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Simplify docs/book
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8 changes: 5 additions & 3 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -16,10 +16,12 @@ To generate the microdata files:

The two tokens can be obtained from [Don Boyd](mailto:[email protected]).

## Examination results

To assess, review the data examination results that compare federal
agency tax estimates with those generated using the microdata file
created in each project phase:
agency tax estimates with those generated using the national microdata
files created in each project phase:
[phase 1 results](./tmd/examination/results1.md) and
[phase 2 results](./tmd/examination/results2.md) and
[phase 3 results](./tmd/examination/results3.md) and
[phase 4+ national results](./tmd/examination/results4.md).
[phase 4+ results](./tmd/examination/results4.md).
176 changes: 4 additions & 172 deletions docs/book/examination.md
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Phase 3 Data Examination Results
================================
National Data Examination Results
=================================

**FINAL RESULTS AS OF 2024-07-21 (after merge of PR 155)**

This project is developing a new dataset for use by income and payroll
tax microsimulation models. The project is progressing in several
phases. At the end of each phase the current dataset is used as input
to a tax microsimulation model to generate several basic tax
estimates for calendar years 2023 and 2026. These estimates are
then compared with corresponding estimates generated by federal
agencies using their more comprehensive data. Examining the
differences between the estimates generated from this project's data
and the estimates published by the federal agencies should provide
ideas about how to improve the development of this project's dataset
in subsequent phases.

For more on the source of the federal agency estimates and on how the
model-plus-dataset estimates are generated, see the [examination
methods](./methods.md) document. The model used to generate the
following Phase 3 estimates is [Tax-Calculator
4.2.0]((https://github.com/PSLmodels/Tax-Calculator)) (after merge of
PR 2774 on 2024-07-21).

Note that Tax-Calculator assumes 100% participation in credits (like
CTC and EITC), while the federal agencies assume less than 100%
participation. The implications of the differences in credit
participation assumptions are discussed below the following tables.

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 Payroll Tax Liability** ($ billion)<br>
(federal employee plus employer share)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 1580.0 | 1829.9 | CBO |
| 1523.8 | 1767.4 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| 1489.3 | 1711.0 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 Individual Income Tax Liability** ($ billion)<br>
(federal individual income tax)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 2512.3 | 2849.4 | CBO (probably assumes less than 100% credit participation) |
| 2212.0 | 2786.1 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (100% participation) |
| 2247.9 | 2742.2 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset (100% participation) |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 CTC Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from the federal child tax credit)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 122.1 | 57.6 | JCT (assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 108.6 | 55.7 | TSY (probably assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 129.2 | 46.8 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (100% participation) |
| 126.3 | 43.1 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset (100% participation) |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 EITC Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from the federal earned income credit)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 71.9 | 78.0 | JCT (assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 63.6 | 71.2 | TSY (probably assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 75.8 | 84.8 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (100% participation) |
| 73.5 | 82.0 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset (100% participation) |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 SSBEN Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from excluding some social security benefits from federal AGI)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 45.9 | 56.4 | JCT |
| 31.4 | 38.4 | TSY |
| 53.3 | 72.2 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| 62.7 | 89.5 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 NIIT Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from the 3.8% federal surtax on investment income)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| -56.5 | -53.8 | JCT |
| ---- | ---- | TSY |
| -57.0 | -55.1 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| -55.8 | -52.1 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 CGQD Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from taxing long-term capital gains and qualified dividends at lower federal rates)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 259.3 | 239.8 | JCT |
| 153.9 | 182.4 | TSY |
| 234.3 | 232.5 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| 217.7 | 223.6 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 QBID Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from the 20% federal qualified business income deduction)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 56.2 | 0.0 | JCT |
| 50.4 | 0.0 | TSY |
| 55.3 | 0.0 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| 19.3 | 0.0 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**CY2023 and CY2026 SALT Tax Expenditure** ($ billion)<br>
(from itemized deduction of state and local income/sales/property taxes)
| CY23 Amount | CY26 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | ---: | :--- |
| 21.2 | 151.3 | JCT |
| 26.5 | 149.0 | TSY |
| 20.8 | 162.3 | Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset |
| 29.4 | 185.5 | Tax-Calculator + taxdata dataset |

<br>

**Implication of Differing Credit Participation Assumptions**

Tax-Calculator assumes that everyone eligible for a credit claims it,
while the JCT (and presumably TSY) assumes that some who are eligible
for a credit do not claim it. Here is what JCT says about its credit
tax expenditure estimates: "Internal Revenue Service (IRS) statistics
from recent tax returns are used to develop projections of the tax
credits, deductions, and exclusions that will be claimed (or that will
be denied in the case of negative tax expenditures) under the
present-law baseline. These IRS statistics show the actual usage of
the various tax expenditure provisions. In the case of some tax
expenditures, such as the earned income credit, there is evidence that
some taxpayers are not claiming all the benefits to which they are
entitled, while others are filing claims that exceed their
entitlements. The tax expenditure calculations in this report are
based on projections of actual claims under the various tax
provisions, not the potential tax benefits to which taxpayers are
entitled." (Quote is from page 18 of the JCX-59-23 publication.)

The only IRS credit participation rates we have found are for the
EITC, and they almost 80% and they are tax-unit participation rates
rather than credit amount (or dollar) participation rates. (See this
[IRS
document](https://www.eitc.irs.gov/eitc-central/participation-rate-by-state/eitc-participation-rate-by-states).)

Given the differing credit participation assumptions, it should be
expected that the Tax-Calculator CTC and EITC tax expenditures are
above the JCT estimates. The following calculations, which
arbitrarily assume a 95% dollar participation rate, illustrate how
the differing 2023 estimates are not as far apart as they seem.

<br>

**CY2023 CTC and EITC Tax Expenditures** ($ billion)<br>
| CY23 Amount | Estimate Source |
| ---: | :--- |
| 122.1 | CTC JCT (assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 129.2 | CTC Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (100% participation) |
| 122.7 | CTC Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (95% participation) |
| | |
| 71.9 | EITC JCT (assumes less than 100% participation) |
| 75.8 | EITC Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (100% participation) |
| 72.0 | EITC Tax-Calculator + phase 3 dataset (95% participation) |

<br>
See examination results links in the [top-level README
file](https://github.com/PSLmodels/tax-microdata-benchmarking?tab=readme-ov-file#examination-results).
9 changes: 0 additions & 9 deletions docs/book/intro.md
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Expand Up @@ -15,12 +15,3 @@ To generate the microdata files:
3. Run `make data`

The two tokens can be obtained from [Don Boyd](mailto:[email protected]).

To assess, review the data examination results that compare federal
agency tax estimates with those generated using the microdata file
created in each project phase: [phase 1
results](./tmd/examination/results1.md) and
[phase 2
results](./tmd/examination/results2.md) and
[phase 3
results](./tmd/examination/results3.md).

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