: Smaller Reductions
CBO issues a volume that contains short descriptions of 59 policy options that would each reduce the federal budget deficit by less than $300 billion over the next 10 years.
- Report
Policy Approaches to Reduce What Commercial Insurers Pay for Hospitals’ and Physicians’ Services
CBO identified policy approaches that federal lawmakers could adopt to reduce the prices that commercial insurers pay for hospitals’ and physicians’ services, thereby lowering health insurance premiums and the cost of federal subsidies.
- Report
The Economic Effects of Waiting to Stabilize Federal Debt
CBO analyzes the economic effects of waiting to stabilize federal debt. The longer action is delayed, the larger the policy changes needed to stabilize debt. The timing and type of policy would determine its effects on different age and income groups.
- Report
Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2021 to 2030
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options and their effects on the federal budget. This document provides estimates of the budgetary savings from 83 options that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues.
- Report
The Effects of Pandemic-Related Legislation on Output
By providing financial support to households, businesses, and state and local governments, federal laws enacted in response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic will offset part of the deterioration in economic conditions brought about by the pandemic.
- Report
Trends in the Internal Revenue Service’s Funding and Enforcement
CBO examines the IRS’s enforcement activities between 2010 and 2018 and analyzes how the decline in those activities reflects the decline in its funding and staff over that period. CBO also estimates how changes to the IRS’s budget could affect federal revenues.
- Report
Reauthorizing Federal Highway Programs: Issues and Options
CBO discusses choices about revenues and spending that lawmakers face in addressing the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund as well as options for subsidizing state and local governments’ financing of highway projects.
- Report
Income-Driven Repayment Plans for Student Loans: Budgetary Costs and Policy Options
CBO examines how enrollment in income-driven plans has changed and how those plans will affect the federal budget. CBO projects the costs of two sets of options that would change the availability of such plans or change borrowers’ payments.
- Report
Issues and Options for a Tax on Vehicle Miles Traveled by Commercial Trucks
CBO examines choices lawmakers would face in establishing a federal tax on the miles traveled by commercial trucks—including choices about the tax base, rate structure, and implementation methods—and illustrates how such a tax might affect the federal budget.
- Report
The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour for most workers. In this report, CBO examines how increasing the federal minimum wage to $10, $12, or $15 per hour by 2025 would affect employment and family income.
- Report
Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2019 to 2028
CBO periodically issues a volume of options—this year’s installment presents 121—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues. CBO’s website allows users to filter options by topic, date, and other categories.
- Report
Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 to 2026
CBO periodically issues a volume of options—this year’s installment presents 115—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues over the next decade. The report is available both as a PDF and in a searchable format.
- Report
Federal Housing Assistance for Low-Income Households
CBO describes federal housing assistance to low-income households and how it has changed since 2000, provides information about the households that receive assistance, and assesses options for altering that assistance.
- Report
Taxing Capital Income: Effective Marginal Tax Rates Under 2014 Law and Selected Policy Options
On average, the effective marginal tax rate on capital income is 18 percent, but that rate varies significantly by sector. In this report, CBO estimates effective rates under current law and eight policy options.
- Report
Federal Policies and Innovation
The federal government influences innovation through two broad channels: spending and tax policies, and the legal and regulatory systems. Policymakers have a number of options for spurring additional innovation.
- Report
Answers to Questions From Senator Hatch About Various Options for Payroll Taxes and Social Security
CBO examined the implications of various approaches to altering the Social Security payroll tax rates as well as the taxable maximum (the maximum amount of earnings on which those payroll taxes are imposed).
- Report
Testimony on the Status of the Highway Trust Fund and Options for Financing Highway Spending
With its current revenue sources, the Highway Trust Fund cannot support spending at the current rate. The fund’s projected shortfalls have generated increased interest in borrowing by state and local governments to finance highway projects.
- Report
The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income
Raising the minimum wage would increase family income for many low-wage workers, moving some of them out of poverty. But some jobs for low-wage workers would probably be eliminated and the income of those workers would fall substantially.