In this paper, we describe a tax policy idea that would simplify the proposals President Biden presented during his campaign to raise personal income taxes for those with annual incomes greater than $400,000. Our proposal would replace the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions with a broader limit on tax breaks for the rich that would raise more revenue than the personal income tax hikes that Biden proposed during his campaign. Our proposal would also achieve Biden’s goals of setting the top rate at 39.6 percent and raising taxes only on those with income exceeding $400,000.
ITEP's Research Priorities
- Blog
- Cannabis Taxes
- Corporate Taxes
- Corporate Taxes
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Education Tax Breaks
- Estate Tax
- Federal Policy
- Fines and Fees
- Immigration
- Income Taxes
- Inequality and the Economy
- ITEP Work in Action
- Local Income Taxes
- Local Policy
- Local Property Taxes
- Local Refundable Tax Credits
- Local Sales Taxes
- Maps
- News Releases
- Personal Income Taxes
- Property Taxes
- Property Taxes
- Publications
- Refundable Tax Credits
- Sales, Gas and Excise Taxes
- Sales, Gas and Excise Taxes
- SALT Deduction
- Select Media Mentions
- Social Media
- Staff
- Staff Quotes
- State Corporate Taxes
- State Policy
- State Reports
- States
- Tax Analyses
- Tax Basics
- Tax Credits for Workers and Families
- Tax Credits for Workers and Families
- Tax Reform Options and Challenges
- Taxing Wealth and Income from Wealth
- Trump Tax Policies
- Who Pays?
-
report April 8, 2021 A Proposal to Simplify President Biden’s Campaign Plan for Personal Income Taxes and Replace the Cap on SALT Deductions
-
April 8, 2021 The High Cost of Corporate Tax Avoidance (Webinar)
When communities thrive, so do corporations. But when profitable corporations build their empires by exploiting the tax code, it is workers, the environment and our communities—not CEOs or shareholders—that are harmed. Amazon posted its highest U.S. profit ever for 2020, an unprecedented year defined by a pandemic. Yet the company sheltered more than half its profits from corporate taxes—legally. While the company may be one of the most recognizable tax avoiders, it’s not an outlier.
-
ITEP Work in Action April 7, 2021 Oregon Center for Public Policy: A better reality for Oregonians requires flipping the tax system
As vaccines for COVID-19 make their way into the arms of Americans, a sense of normality feels within reach. But going back to normal is not what working Oregonians need.… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Salon: America’s Biggest Corporations Paid No Federal Income Taxes Last Year: Study
According to a new study, conservative policies look to have helped a handful of large companies mooch off the federal government in 2020. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,… -
media mention April 7, 2021 CQ Roll Call: It’s Spring, the Sap Is Rising — and Congress Turns Its Thoughts to Taxes (Column)
In similar paint-by-numbers fashion, the Biden White House is flogging studies by liberal think tanks highlighting how many major corporations have avoided paying any income taxes in recent years. For… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Akron Beacon Journal: FirstEnergy, AEP among 55 Companies that Paid Zero Federal Income Taxes in 2020, Report Shows
FirstEnergy and AEP also were among 26 profitable companies that for three years, from 2018 to 2020, took legal deductions that allowed them to pay zero federal income tax, according… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Wall Street Journal: Jeff Bezos Backs Corporate Tax-Rate Increase and Infrastructure Plan
Amazon has taken advantage of policies allowing companies to reduce their tax liability through research spending or investment in renewable energy. The company reported $1.8 billion in U.S. tax liability… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Washington Post: Biden Says He’s Open to Compromise with Republicans on $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Fifty-five corporations saw zero federal tax liability in 2020, according to a report this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank. The amount of… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Forbes: Why Biden’s Right and Higher Corporate Tax Rates Won’t Chase Off Companies
By the end of 2020, the effective tax rate was 14.1%. As Biden noted, 55 major corporations—including Nike, FedEx, Salesforce, and Archer Daniels Midland, and HP—paid no federal income tax… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Business Insider: Biden Wants a 28% Corporate Tax Rate Because He’s ‘Sick and Tired of Ordinary People Being Fleeced’
The president also blasted companies paying little or no federal taxes without naming them. He cited a recent report from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that found… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Los Angeles Times: Column: Jeff Bezos Likes Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Because He Knows It’s Worth the Money
As for raising the corporate tax rate, America’s CEOs might object, but let’s recognize that for many big corporations the statutory corporate tax rate is merely theoretical. As the Institute… -
media mention April 7, 2021 MSNBC: Amazon CEO Supports Higher Corporate Taxes to Pay for Infrastructure Plan
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Tuesday voiced support for raising the corporate tax rate but stopped short of saying he supports the president’s plan for the increase. The panel discusses… -
media mention April 7, 2021 CNN: Avlon Reacts to McConnell’s Advice to Corporations
“In fact, there were at least 55 profitable companies among the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 that paid no federal tax in 2020. That’s according to the Institute on Taxation… -
media mention April 7, 2021 American Prospect: Biden, Wyden, and Yellen: Bring Investment Home!
