Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Fox Business: Biden’s tax plan would cost wealthiest 1% an extra $160K per year, study shows

April 30, 2021

That’s according to a new analysis published this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which found that the wealthiest 1% of Americans would pay an extra $159,010 in taxes each year if Congress passes the Biden administration’s newest $1.8 trillion economic initiative. By comparison, the top 4% of households – or those […]

Associated Press: Biden’s corporate tax plan takes aim at income inequality

April 30, 2021

“It’s a terrific plan,” said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “We cannot have a sustainable corporate tax system until we solve this problem of companies shifting their intangible assets around. This plan should stop that dead.” Read more

The Hill: Biden: ‘Trickle-down economics has never worked’

April 29, 2021

“It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to just begin to pay their fair share,” Biden said. “Just their fair share.” The president referenced a recent report from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that found that 55 large corporations paid zero in federal income taxes last year. […]

Yahoo! Finance: Corporate tax hike would require Duke energy to ‘minimize impact’ for customers: CEO

April 29, 2021

Fifty-five of the largest U.S. companies paid no federal corporate income taxes last year, including Duke Energy, according to a study released by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy earlier this month. Over the last three years, since the implementation of the Trump tax cuts, Duke Energy took in $7.9 billion in profits […]

Bonners Ferry Herald: House Bill 380 Could be a Double Hit to Revenue and Federal Fiscal Aid (Idaho)

April 29, 2021

House Bill 380 – which would reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to five, reduce the remaining income and corporate tax rates as well as provide a one-time tax rebate – could cost between $383 million and $398 million in its first year (fiscal year 2022) and $163 million to $171 million […]

USA TODAY: Biden cites left-leaning study that 55 of top U.S. companies paid no federal income taxes

April 29, 2021

The ITEP report was based on a review of annual financial records by the nation’s largest publicly traded companies for their most recent fiscal year. Wamhoff noted that Biden on the campaign trail last year had referenced his non-profit group’s findings about major corporations not paying federal taxes. “It illustrates why we need to fix […]

Business Insider: Under Biden’s plan, the top 1% of Americans would pay an extra $100,000 in taxes every year

April 29, 2021

A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that only the highest-earning Americans would see their taxes change if President Biden’s proposed increases to the income tax rate and capital gains rate pass. That change is concentrated amongst the top 1%, defined as those with an income over $681,600 (their […]

NBC News: How Biden’s taxes hit the richest but skip the suburban base

April 29, 2021

Biden’s capital gains tax increase would only take effect for people who make more than $1 million per year in total income. Many households with six-figure incomes could even see a tax cut from expanded child care deductions in the Covid-19 bill that Biden wants to make permanent. According to an analysis by the left-leaning […]

CNBC: Biden wants to raise $1.5 trillion by taxing the rich. Here’s how

April 29, 2021

The richest 1% of taxpayers, who have an average income of $2.2 million, would shoulder the burden of the tax hike, according to an analysis published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Two-thirds of this group would see their taxes increase, by an average $159,000 a year, according to the analysis. Read more

Bloomberg: N.Y., New Jersey, California Hit Hardest by Biden Tax Changes

April 29, 2021

President Joe Biden’s plan to ramp up the income tax rate and capital gains tax rate as part of a $1.8 trillion stimulus plan would hit high-tax states like New York and California the hardest, while New Mexico and Mississippi would be least affected, according to research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]

Forbes: What’s in Biden’s American Families Plan?

April 28, 2021

ARPA expanded the CTC from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 for children under 6. The plan also gives the option of receiving the credit through monthly payments starting in July, instead of having to wait to claim the entire credit on your taxes. The American Families Plan […]

The Center Square: New Jersey politicos want repeal of SALT cap, but report indicates it will worsen racial, wealth ‘inequities’

April 28, 2021

The ITEP analysis found that repealing “the SALT cap would worsen the racial income and wealth divides by primarily benefiting wealthy white households. It would also likely crowd out other, much more progressive policies and programs from the upcoming infrastructure package while doing comparatively little to encourage progressive revenue raising at the state and local […]

Washington Post: Fact-checking Biden’s 2021 address to Congress

April 28, 2021

In a report released in April, the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) concluded that 55 profitable companies in the Fortune 500 did not pay any federal income tax, largely as a result of the 2017 tax law, such as through deductions for investment that President Donald Trump promoted in the bill. This […]

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American Families Plan Proposes Transformational Investments and More Equitable Tax Reform

