A recent article in the WSJ discusses a newly-released report. Tax breaks, for all segments of the population, total more than $1 trillion. Such a staggering figure — roughly the size of the annual federal deficit budget — reinforces something I have stressed repeatedly: the need to overhaul the tax code.
However, the report also
citing political opposition, technical challenges and other reasons, said that “it may prove difficult to gain more than $100 billion to $150 billion in additional tax revenues” by eliminating tax breaks. That likely would leave little for reducing tax rates, perhaps only enough for one or two percentage points in the top individual rate, while maintaining the same level of revenue
The top ten tax breaks are:
