Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

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Zoom Pays $0 in Federal Income Taxes on Pandemic Profits

March 19, 2021 • By Matthew Gardner

Zoom Pays $0 in Federal Income Taxes on Pandemic Profits

Zoom Video Communications, the company providing a platform used by remote workers and school children across the country during the pandemic, saw its profits increase by more than 4,000 percent last year but paid no federal corporate income tax on those profits.

The Hill: A Straightforward Way to Pay for Biden’s Recovery Plan (Opinion)

March 18, 2021

Now that President Biden and Congress have enacted a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure, the president will soon provide details for the second item on his agenda, a major recovery plan. The package could include some of the tax increases on which he campaigned to pay for new spending.

Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy: Analysis and Considerations Related to House Bill 332

March 18, 2021

The Idaho Legislature is considering a proposal that would cut income and corporate tax rates and provide a one-time tax rebate. Under the proposal, the tax benefits from this proposed legislation are heavily lopsided. Taking all provisions into account, households with very modest earnings would receive a $78 average tax cut, and the top 1 […]

Marijuana Moment: Cannabis Banking Bill Comes Back to Congress

March 18, 2021

An Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analysis concluded that “cannabis taxes are a small part of state and local budgets, clocking in at less than 2 percent of tax revenue in the states with legal adult-use sales” but are also “one of states’ fastest-growing revenue sources.” Read more

The Hill: Ohio AG Sues Biden Administration Over Pandemic Bill

March 17, 2021

Carl Davis, the research director for the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that the rhetoric from the conservative attorneys general has been overblown. “There’s a lot of potential very positive uses for this money that states and localities could find in this moment,” Davis told The Hill. “It’s not intended to be […]

Newsweek: This Last-Minute Provision Blocks GOP Govs from Using Stimulus Money to Subsidize Tax Cuts

March 17, 2021

“Basically any tax cut done at the state level has doubled in cost,” said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. For example, if a state enacts a $50 million tax cut, it will lose $50 million in the revenue it won’t collect and another $50 million in federal aid. […]

CNN: Historic Benefits in Stimulus Bill May Answer a Big Question for Democrats

March 16, 2021

In figures provided exclusively to CNN, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which generally advocates for a more progressive tax code, similarly calculated that households headed by Whites will make up 67% of those receiving the bill’s direct cash payments, 64% of those benefiting from its expanded child tax credit and 62% benefiting from […]

One Voice Mississippi: Bill Analysis: House Bill 1439: Tax Proposal Moves State Away from a Better, More Equitable Mississippi

March 16, 2021

Mississippi’s House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 1439 (“the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021”). The House passed the 300-page bill less than 24 hours after they introduced it with little debate and no fiscal note. The plan revives the recurring attempts of some lawmakers to cut state income taxes, but does much more. […]

Law360: 3 Questions State Tax Pros Have About The Pandemic Relief Law

March 16, 2021

Policymakers and state tax specialists noticed almost immediately that if states want to take full advantage of the $350 billion cash infusion the ARPA gives state and local governments, it appears they are going to have to give up some autonomy. While those who spoke to Law360 said only explicit guidance from the U.S. Treasury, […]

GeekWire: Capital Gains Tax in Washington State: Is it about Fairness and Funding, or Will it Drive Away Startups?

March 16, 2021

Dylan Grundman O’Neill, a senior state tax policy analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that research shows that in Washington, more so than in any other state, “the higher your income, the lower your tax rate.” “The top 1% pay an effective rate of only about 3%,” O’Neill said. “While middle-income […]

Fortune: Biden Plots Tax Hikes on Corporations and High-earners to Fund Ambitious Infrastructure Plan

March 16, 2021

Should the President get the rest of the Democratic caucus on board with his vision of a massive infrastructure bill funded by higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals, Biden could have yet another legislative victory on his hands—one even bigger and more significant than his coronavirus stimulus bill, with further-reaching economic consequences that could […]

Business Insider: H&R Block Customers Will Get 3rd Stimulus Check, No Delay

March 16, 2021

H&R Block also gives taxpayers the option to receive their refund on a debit card called the Emerald Card. Anyone who qualifies for the third stimulus check and had their most recent refund sent to an Emerald Card will get their money deposited directly onto the card. The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated […]

Yahoo News: ‘Helping the Country Prosper’: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Billions in US Taxes Each Year — and Have Been for Decades

