April 13, 2021
North Carolina’s tax code and budget are wrought with such policy choices, which can result in racist outcomes that worsen barriers to well-being for people and communities of color, according to new data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The greater tax load carried by Black, Indigenous, and Latinx residents has been […]
April 8, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
The Biden administration has already provided details on its corporate tax proposals and in the next couple of weeks is expected to propose tax changes for individuals. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have some ideas of their own. What should we expect?
April 8, 2021 • By ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
During his presidential campaign, Joe Biden proposed to change the tax code to raise revenue directly from households with income exceeding $400,000. More precisely, Biden proposed to raise personal income taxes on unmarried individuals and married couples with taxable income exceeding $400,000, and he also proposed to raise payroll taxes on individual workers with earnings exceeding $400,000. Just 2 percent of taxpayers would see a direct tax hike (an increase in either personal income taxes, payroll taxes, or both) if Biden’s campaign proposals were in effect in 2022. The share of taxpayers affected in each state would vary from a…
April 8, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
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.
April 8, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer, ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner
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.
April 7, 2021
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. We need a reimagined sense of “normal” – one in which workers get paid living wages and the rich pay their fair share. When you […]
April 7, 2021
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, a progressive think tank, revealed in a report last week that no fewer than 55 of America’s biggest businesses did not pay any federal corporate […]
April 7, 2021
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 example, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that at least 55 profitable companies (including Nike, Salesforce and FedEx) took a tax holiday in […]
April 7, 2021
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 to ITEP. Nine of the 26 companies were gas or electric utilities. “This isn’t surprising. It isn’t illegal. And it isn’t new,” said Matthew Gardner, […]
April 7, 2021
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 for 2020 after years of paying far less or even reporting a negative tax liability. It said a bump in pretax income in 2020 led […]
April 7, 2021
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 corporate tax revenue raised by the government has fallen from above 2 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product before the GOP tax law […]
April 7, 2021
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 in 2020, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. There are those who would immediately say that it’s all due to losses. […]
April 7, 2021
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 55 US multinational corporations paid $0 in income taxes last year. That roster included household names like FedEx, Nike, and HP among others. Read more
April 7, 2021
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 on Taxation and Economic Policy has documented, 55 major corporations paid zero income tax on their profits in 2020. Among them were several that are […]
April 7, 2021
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 Bezos’ remarks and how 55 big U.S. companies avoided federal taxes in 2020. Watch here
April 7, 2021
“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 and Economic Policy. The number of businesses that paid no income tax for the past three years, though, is half that–26–according to the report.” Watch […]
April 7, 2021
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 are likely to grow even more lopsided as corporate tax evasion comes under a brightening spotlight. ITEP, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, has […]
April 7, 2021
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 effective tax rate of 1.2 percent, which was offset by tax rebates in 2017 and 2018, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, […]
April 7, 2021
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, non-partisan think tank. The paper, which analyzed tax disclosures in the corporations’ annual reports, found that 55 profitable companies didn’t pay any federal income tax […]
April 7, 2021
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, a not-for-profit non-partisan think tank, also reported at least 55 of the largest corporations in the US paid no federal corporate income taxes in their […]
April 7, 2021
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 in profits. As Sen. Bernie Sanders points out: “If you paid $120 for a pair of Nike Air Force 1 shoes, you paid more to […]
April 6, 2021
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 to pay for the infrastructure plan, saying it would create “new barriers to job creation and economic growth.” Amazon has long been accused of not […]
April 6, 2021
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 and other credits. In 2020, Amazon paid an effective federal income tax rate of 9.4%, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read […]
April 6, 2021
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 longstanding tax breaks preserved or expanded by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as the CARES Act tax breaks enacted in the […]
April 6, 2021
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 allowed them to pay low rates for years. “This is aiming to prevent gaming the system entirely,” said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the […]