For this exercise assume you are a newly elected member of congress and now have the ability to advocate for an idea that will improve, encourage or enhance the lives of your constituents. Choose an idea and then describe how a change or changes to the tax code can incentivize or disincentive activity to support the idea. Also include how the tax code could be changed to pay for your idea (there is no such thing as a free lunch!) Examples of ideas we have discussed include: Allowing employers to reimburse employees tax-free for student loan assistance; excluding from income payments made to sexual assault survivors (and making those payments non-deductible to the payor); credits to encourage the development of business in underserved areas, etc.
The format should be:
1. The idea/goal.
2. The specific change to the tax code to support the goal.
3. The specific change to the tax code to pay for the change in 2.