ITEP's Research Priorities
The Commonwealth Institute: Dream Act Would Boost Virginia Families, Communities, State Economy, and Tax Revenues; Revoking DACA Hurts All
December 20, 2017
There are 30,000 young immigrants who were potentially eligible for DACA and call Virginia home. They currently contribute a total of $29.3 million to local and state taxes annually through sales and excise taxes, property taxes and income tax. Read more here
NC Policy Watch: Devastating consequences if Congress fails to replace DACA in three months
December 20, 2017
State and local government coffers would also take a hit if Congress fails to pass the Dream Act, or another effective solution. The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that current DACA recipients pay almost $58 million in state and local taxes, contributions which could grow to $78 million if the Dream Act were […]
State Rundown 12/20: The Days Get Longer from Here
December 20, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
These have been dark days for those who care about tax justice and public investments, but with the Winter Solstice this week and many states diving into their legislative sessions in January, longer days (and long work days) are soon to come! Governors and legislators are already proposing or hinting at their 2018 tax and budget plans in Alaska, California, Iowa, Maryland, and Washington. And transportation investments are getting strong support in Missouri, Oregon, and Virginia.
The Hill: The most surprising winners from Trump’s ‘America First’ tax plan are not American
December 20, 2017
Following is an excerpt from an op-ed by ITEP Senior Fellow Matthew Gardner: When President Trump announced in his inauguration speech that he would pursue a policy of “America First,” some people probably liked it while others feared it sounded too isolationist or perhaps even xenophobic. But even his most ardent supporters might be taken […]
Newsweek: Trump’s Huge Tax Cuts for the Rich Betray Working People
December 20, 2017
Following is an excerpt from an op-ed by ITEP Executive Director Alan Essig: The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) analyzed the final House and Senate bill. Households in the top 5 percent will receive more than half of the tax cuts in 2019, and families in the richest 1 percent will reap a […]
Between the Lines: Unpopular GOP Tax Code Revision Rewards Party Donors, Exacerbates Inequality
December 20, 2017
ALAN ESSIG: It’s basically a Christmas gift to the most profitable corporations and the wealthiest Americans. It is a bill that has been written for and geared towards – and most benefits – that group. There are individual tax cuts included in this also. The individual tax cuts as a share are much smaller than […]
Final Tax Bill Hits Parents of College Students Harder than Other Taxpayers
December 19, 2017 • By Steve Wamhoff
While many provisions targeting higher education in previous versions of the tax plan were eventually dropped, little thought has been given to how the bill still raises taxes on parents at the time they are trying to pay for college tuition.
The Trump-GOP’s Big Giveaway to Multinational Corporations
December 19, 2017 • By Richard Phillips
The tax bill just approved by Congress was a golden opportunity to solve these problems for good—but turned out to be a colossal missed opportunity. Instead of addressing the hundreds of billions in lost federal tax revenue due to offshore tax avoidance schemes, the Trump-GOP tax bill would forgive most of the taxes owed on the profits held offshore right now and open the floodgates to even more offshore profit-shifting in the future.
CNBC: Tax Expert: Middle-Income Families an ‘Afterthought’
December 19, 2017
Tax expert: Middle-income families an ‘afterthought’ in GOP tax plan from CNBC.
Washington Post: The Tax Bill Is Worse Than Bad, It’s Corrupt
December 19, 2017
For most taxpayers who use the existing deduction, this doesn’t solve their problem. One estimate from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that 1.89 million Californians would still see their taxes rise under the new provision, only a modest drop from the 2.36 million who would have had a tax increase under the […]
Bloomberg: These Are the Tricks States May Use to Get Around the SALT Deduction
December 19, 2017
Republican Senate and House negotiators in Washington agreed last week on a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT. In high-tax states, that’s bad news. Personal taxes are poised to rise for 13 percent of New Yorkers and 11 percent of California and New Jersey residents, according to an analysis by left-leaning […]
CNBC: Here’s How the Final GOP Tax Bill Would Hit Your Wallet
December 19, 2017
Your odds of being hit with a bigger bill depend on a number of provisions in the more than 500 pages of new rules. To better show the impact of these factors, analysts at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy crunched the numbers and came up with an estimate of how individual households may […]
New Republic: The Republican Tax Bill Is a Gift to the Washington Blob
December 19, 2017
Corker, who is already under federal investigation for alleged insider trading involving a real-estate firm, spent the weekend making a series of less-than-convincing statements justifying his switch. He first told IBT that he hadn’t read the bill. Then he wrote an angry letter to Senate leaders questioning how this provision got into the bill. As […]
International Business Times: Senator Orrin Hatch Says He Wrote Tax Provision At Center Of Corker Controversy
December 19, 2017
Experts familiar with the specific workings of how the tax break is formulated said that while there are some general similarities between the House bill and the conference report, Hatch sculpted a brand new provision for the final bill — one that was not in the previous versions of the legislation. “The mechanism that suddenly […]
BBC: Will Trumps Plan Trigger a Tax War?
