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ANALYSIS: Cash and Tax Provisions in Biden’s Economic Recovery Plan
January 15, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
The $1.9 trillion economic recovery plan, known as the American Rescue Plan, announced by President-elect Biden contains, among other provisions, expanded cash payments and changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
Happy Double Take: A President Who Takes Economic Challenges Seriously
January 15, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer
After a solid year of federal policy doing too little to combat staggering job loss, spiking poverty, a raging pandemic and nearly 400,000 COVID deaths, we are ready for a leader who wants to hunker down and get to work on behalf of the people. So we did a happy double take when President-elect Joe Biden outlined his economic plan last night.
WWD: Execs Flag ‘Concerns’ Over Corporate Taxes Amid Rising Inequality
January 14, 2021 • By Matthew Gardner
“The lack of accessible child care, climate change, inequality…all these things are pretty basic existential threats for American workers, families and America as a nation,” said Gardner. “And the only way they can be meaningfully solved is through government spending and intervention, and an effective government requires an effective tax system.” Corporate income tax revenues […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Needs a Corporate Profits Tax
January 12, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
Moreover, the 2017 federal tax law has put more money in the pockets of many Ohio business owners. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slashed corporate taxes and provided a big new tax break for owners of partnerships, S Corporations and other businesses known as “passthrough entities” because their profits are taxed under the individual […]
New Jersey Leads by Example with Its New Cannabis Tax
January 12, 2021 • By Carl Davis
New Jersey lawmakers passed an innovative tax design that other states debating cannabis legalization should look to for inspiration. The state officially legalized cannabis in November when voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment by a margin of 67 to 33 percent. The amendment applied the state’s general sales tax to cannabis and allowed local governments to create their own taxes on the industry. The legislature added the most notable part of the tax structure last month with a Social Equity Excise Fee.
New Leadership Should Seize Tax Justice Mandate; Cash Payments Offer On-ramp
January 8, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer
With the victory of Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Democrats now control all three branches of government. New leaders should seize this moment to create a tax code that does much more to reduce inequality and to resource long-overdue investments in climate, health, education and other essentials. Most immediately, the historic election shifts power, making it easier to deliver on the promise to increase the recently enacted $600 cash payments to $2,000 per person.
Dems Promised $2,000 Payments. Here’s What that Would Mean for Taxpayers Across the Income Spectrum.
January 7, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
New estimates from ITEP show how taxpayers across the income spectrum would fare should Democrats enact the $2,000 payments they promised would happen if they gained control of the Senate.
How the Proposed $2,000 Cash Payments Compare to the $600 Already Provided by Congress
January 6, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
On Dec. 28, the House of Representatives passed the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help (CASH) Act of 2020, which would increase the cash payment recently provided by Congress from $600 per person to $2,000 per person, among other changes. New estimates from ITEP compare the impacts of $2,000 payments to $600 payments.
Feet to the Fire: Taxes in the Time of COVID
December 28, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer joined Jim Lardner’s Feet to the Fire podcast to speak about how we can seize this moment to promote higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest to pay for the America we need. Feet to the Fire is a podcast dedicated to helping the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party […]
A Visual History of Sales Tax Collection at Amazon.com
December 23, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Today, Amazon is collecting state-level sales taxes on all its direct sales but it still usually fails to collect sales tax on the large volume of sales it makes through the Amazon Marketplace. This points to a broader problem in state tax enforcement that lawmakers in many states are moving quickly to address with laws and administrative action requiring tax collection by Amazon and other large online marketplaces such as Etsy and eBay.
Delaware Business Times: Congress Approves $900 Billion Stimulus
December 22, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
The stimulus, approved as part of a large end-of-year catchall package including traditional spending measures, also allocates $82 billion in support to school systems and higher education institutions, $10 billion for childcare assistance, $13 billion to assist people facing hunger, and $13 billion to support farmers who have suffered losses during the pandemic. According to […]
Newsweek: Millions of Americans Who Missed Out on Stimulus Checks Will Qualify Under New Deal
December 21, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Democrats, along with immigration groups, would have preferred to also include millions of ITIN immigrant taxpayers, who makeup a large portion of essential workers. The left-leaning Institute On Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 4.3 million adults and 3.5 million children—7.8 million people—were excluded from the direct payments in the CARES Act because ITIN filers were ineligible. Read more
COVID Relief Bill Will Help Families Now; Bigger, Bolder Package Needed in 2021
December 21, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
Following is a statement from Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the COVID-19 relief deal reached Sunday night.
National and State-by-State Estimates of New $600 Cash Payments
December 21, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
The House and Senate are about to pass the first COVID-19 relief legislation since the CARES Act was enacted in March. The new relief package includes, among other provisions, cash payments of $600 per person, which is half as large as the payments provided under the CARES Act, but also extends payments to spouses and children of certain undocumented immigrants who were left out of the previous payments.
