This paper explores the current tax treatment of non-qualified immediate annuities and distributions from tax-qualified retirement plans in the United States. First, we describe how immediate annuities held outside retirement accounts are taxed. We conclude that the current income tax treatment...

Analysis of state-level balanced budget requirements, and discussion of whether lessons learned in that context might be applied in the federal context. Points to links between state balanced budget mechanisms and fiscal institutions and policy.

This paper compares the value of one dollar of an asset held in a tax–deferred account with one dollar of a similar asset held in a taxable account from the standpoint of providing future retirement income. Taxes that are due when assets are withdrawn from some retirement saving plans can make...

Many economists and policy analysts argue that broadening the tax base is one of the most efficient ways to raise income tax revenues. Current tax deductions, credits, and exclusions, which are collectively known as "tax expenditures," reduce tax revenues and create complicated incentives that...

This paper examines how the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) affects the weighted average marginal tax rates that apply to various components of taxable income and the subsidy rates on various income tax deductions. It also considers how several AMT reform proposals would affect the number of AMT...

We analyze how changes in the income tax deduction for home mortgage interest would affect loan-to-value ratios on owner-occupied homes, the distribution of income tax liabilities, and the consumption of housing services. Using the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances, we estimate that repealing the...

A firm’s deferred tax position can influence how it is affected by a transition from one tax regime to another. We compile disaggregated deferred tax position data for a sample of large U.S. firms between 1993 and 2004 to explore how these positions might affect firm behavior before and after...

Presents evidence on the source of funds to the venture capital industry and documents the relatively minor role played by individual investors. Places capital gains on venture investments in context and compares their total value with the value of all realized gains.

This article examines the relationship between demographic structure and the level of government spending on K-12 education. Panel data for the states of the United States over the 1960-1990 period suggests that an increase in the fraction of elderly residents in a jurisdiction is associated...

This paper presents a list of the top 20 articles published in the <em>American Economic Review</em> during its first 100 years. This list was assembled in honor of the <em>AER</em>'s one-hundredth anniversary by a group of distinguished economists at the request of <em>AER</em>'s editor. A brief description accompanies...