This is all popular stuff. Poll after poll has shown large majorities of Americans favor raising taxes on the rich and on big corporations, and the majorities on these issues… -
media mention April 7, 2021 New York Times: Jeff Bezos says Amazon, a Notable Tax Avoider, Supports Raising Corporate Taxes.
For years, Amazon has been a model for corporate tax avoidance, fielding criticism of its tax strategies from Democrats and former President Donald J. Trump. In 2019, Amazon had an… -
media mention April 7, 2021 (Ohio) ABC News 5: Three Ohio Energy Giants Haven’t Paid Federal Income Taxes in Three Years
In fact, Akron-based FirstEnergy, Columbus-based AEP and Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy had negative effective tax rates, according to the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit,… -
media mention April 7, 2021 CEO Magazine: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Notably Backs Increasing Corporate Tax
In 2020, Amazon paid an effective federal income tax rate of 9.4 per cent, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Common Dreams: Will the United States Ever Become a Strong Nation for the Common Good? (Opinion)
A new study reports that at least 55 of the biggest corporations paid a goose egg in U.S. income taxes last year — zero, nada — despite hauling in billions… -
media mention April 6, 2021 Business Insider: Jeff Bezos says Amazon Supports a Corporate-tax Hike, Arguing that Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Will Require ‘Concessions from All Sides’
After Biden’s plan was proposed last week, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents CEOs of major US firms, issued a statement strongly opposing the tax increase as a way… -
media mention April 6, 2021 BBC: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Backs Tax Rise on Companies
Analysts say changes to those rules are likely to stir stronger opposition from businesses than the rise in the corporate rate, which many companies do not face, thanks to deductions… -
media mention April 6, 2021 (Connecticut) Middletown-Press: Stamford-based Charter Communications Paid No Federal Income Taxes in 2020, New Report Shows
The treatment of Charter and the 54 other companies “continues a decades-long trend of corporate tax avoidance by the biggest U.S. corporations, and it appears to be the product of… -
media mention April 6, 2021 Bloomberg: Biden Tax Plan Seen Hitting Tech, Pharmaceutical Companies
The provisions — part of the administration’s plan to finance a $2.25 trillion infrastructure package — mean that tech and pharmaceutical companies could lose many of the tax-planning tools that… -
media mention April 5, 2021 NPR: Janet Yellen Proposes Bold Idea: The Same Minimum Corporate Tax Around The World
The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes that 55 big corporations — including Nike, FedEx and Duke Energy — paid no federal income taxes in the most recent… -
media mention April 5, 2021 The Telegraph: Biden's $3trillion tax hikes find public support despite Republican resistance
In 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed a new bill law that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. A report out this week found… -
media mention April 5, 2021 CBS News: Dozens of Profitable U.S. Companies Haven’t Had a Federal Tax Expense since Trump’s Rate Cut
More than two dozen large U.S. companies have made a collective $77 billion in domestic profits in the past three years without any expectation of having to immediately pay federal…