What's New
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report
April 13, 2018
10 Things You Should Know about the Nation's Tax System
Everyone pays taxes, including those who earn the least. Our collective federal, state, and local tax system includes income taxes, payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare), property taxes, sales and other excise taxes. The total share of taxes (federal, state, and local) that Americans across the economic spectrum will pay in 2018 is roughly equal to their total share of income.
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report
April 10, 2018
Extensions of the New Tax Law’s Temporary Provisions Would Mainly Benefit the Wealthy
This analysis finds that extending the temporary tax provisions in 2026 would not be aimed at helping the middle-class any more than TCJA as enacted helps the middle-class in 2018.
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blog
June 13, 2018
State Rundown 6/13: Budget Crunch Time Sets in as State Fiscal Years Come to Close
With many state fiscal years ending June 30th, budget negotiations were completed recently in California, Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina. New Jersey remains a state to watch as a government shutdown looms but leaders continue to disagree about a proposed millionaires tax, corporate taxes, and school funding. In other states looking to wealthy individuals and large corporations for needed revenues, Arizona’s teacher pay crisis could be solved with a tax on its highest-income residents and a similar proposal in Massachusetts is polling well, but Seattle’s new “head tax” could be on the chopping block.
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blog
June 13, 2018
All Bets are Off: State-Sponsored Sports Betting Isn’t Worth the Risk
If I were a betting woman, this would be a particularly exciting time. A May ruling from the Supreme Court has opened the door for… -
brief
June 12, 2018
Lottery, Casino and other Gambling Revenue: A Fiscal Game of Chance
Cash-strapped, tax-averse state lawmakers continue to seek unconventional revenue-raising alternatives to the income, sales, and property taxes that form the backbone of most state tax systems. However, gambling revenues are rarely as lucrative, or as long-lasting, as supporters claim.
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blog
June 6, 2018
New Legislation Would Close Significant Offshore Loopholes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
One simple rule should drive the nation’s international tax policies: tax the offshore profits of American companies the same way their domestic profits are taxed. The latest legislation to approach that ideal is the Per-Country Minimum Act (H.R. 6015), from Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). The DeFazio bill closes the loophole that allows corporations to use foreign tax credits to shelter profits in tax havens from U.S. taxes. No other bill addresses this.
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report
June 6, 2018
The New International Corporate Tax Rules: Problems and Solutions
The nation’s corporate tax system has been dysfunctional for decades. Unfortunately, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) fails to solve fundamental problems facing the corporate tax and, in some ways, makes these problems even worse.
ITEP Resources on Amazon and the Online Sales Tax Debate
For decades, retailers without a “physical presence” within a state have been able to sell to that states’ residents without collecting sales tax. The outcome of that collection gap has been to create an unlevel playing field for local businesses, and significant strain on state and local tax revenues. The following ITEP analyses offer insights into a variety of aspects of this complex issue.
How the New Federal Tax Law Affects State Tax Codes
As state legislative sessions swing into high gear, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is figuring prominently in policy discussions, with officials examining how the bill affects their states and weighing the necessary policy responses.
Corporations Stand to Reap at Least $413 Billion or More in Tax Breaks from New Tax Law
Under the new law, corporations' accumulated offshore earnings will be taxed at a rate of 15.5 percent and all other offshore earnings at a rate of 8 percent. This change gives corporations a more than $413 billion tax break on the trillions they were sheltering offshore.
State and Local Tax Contributions of Young Undocumented Immigrants
This report specifically examines the state and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants who are currently enrolled or immediately eligible for DACA and the fiscal implications of various policy changes.
Who Pays? 5th Edition
ITEP's Who Pays? report assesses the fairness of state and local tax systems, examining the share of income paid in state and local taxes by people across the economic spectrum. The new federal tax law is expected to effect changes in many state tax codes this year. ITEP staff continues to monitor and analyze tax policy in all 50 states and plans to update this report in late 2018.
Impact
Whether it’s at the state or federal level, ITEP produces careful research and in-depth analyses of tax policies, and provides a voice for working people in tax policy debates. State advocates, policymakers and media often use our work to inform public discourse on current and proposed tax policies.
ITEP's Work in Action
Expertise
Federal Policy
ITEP’s federal policy resources provide quantitative and qualitative research and analysis on current tax policies, proposals, and reform options. Its distributional analyses highlight how tax proposals will affect low-income, middle-class and wealthy Americans nationally and in all 50 states.
Learn more about our Federal Policy work
State Policy
State taxes pay for essential public services, from education to health care. But the ideal design of a tax system is complicated. ITEP’s state policy resources offer insights into central issues, including the impact of state tax systems on individuals, families, and businesses. Its work also analyzes the sustainability of revenue sources over time.
Learn more about our State Policy work
Corporate Tax Research
ITEP’s corporate tax research examines the tax practices of Fortune 500 companies. Besides its corporate study on average effective tax rates paid by the nation’s largest, most profitable corporations, ITEP produces research on subjects such as offshore cash holdings, tax haven abuse, executive stock options and other tax loopholes.
Expert's View
The truth is, if lawmakers truly wanted to craft a tax overhaul that would benefit working people most, they would have started from fundamentally different principles and developed policies that would provide true tax relief for all working families while shutting down favorable tax treatment for rich people.
