Federal Law & Legal System – Page 98 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

The Social Security Tax Cut And A More Direct Route To Job Growth

Post author:Robert Teuber
Post published:January 5, 2011
Post category:Federal Law & Legal System Tax Law

The first pay day of 2011 is fast approaching and just about everyone is going to see an increase in the amount of their take home pay. The amount of the change depends on how much money a person makes, but there will be a change that stems from the December passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act).

With the passage of the Act, the Republicans claimed victory by extending most of the “Bush Tax Cuts” for another two years. This move was necessary to avoid an increase in the amount of tax most employees would pay each week. To achieve a reduction in the amount paid the legislation includes a temporary two-percentage-point reduction in the employee’s share of Social Security Tax. This reduction replaces the now expired Making Work Pay tax credit, but is slightly more expansive and will put a little more money in the pockets of the taxpaying public.

Recommended Legal Writing Reads from Judge Easterbrook

Post author:Susan Barranco
Post published:January 4, 2011
Post category:Judges & Judicial Process Legal Practice Legal Writing Seventh Circuit

This past October, as a Judicial Intern at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, I had the pleasure of attending an informal, reoccurring brown bag lunch held among the court’s clerks. We gathered in a conference room down the hall from the Dirksen Federal Building’s second-floor cafeteria to hear this session’s guest speaker—Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook—lecture informally on legal writing. The judge shared some of his experiences (e.g., his decision-making process*) and his must-read books for legal writers.

Encouraging the Working Poor to Save for Retirement

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:December 28, 2010
Post category:Federal Law & Legal System Legal Scholarship Poverty & Law Tax Law

Are you saving enough for retirement? It can be a struggle even for those of us who do not live paycheck to paycheck. For the working poor, the challenge must seem truly daunting. Yet, Social Security payouts average only a little more than the poverty line, and benefits seem far more likely to decline than to increase in the future. For those on the margins of poverty, putting money aside today may be critical to avoid a financial crisis in old age.

Should government step in to promote retirement savings by the working poor? Vada Lindsey thinks so. In a new paper on SSRN, she proposes reforms to the earned income tax credit that would push recipients to put a portion of their tax refunds into retirement savings.

Vada’s proposal has many intricacies, but the core features include an automatic allocation of ten percent of EITC benefits to a retirement plan, IRA, or other investment vehicle, plus a matching contribution from the government for additional savings beyond the automatic ten percent. EITC recipients could opt out, but the default position would be in favor of savings.