The American Prospect: Can Corporate Tax Incentives Revive a Pandemic Economy? New Jersey Thinks They Can.
December 18, 2020 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill
“New Jersey has really been an exemplar this year in positive progressive tax policies, with their millionaire’s tax and extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit—which are really the best ways of raising money from the people who are making money right now and delivering aid to the people who need aid right now,” said […]
The American Prospect: The Day One Agenda for Corporate Taxes
December 16, 2020 • By Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
Even without Congress, President-elect Biden’s regulatory agencies can fix a lot of problems with the corporate tax code. BY STEVE WAMHOFF, MATTHEW GARDNER The public has long told pollsters that corporate taxes should be increased, not decreased. President-elect Biden won his election after campaigning on a promise to raise taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations. […]
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Improved State Taxes on Wealth, High Incomes Can Help Fuel an Equitable Recovery
December 10, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Families’ access to wealth has played a large role in determining how the pandemic has affected them. The worst of the economic and health effects have largely bypassed wealthier, higher-paid families — which are disproportionately white — but have been far more prevalent among lower-income families and those of color. Amid sizeable state budget shortfalls […]
Bloomberg: Musk Flees California. He Now Faces a Battle to Escape Its Taxes
December 10, 2020 • By Carl Davis
Fear of rich people moving for tax reasons is overblown, says Carl Davis, research director at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP. Studies show the wealthy actually move less often than other Americans. “A billionaire can obviously afford to live wherever they want,” Davis said. “There’s no reason on Earth that […]
A Second Round of Direct Cash Payments Could Provide an Average $1,550 to the Poorest Families
December 8, 2020 • By Jenice Robinson
It will not magically become easier for families to put food on the table or make their next rent payment. Policymakers must act. People are struggling because they are either out of work, involuntarily working part-time, trying to financially catch up after being out of work for a spell, or squeaking by because we live in a wealthy democracy that fails to guarantee basics such as access to affordable housing, health care, food, and jobs that pay living wages.
Connecticut Voices for Children: Advancing Economic Justice Through Tax Reform
December 8, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Connecticut Voices for Children released a new report, “Advancing Economic Justice Through Tax Reform,” which proposes a tax restructure so that the system is fair for all residents. The report provides an overview of economic injustice in Connecticut, Connecticut’s regressive tax system and shows that it is a key contributor to the economic injustice in the state, […]
McConnell Balked at More Stimulus Aid to States, Betting Red States Wouldn’t Need It. Now?
December 4, 2020 • By Meg Wiehe
It is December 2020. Sen. McConnell has denied states—and their residents—relief for months. Congress must act now. Even if it does, it is unlikely to provide the robust aid needed to keep communities afloat and positioned for healthy recovery. Lawmakers across the country should be prepared to return to state capitals and city halls in the new year with plans to raise revenue not just to weather this crisis, but also to invest in long-term recovery.
These EITC Reforms Would Help Struggling Families Now and Address Systemic Challenges
December 4, 2020 • By Aidan Davis
The tepid economic recovery is leaving millions behind. The nation still has nearly 10 million jobs less than it did in February, according to the latest jobs report. The number of people living in or near poverty is rising. Twelve million workers are about to lose their unemployment insurance, roughly four in 10 people report experiencing food insecurity for the first time, and conditions are likely to deteriorate further in the weeks ahead as we brace for another deadly surge in COVID cases and new or tightened restrictions on business and personal activity.
COVID-19 Containment Is Key to Recovery—So Is Another Round of Stimulus
December 3, 2020 • By Aidan Davis
You can learn a lot about our leaders from how they act during times of crisis. This December, we are in our 10th month of the pandemic in the United States. With COVID cases climbing, deaths exceeding 270,000 and hospitalizations surpassing 100,000 for the first time, some states have halted reopening plans and imposed new restrictions. Containment of the virus is key to sustained economic recovery. As is another round of federal stimulus.
Lame-Duck Session No Time for Perfection, but a Bold Compromise on COVID Relief Is Needed
December 2, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
Time for COVID relief is dwindling. A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a $908 billion COVID relief package on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is floating a relief proposal and Sen. Mitch McConnell is circulating a wholly inadequate package. The best chance for legislation may be to include it in an omnibus appropriations bill, which Congress must pass this month. Following is a statement from Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding congressional negotiations over another round of economic relief.
After the Dust Has Settled: How Progressive Tax Policy Fared in the General Election
November 30, 2020 • By Marco Guzman
While the results of the 2020 presidential election are all but set in stone—and a sign of life for progressive policy—the results of state tax ballot initiatives are more of a mixed bag. However, the overall fight for tax equity and raising more revenue to invest in people and communities is trending in the right direction.
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