April 28, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer

Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding President Biden’s remarks on the American Families Plan. “Longstanding inequities, deepened by the pandemic, mean that too many American families and communities are struggling. The American Families Plan makes long-overdue investments that will dramatically broaden access to […]

Bloomberg: Biden Targets $41 Billion Tax Break for Real Estate Investors

April 28, 2021

Simply put, that it unfairly benefits wealthier Americans who can afford to make large investments. Middle-class families, meanwhile, are never likely to own many assets outside their own homes and 401(k)s. The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues the tax break has expanded far from its original intention of supporting small-scale transactions and […]

Salon: Key Democrats want to keep most of Trump’s corporate tax cut — and slash more taxes for the rich

April 28, 2021

Of course, many corporations pay no federal income taxes at all. The Trump tax cut doubled the number of companies that had an effective 0% tax rate, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), while giving the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies an average federal tax rate of 11.3% the year […]

89.3 WFPL: LG&E’s Parent Company Paid No Federal Taxes Last Year (Kentucky)

April 28, 2021

In a year when Kentuckians struggled to pay their utilities bills because of a global pandemic, Louisville Gas and Electric’s parent company paid nothing in federal taxes. PPL reported around $900 million in pre-tax income last year and was one of 55 U.S. corporations that paid nothing in federal corporate income taxes, according to a […]

MarketWatch: Some lower-tax states won big in the 2020 Census count. Are Americans moving to escape the taxman?

April 28, 2021

Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, sees the Census results quite differently. “I really don’t see a tax story here,” he said. Weather and housing prices are far stronger ingredients in moving decisions than tax bills, he said. Besides, the latest Census numbers maintained the […]

CBS News: Some middle-class families will have a tax rate of zero this year — or less

April 28, 2021

The stimulus checks, CTC and EITC programs are likely to provide a 33% boost to the pre-tax incomes of the poorest 20% of Americans — a $3,590 hike per family — the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found earlier this year. While those three benefits provide a similar dollar amount of typical benefits to […]

Arizona Center for Economic Progress: The flat tax falls flat for most Arizonans

April 28, 2021

The Arizona legislature is poised to permanently cut over a billion dollars in state revenues, the largest tax cut in the last three decades. This cut will make Arizona’s tax system more regressive than it is today with 91 percent of the tax cuts going to people in the top 20 percent of incomes. Read […]

Movement for Black Lives (M4BL): Restructure Tax Codes

April 28, 2021

The current taxation system exacerbates economic and racial disparities rather than generating sufficient revenue to be redistributed for the common good. Billionaires and corporations benefit from subsidies and tax breaks to accumulate wealth while avoiding taxation. Meanwhile low-income people and communities, who are disproportionately Black, are targeted for higher taxes and more aggressive enforcement of […]

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Gentrification and the Property Tax: How Circuit Breakers Can Help

April 27, 2021 • By David Crawford

Property tax circuit breakers are effective because they provide property tax relief to families whose property taxes surpass a certain percentage of their income. If a family in a gentrifying area sees their property tax bill (or their rent) surge to an unaffordable level, a circuit breaker credit kicks in to offer relief. This targeted approach assists low- and middle-income families without significantly reducing overall tax revenue.

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Inclusive Child Tax Credit Reform Would Restore Benefit to 1 Million Young ‘Dreamers’

April 27, 2021 • By Marco Guzman

As the Biden administration maps out the next steps in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic—through what is now being called the American Families Plan—it should make sure a proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) includes undocumented children who have largely been left out of federal relief packages this past year. Prior to 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, all children regardless of their immigration status received the credit as long as their parents met the income eligibility requirements. This change essentially excluded around 1 million children and their families.

Bloomberg: SALT Workarounds Spread to More States as Democrats Seek Repeal

April 27, 2021

A recent think tank report found that removing the cap without making other tax changes could compound the federal tax code’s disproportionate economic impact on Black and Latino families. Over 70% of the benefit from the restored deduction would benefit wealthy white households with over $200,000 in annual income, the Institute of Taxation and Economic […]

CNN: Elizabeth Warren: US taxes are rigged in favor of Amazon, Netflix and other big companies

April 27, 2021

Despite reporting large pretax profits, at least 55 large corporations paid no federal corporate income tax in their most recent fiscal year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive think tank. The list of profitable companies that avoided all federal income taxes last year includes FedEx (FDX), HP and Nike (NKE) […]