March 16, 2021

A report from the office shows that 50% to 75% of undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes each year — and have been since the Internal Revenue Service created a program 25 years ago allowing people without a Social Security number to file taxes. When it comes to state and local taxes, undocumented immigrants pay […]

The Columbus Dispatch: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Billions in Taxes Each Year — and Have Been for 25 Years

March 15, 2021

When it comes to state and local taxes, undocumented immigrants pay more than $11 billion a year, according to a 2017 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. In Ohio, they paid $83.2 million in state and local taxes in 2017, according to the institute. Read more

Bloomberg: Biden’s Rescue Hasn’t Stopped States’ Tax-the-Rich Rally Call

March 15, 2021

“No amount of federal aid can change the fact that nearly all state tax codes worsen the economic and racial inequalities that this pandemic has laid bare,” said Dylan Grundman O’Neill, senior state policy analyst at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

CNBC: Expecting a $1,400 Stimulus Check by Mail? Here’s What to Watch for

March 15, 2021

Instead, the checks will be signed by a career official at the Bureau of Fiscal Service, which is working with the IRS to deliver the money. This has been the precedent prior to the previous presidential administration, according to a Treasury official. “It’s really unusual to have an individual president’s name on a check,” said […]

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Trickle-Down Myths Swamp Tax Policy Debates in Mississippi and West Virginia

March 15, 2021 • By Aidan Davis

Trickle-Down Myths Swamp Tax Policy Debates in Mississippi and West Virginia

Recent proposals in both Mississippi and West Virginia seek to pare back, and ultimately eliminate, each state’s income tax while shifting the responsibility of funding services even more onto low- and middle-income taxpayers through increased consumption taxes. The states are moving forward with this tax experiment even though a similar experiment notoriously and immediately sent Kansas into a financial tailspin.

MinnPost: Is Minnesota’s Tax System Unfair?

March 15, 2021

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s regular assessment of state taxes concludes that just five states and the District of Columbia have positive scores on progressivity: California, Delaware, New Jersey, Vermont and Minnesota. The progressive systems rely less on consumption taxes and more on income taxes, with rates that increase with wealth. They also […]

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State and Local Cannabis Tax Revenue Jumps 58%, Surpassing $3 Billion in 2020

March 15, 2021 • By Carl Davis

State and Local Cannabis Tax Revenue Jumps 58%, Surpassing $3 Billion in 2020

Cannabis taxes are a small part of state and local budgets, clocking in at less than 2 percent of tax revenue in the states with legal adult-use sales. But they’re also one of states’ fastest-growing revenue sources. Powered by an expanding legal market and a pandemic-driven boost in cannabis use, excise and sales taxes on […]

Washington Post: Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Relief Bill Is an Extraordinary Achievement (Opinion)

March 14, 2021

The American Rescue Plan assumes that almost everyone can use a helping hand. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, roughly 85 percent of adults and children will receive a stimulus payment — meaning, as Biden said in his Thursday night speech, that “a typical family of four earning about $110,000 will get […]

Independent Record: GOP Lawmaker Doubles Tax Cut Rate in Montana Senate Bill

March 12, 2021

Under the un-amended bill, a person earning from $40,000-$63,000 would see a reduction of about $14, according to an analysis of the proposal by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The House Taxation Committee delayed action on another bill that also aims to lower the state’s top income tax rate after hitting snags in […]

Fortune: The COVID Relief Bill Doesn’t Raise Taxes on Gig Workers

March 12, 2021

The new tax revenue is money that should’ve been collected all along, but many workers didn’t have the documentation that serves as a reminder and guide to reporting the incomes they make on these platforms. “You are paying what you owe,” said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at think tank the Institute on […]

CNBC: New $1,400 Stimulus Checks Are on the Way. Here’s Who Qualifies for the Money

March 12, 2021

“If you got a full payment last time, you will get the full payment this time,” provided your income has not substantially changed, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The $1,400 checks will generally be based on either 2020 or 2019 tax returns, depending on […]

Associated Press: COVID Relief Bill Could Permanently Alter Social Safety Net

March 12, 2021

“The question will be, do they want child poverty to go back up again" by letting that credit expire, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy for the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Forbes: The Historic Child Tax Credit Expansion Could Provide Monthly Payments To Millions Of Households. Here’s How it Would Work

March 11, 2021

The amount of the credit is being increased, but that’s not the whole story. For the first time in history, families will qualify to receive the child tax credit as a monthly stipend. These monthly payments will provide up to $300 per child starting this July through the end of the year (the remaining credit […]