Research Library

Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe discusses current guidance and open questions related to virtual currency tax reporting and potential approaches to improve virtual currency-related income tax compliance.

Fellow Joyce Beebe analyzes the evolving landscape of crowdfunding and considers the tax treatment of funds generated through platforms like GoFundMe and Kickstarter.

When illegal workers use false documents to get a job in the U.S., their employers may complete the paperwork by deducting Social Security, federal, state and Medicare taxes from each paycheck. As of 2010, illegal workers have contributed $12 billion to the Social Security system alone. Such workers face poverty in old age, as they are barred from collecting retirement benefits because of their immigration status, and they have not accrued a pension in their home country.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts offers a starting point for compromise to revitalize the corporate income tax, fellows Jorge Barro and Joyce Beebe write in this issue brief.

Fellow Joyce Beebe analyzes how changes to the exclusion limits for estate taxes passed under the 2017 tax reform will impact taxpayers and state and federal governments.

Patterns of charitable contributions in the U.S. and the impact of recent tax changes to charitable giving are examined. 

A study comparing the community benefit expenditures of two sets of Houston hospitals leads the authors to propose strategies that can better justify the tax exemptions the institutions enjoy.

A larger percentage of Texas workers are getting health insurance through their employers now than before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report released by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.

The Health Reform Monitoring Survey (HRMS)-Texas report is based on the HRMS, a national project that provides timely information on implementation issues under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and changes in health insurance coverage and related health outcomes. The Baker Institute and the Episcopal Health Foundation are partnering to fund and report on key factors about Texans obtained from an expanded representative sample of Texas residents.