December 19, 2017
To offset the revenue losses, the US is imposing a one-time tax on profits held abroad, levied at 15.5% for cash and 8% for illiquid assets. Depending on your perspective, the measure either captures tax that firms otherwise would have avoided, or provides companies with a major break on what they would have otherwise owed. […]
CBS: Here’s a Surprising Winner in the Tax Bill
December 19, 2017
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the tax overhaul bill progressing through Congress might not seem obvious. But foreign investors stand to come out ahead. Although President Donald Trump seeks to tighten immigration standards and get tough on international trade agreements, the tax bill — which he supports — treats non-American shareholders in US companies […]
Congress Snubs the Will of the People, Appeases Wealthy Donors
December 19, 2017 • By Alan Essig
The 2010 Citizens United decision shoved open already leaky floodgates that have allowed the well-heeled to dictate our nation’s electoral outcomes and public policies. Lawmakers have been clear that their ‘donors’ and ‘corporate CEOs’ are the driving force behind this tax overhaul, and they have been content to ignore opinion polling that indicates the public is against this legislation by a margin of 2-to-1.
Center for Public Policy Priorities: The National Dream Act: What’s at stake for Texas?
December 18, 2017
Researchers estimate that approximately 177,000 young Texas immigrants are potentially eligible for DACA, and they currently contribute a total of $241 million to local and state taxes annually through sales and excise taxes, property taxes and income tax. Without the national Dream Act, Texas can expect to lose at least $79 million in state and […]
Minnesota Budget Project: 4 Reasons DACA should be restored ASAP
December 18, 2017
DACA results in increased economic activity in our communities and increased tax revenues. DACA recipients in Minnesota contribute an estimated $15 million in state and local taxes annually. Read more here
Corker Claims Provisions Benefiting Him Could Not Have Changed His Vote Because He Never Read the Bill
December 18, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner
Many Republicans who had previously claimed to be deficit hawks have been cheerfully supportive of major tax-cutting legislation as it has moved forward this fall. But one Republican Senator, Bob Corker of Tennessee, has taken a defiant stance on the issue, insisting that “passing off increased debt to future generations” would be a deal-breaker for him. When the Senate passed its version of the tax plan last week, Corker was the only Republican to vote No.
BBC: Will Trump’s Tax Plan Trigger a Tax War?
December 17, 2017
Depending on your perspective, the measure either captures tax that firms otherwise would have avoided, or provides companies with a major break on what they would have otherwise owed. “Allowing them to pay a low rate is basically a get-out-of-jail halfway free card,” said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]
Final GOP-Trump Bill Still Forces California and New York to Shoulder a Larger Share of Federal Taxes Under Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill; Texas, Florida, and Other States Will Pay Less
December 17, 2017 • By Meg Wiehe
Residents of California and New York pay a large amount of the nation’s federal personal income taxes relative to their share of the population. As illustrated by the table below, the final GOP-Trump tax bill expected to be approved this week would substantially increase the share of total federal personal income taxes (PIT) paid by both states. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey would also see their share of federal PIT increase.
ITEP 50-State Distributional Analysis of Final House-Senate Tax Bill
December 17, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Like the initial House and Senate tax bills, the final tax legislation reserves the greatest share of the benefit for the wealthy and foreign investors and would hike taxes for average taxpayers in the lowest-earning three-fifths of households.
How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Wyoming Residents’ Federal Taxes
December 16, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low- and middle-income Americans. The bill would go into effect in 2018 but the provisions directly affecting families and individuals would all expire after 2025, with […]
How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Wisconsin Residents’ Federal Taxes
December 16, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low- and middle-income Americans. The bill would go into effect in 2018 but the provisions directly affecting families and individuals would all expire after 2025, with […]
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.