The President’s Tax Cuts for Dividends and Personal Saving

Capitol Hill Briefing

February 14, 2003 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EST

B-338 Rayburn House Office Building

Featuring Eric Engen, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Steve Entin, President, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation; Alan Reynolds, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; and Chris Edwards, Director of Fiscal Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

The Bush administration has proposed a number of reforms that would reduce the taxation of personal savings. One proposal would eliminate the double taxation of dividends with an individual exclusion. That would be coupled with a mechanism to eliminate the double taxation of retained corporate earnings. Some tax experts have suggested an alternative reform that would allow corporations a deduction for dividends paid. The administration has also proposed that savings vehicles used for retirement and other purposes be restructured to include new Employer Retirement Savings Accounts, Retirement Savings Accounts, and Lifetime Savings Accounts. Four experts on federal taxation will critique the Bush proposals and suggest other tax reform options.