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Tax Expenditures: Trends and Critiques (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised Feb. 4, 2008
Report Number RL33641
Report Type Report
Authors Thomas L. Hungerford, Government and Finance Division
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
Older Revisions
  • Premium   Sept. 13, 2006 (27 pages, $24.95) add
Summary:

Special deductions, exclusions, and exemptions (sometimes characterized as"loopholes") have always been in the tax code. In the mid-1960s, the Department ofthe Treasury became interested in tracking and accounting for these tax subsidies.Indeed, the term "tax expenditures" was first used at this time. Both the Departmentof the Treasury and the Joint Committee on Taxation prepare annual lists andestimates of tax expenditures, and Treasury's list is included in the President's annualbudget submission. For FY2007, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimatesthat tax expenditures will amount to $1,034 billion - over six times the FY2007federal budget deficit. Despite their widespread use, several concerns about taxexpenditures have been voiced over the past 30 years.