Williams’s Sara LaLumia, the University of Chicago’s James Sallee and the Treasury Department’s Nicholas Turner took it upon themselves to figure out if policies like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), the dependent exemption and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC, which is more generous for families with more children) are pushing mothers with due dates in January to move their children’s births forward, so as to reap another year of tax benefits. They actually aren’t the first ones to tackle this question. They cite at least four previous studies that found that parents alter birth timing to maximize tax and other public benefits. And sure enough, their research backs that up.
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Tax Nerds Feeling Vindicated After Their Long-held Viewpoints Are Paid Lip Service
- Caleb Newquist
- March 18, 2013
Tax Policy Center co-director Eric Toder is feeling good today. Why? Some people known for […]
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Pennsylvania Lawmakers Invite Citizens to Get on This Fiscal Crisis Thing
- Caleb Newquist
- June 19, 2010
Either some Pennsylvania lawmakers are out of ideas for closing the state’s budget gap or they’re sick of the belly aching from the Keystone citizens because they’ve decided to put out there for the ordinary Quakers to give their suggestions for fiscal improvement.
So far there has been approximately 750 suggestions that range from consolidating school districts, “El excess management positions. 15 school districts in one county equals 15 superintendents, health care plans, IT departments, administrative departments, maintenance depts and so on” to downsizing the size of the state legislature, “downsize our legislature, there has been several articles on our size compared to other states whith [sic] smaller legislatures and much larger populations.”
Of course there are less constructive ideas such as the idea of having one huge pee party from “Gary” in Mount Joy (our bolding):
URINALYSIS for everyone who receives their salary from Tax dollars. Every tax dollar that comes out of our pocket pays for every teacher in the state, every state trooper, every state university professor, every congressman. We as taxpayers need to know that our tax dollars are not being used to fund illegal/ illicit drug use. We should have a Urinalysis for Every Teacher, every Congressman, every State worker, Every Professor of the state universities. If that is implemented, you will notice a lot of retirements/resignations. Saving the tax payers loads of money as well as stimulating the workforce because of the jobs that will need to be filled. This Is not an invasion of privacy.
EVERYONE IS ON DOPE!
And then there’s “frank” from York, PA who isn’t buying this pollution nonsense:
get rid of state car inspections & emissions testting [sic] – all the garbage about the air is all made up. And if we are the only country doing so, it proves that the goverment are liars! Yea every knows thats true
“Joe Wehner” from Pittsburgh just feels like hating on the whole process, thankyouverymuch:
Like our government, this site is a joke! They only publish dumb democrat liberal views. GOD Forbid any views that work… They won’t publish views outside of their agenda to ruin America.
But we like we said, there are some decent suggestions.
Pennsylvania website takes taxpayers’ ideas to save money [Philadelphia Inquirer]
URINALYSIS for everyone who receives their salary from Tax dollars. Every tax dollar that comes out of our pocket pays for every teacher in the state, every state trooper, every state university professor, every congressman. We as taxpayers need to know that our tax dollars are not being used to fund illegal/ illicit drug use. We should have a Urinalysis for Every Teacher, every Congressman, every State worker, Every Professor of the state universities. If that is implemented, you will notice a lot of retirements/resignations. Saving the tax payers loads of money as well as stimulating the workforce because of the jobs that will need to be filled. This Is not an invasion of privacy.
EVERYONE IS ON DOPE!
And then there’s “frank” from York, PA who isn’t buying this pollution nonsense:
get rid of state car inspections & emissions testting [sic] – all the garbage about the air is all made up. And if we are the only country doing so, it proves that the goverment are liars! Yea every knows thats true
“Joe Wehner” from Pittsburgh just feels like hating on the whole process, thankyouverymuch:
Like our government, this site is a joke! They only publish dumb democrat liberal views. GOD Forbid any views that work… They won’t publish views outside of their agenda to ruin America.
But we like we said, there are some decent suggestions.
Pennsylvania website takes taxpayers’ ideas to save money [Philadelphia Inquirer]
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GE Seems to Have Its Tax Planning Figured Out
- Caleb Newquist
- March 25, 2011

And by “figured out,” I’m referring to “worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and […] $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States,” combined with a grand total $0.00 in taxes. “In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion,” reports the Times.
Sure the Internal Revenue Code is complex but if you’re aggressive, have a few lobbyists at your disposal and your tax department is “often referred to as the best tax law firm,” the IRC is a cakewalk.
Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.
G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether [NYT]
See also:
On GE’s Pathological Aversion To Paying Taxes [ZH]