Tax Break-Downs Updated

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released its budget options paper, a biannual report that provides over 100 suggestions of specific things that could be done to reduce the deficit. We explained yesterday how important the report, Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023, actually is: it provides updated estimates and descriptions for the current 10-year budget window, because their last report in 2011 was published before the recent changes to the budget picture. In early 2011, the budget did not yet include the Budget Control Act that limited discretionary spending, the sequester that cut it further, or the fiscal cliff deal that raised tax rates for upper-income Americans. Since CBO serves as the official scorekeeper for the Congress, its estimates can affect how a bill is treated. For example, any reconciliation instructions issued by the budget conference committee cannot increase the deficit.

In light of the new numbers from CBO, we've adjusted our estimates and added new options to the Tax Break-Down series, which for the past couple months has been examining each tax break one at a time, listing some of the arguments for and against it, and listing several options for reform. We'll treat the Tax Break-Down series as an evolving set of documents, updating it whenever a relevant option is released, including when a tax reform bill is released this fall. 

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See the entire CBO report on Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023 here.

Read the (updated) posts in the Tax Break-Down series here.