Is Boehner right?

[Guns Guns Guns]

Tax expenditures are really just federal spending programs administered by the Internal Revenue Service.



While most government agencies promote policy goals by directly spending taxpayer money, IRS programs promote many of the same goals by distributing tax breaks.



Tax expenditures are accounted for differently in the federal budget, but there is no meaningful difference between the expenditures and government programs that directly spend money.



Yet tax expenditures don’t get regular performance reviews to determine whether they are serving their intended purpose, and most tax expenditures are permanent fixtures of the tax code, so they tend to keep growing unless Congress specifically repeals them.



At a time of severe budget challenges, Democrats, Republicans, and independents can all agree on the core reasons to more aggressively scrutinize tax breaks.



Even conservatives such as House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who tend to reflexively favor tax cuts, have called for more scrutiny. “We need to take a long and hard look at the undergrowth of deductions, credits, and special carve-outs that our tax code has become,” Boehner said. “What Washington sometimes calls ‘tax cuts’ are really just poorly disguised spending programs that expand the role of government in the lives of individuals and employers.”

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/01/te_intro.html

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Tax expenditures are expensive.






Tax expenditures today cost the federal government about $1.1 trillion a year in foregone revenue, draining the Treasury of needed revenue.






That’s about the same amount as the government will actually collect this year in income taxes.






Bottom line: The holes in the tax code are as big as the tax code itself.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/01/te_intro.html

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Tax expenditures play favorites with the tax code.




Tax expenditures tend to favor certain taxpayers over others, and many of the largest tax breaks benefit the wealthy.




Whether the purpose is to promote homeownership, retirement savings, or investment, tax spending programs tend to provide the largest incentives to those who need them the least, while providing little or no benefit to those who could use them the most.






This “upside-down” distribution of tax spending programs calls into question their fairness and efficacy.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/01/te_intro.html

 

[Mr. Groan]

Why don't you start a blog? This site has blog capabilities. To make a blog, it has to be your own thoughts. Not just cut and paste. And all you do you is cut and paste.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Tax expenditures are often inefficient and distort the free market.




Tax expenditures create inefficiencies in the economy by distorting the choices people and businesses make.




The government often has good reasons to provide incentives for people to do things like give to charity or buy environmentally friendly products.




Sometimes it makes sense to embed those incentives in the tax code. But in a market-oriented economy, should the IRS be picking winners among competing businesses or industries?

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/01/te_intro.html

 

[Mr. Groan]

I see. You are nothing but a cut and paste poster.