Tax Chats

Latest Episodes:

Free Tax Filing from Code for America: A Chat with Gabriel Zucker May 09, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Gabriel Zucker about Code for America's efforts to enable better access to free tax filing, both at the federal level, and, facilitating state tax filing as the IRS roles out its direct filing program.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Tax Resistance and Revolution: A Chat about the Indian Salt March with Partho Shome Apr 30, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Partho Shome about taxes in the colonial era in India, especially the excise tax on salt. They then discuss how these taxes lead to the famous "salt march" led by Mahatma Gandhi, which ultimately lead to Indian Independence. This experience is contrasted to the American independance movement, which also had roots in taxes levied by the British East India Company, and lessons for modern tax policy are discussed.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

How many pages are in the tax code? Jeff and Scott Chat about tax code complexity Apr 15, 2024

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Recorded on April 15, Jeff and Scott Chat about tax code complexity. Why is the tax code so complex? Is it because life is complex? Because we have chosen to hone the tax code to achieve certain social goals? Jeff and Scott chat about it all in light of Scott not being able to complete his tax code until the very last moment.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Tax Deductions for Charitable Giving: A Chat with Nic Duquette Mar 22, 2024

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Scott and Jeff chat with Nic Duquette, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. We discuss charitable giving, tax deductions related to charitable giving, tax exempt organizations, and the like.
Listener submitted correction: "there is no longer an above-the-line charitable deduction for cash contributions for tax years after 2021 (it was a temporary Covid-era provision as Scott had thought in asking the question). It was first enacted in the CARES Act for tax year 2020 only - prior law sec. 62(a)(22). It was then extended to tax year 2021, the final year it was in effect, through sec. 170(p). The provision initially read "In the case of taxable years beginning in 2020" - but the only tax year that begins in 2020 is the 2020 tax year. Under sec. 170(p), the provision reads "In the case of any taxable year beginning in 2021" (again, the only tax year that begins in 2021 is the 2021 tax year). The deduction was $300 in 2020 and increased to $600 in 2021 for joint returns."
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Cordell Hull, Father of the Income Tax: A Chat with Tracey Roberts Mar 22, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Samford University law professor Tracey Roberts about Cordell Hull. Hull was a senator, secretary of state, and, won the Nobel Prize for his role in creating the United Nations. However, he also had a substantial role in creating the income tax, which Tracey, Jeff and Scott discuss. This episode is based on Professor Roberts article, "A Man for His Era and for Ours: Cordell Hull, Father of the Federal Income Tax", published in the Cumberland Law Review.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

"The Power to Destroy": A Chat with Clyde Ray about McCulloch V Maryland Mar 12, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Clyde Ray, a political scientist and author of the book John Marshall's Constitutionalism, about the Supreme Court case McCulloch v Maryland, which hinged on whether a state could tax a federal bank.
In this case, John Marshall teaches us that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."

Scoring the Wyden-Smith Tax Deal: A Chat with Alexander Arnon Feb 21, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Alexander Arnon. Alex serves as the Director of Business Tax and Economic Analysis at the Penn Wharton Budget Model, and he explains the Wyden-Smith tax deal, including the extension of the business tax components of the TCJA, the expansion of the child tax credit, and the Employee Retention Credit. Alex talks about the background on the deal, as well as how Penn Wharton provided their revenue estimate.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Testifying about Taxes: A Chat about Congressional Testimony with Douglas Holtz-Eakin Feb 14, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the President of the American Action Forum, former director of the CBO, and former chief economic policy adviser to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Doug has also testified before Congress more than anyone else that did not do so as a requirement of their job. Jeff and Scott discuss the purpose of Congressional testimony, who is asked to do it, and some of Doug's experiences testifying.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

The Trend in Income Inequality: A Chat with Wojciech Kopczuk Jan 31, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Wojciech Kopczuk, professor of Economics at Columbia University, an editor at the Journal of Public Economics, and IgNobel Prize Winner, about the trends in income inequality. The long-standing received wisdom is that income inequality is high, and growing higher. A recent paper published in the Journal of Political Economy by Gerry Auten and David Splinter call into question that finding. Jeff, Scott and Wojciech talk about the difficulties in measuring income inequality, its consequences, etc.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

Taxing Americans Abroad: A Chat with Laura Snyder Jan 24, 2024

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Jeff and Scott chat with Laura Snyder, an advocate for an improved tax system for Americans living abroad. Laura is currently the President of Stop Extraterritorial American Taxation, (SEAT) and is also an American living abroad. They talk about the different types of Americans living abroad, and how their lives are complicated by the American tax system.
Get CPE for listening to Tax Chats! Free CPE courses are available approximately one week after episodes are published. Visit https://earmarkcpe.com/ to download the free app. Go to the Tax Chats channel, register for the course, take a short quiz, and earn your CPE certificate.

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