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State Tax Policy: Innovations to Embrace, Schemes to Avoid
November 20, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
Better tax policies will help communities emerge from the current staggering fiscal crisis with tax structures that reduce inequality at a time when rich people are thriving and public services are under siege. Preserving public spending will boost the economy and improve lives–and cutting these essentials will not only hurt people but also deepen the downturn, a lesson we learned in the Great Recession’s slow recovery. Other states should take note.
The Center Square: Louisiana Tax Holiday May Save Shoppers $4.5 Million, Though Some Question the Value
November 19, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
“The conservative Tax Foundation and the progressive-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy don’t agree on much when it comes to taxes,” the Louisiana Budget Project countered in comments posted Thursday. “But both groups understand that ‘sales tax holidays’ – a favorite trope of politicians – are bad economic policy.” Sales tax holidays do not promote economic […]
Florida Policy Institute: 2021 Legislature Must Prioritize Revenue-Raising Solutions, Not Budget Cuts, To Bolster Post-Pandemic Recovery
November 18, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Through smart investments, it is possible to make up billions of dollars without cuts. FPI proposes initiatives to close corporate loopholes such as “combined reporting”— already implemented by 28 states and D.C.— and the “throwback rule”— adopted by 22 states and D.C. — that would generate more than $500 million in general revenue. Read more […]
Biden’s Economic Policy Agenda Deserves Serious Debate, Not Obstruction
November 12, 2020 • By Jenice Robinson
Obstructing policies that improve economic well-being should not be on any party’s legislative agenda, especially when so many are barely keeping their heads above water.
Stateline: Budget Holes Loom After Voters Reject Some Tax Hikes
November 12, 2020 • By Meg Wiehe
But Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director of the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that is an oversimplification. She said wild speculation in opposition ads about what Illinois might do with the extra money, as well as ads that used the “nose under the tent” metaphor to imply that the income tax hike […]
CNBC: Here’s What’s Ahead for President-elect Biden’s Tax Plan
November 10, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
Another idea that might stand a chance in a split Congress could be to properly fund the IRS so it can pursue larger targets, rather than going through the contentious process of drafting and passing new tax legislation. “Even in a divided Congress, it might be politically easier to do that, compared to a more […]
Business Insider: Here’s how President-elect Joe Biden’s Corporate Tax Plan Will Impact Big Businesses
November 7, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
But even with an increased tax rate, big companies could still manage to pay $0 in federal taxes due to tax code loopholes and tax breaks. Under President Donald Trump, an analysis by NBC News and the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity found twice as many big companies — including Amazon, Netflix and Chevron — paid $0 […]
New York Times: Arizona Passes a Ballot Measure to Raise Teacher Pay by Taxing the Wealthy
November 6, 2020 • By Meg Wiehe
Prop. 208 passed with 52 percent of voters supporting the measure, The Associated Press reported late Thursday. Under Arizona’s rules for ballot measures, the tax increase needed a simple majority to pass. “It’s a significant win, not just for Arizona, but I think it sent signals all across the country,” said Meg Wiehe, deputy executive […]
Axios: The Wealthy Rush to Shield Their Assets From Biden
November 2, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Driving the news: Biden says he wants to raise taxes on people who earn more than $400,000 a year — which excludes most Americans — and lower the amounts people can give tax-free to their spouses and heirs. … “Just 1.9 percent of taxpayers would see a direct tax hike” if Biden’s tax proposals for individuals […]
Jacobin: Donald Trump Lied About Passing Pro-Worker Industrial Policy
November 2, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
The Trump tax plan also literally gives corporations more incentives to move production to other countries. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Trump’s plan “taxes the offshore profits of American corporations at a rate of zero percent or, sometimes, at half the rate imposed on domestic profits. […] This can also encourage […]
BBC: US Election 2020: Fact-checking Trump and Biden’s Final Week
October 31, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
In 2018, 91 of the top 500 companies in the US effectively paid no tax, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Despite making almost $80bn in pre-tax income, some companies paid no taxes, as the US corporate tax code “lowers the bar for the amount of tax avoidance it […]
Florida Policy Institute: Florida Would See an Extra $577 Million in Sales Tax Revenue Under Amendment 2
October 30, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
As Florida Policy Institute and many others have demonstrated, gradually increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026 would help lift households out of poverty and reduce pay inequities long experienced by women, people of color, and immigrants. Additionally, a new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that Amendment 2 […]
Chicago Tribune: Commentary: How Illinois’ Small Businesses Will Benefit from a Graduated-rate Income Tax
October 30, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
Recent studies have shown that for decades, the current flat tax structure has only worsened income inequality throughout the state, stunting much-needed revenue and consumer spending. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that over the last 20 years, Black and Hispanic households in Illinois that make less than $250,000 per year paid $4 billion […]
Deadline: Joe Biden Slams Netflix & Amazon On Taxes, Again
October 30, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
The tax debate flared after President Donald Trump and the Republicans reworked the corporate tax code in 2016, slashing the corporate tax rate to 21%, from 35%. A widely cited analysis by Washington, D.C. think tank the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy last year analyzed 2018 financial filings of the country’s largest publicly held companies and […]
An Underfunded IRS Allows Corporations to Get Away with Probably Illegal Tax Dodges
October 28, 2020 • By Matthew Gardner
A new look at S&P 500 annual financial reports for 2019 shows that five companies—Chevron, Dell, Eli Lilly, ExxonMobil and General Electric—kept $1 billion in tax breaks they admitted were probably illegal because tax authorities failed to come to a final determination before the statute of limitations ran out.
Trump Says Taxes Will Be Too High on the 2% Who Pay More Under Biden’s Plan
October 22, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
The Trump campaign has failed to convince the public that large numbers of Americans would face tax hikes under Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s tax plan. The claim has been widely discredited. For example, ITEP found that the federal taxes that people pay directly would rise for just 1.9 percent of taxpayers in the U.S., and that number does not vary much by state. So, Fox News and other conservative voices are trying out a new argument: Biden’s tax plan would be too burdensome for that 1.9 percent.
Voters Have the Chance in 2020 to Increase Tax Equity in Arizona, Illinois, and California, And They Should
October 22, 2020 • By Marco Guzman
There’s a lot at stake in this election cycle: the nation and our economy are reeling from the effects brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and states remain in limbo as they weigh deep budget cuts and rush to address projected revenue shortfalls.
New ITEP Report Shows Few Taxpayers in Each State Paying More Under Biden’s Tax Plan
October 7, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
An ITEP report finds that taxes that people pay directly would stay the same or go down in 2022 for 98.1 percent of Americans under President-elect Joe Biden’s tax plan.
New 50-State Analysis of Biden Revenue-Raising Tax Proposals
October 7, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
A state-by-state analysis of President-elect Joe Biden’s proposal to raise taxes for filers with income of more than $400,000 finds that in 2022, just 1.9 percent of all taxpayers would face a direct tax increase. This would vary only slightly by state. For example, in West Virginia, 0.6 percent of taxpayers would see an increase, and in Connecticut, 3.7 percent of taxpayers’ taxes would increase.
People Need Relief. House Compromise COVID-19 Bill Addresses Urgent Needs
September 30, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the COVID-19 relief bill that the U.S. House is expected to vote on this week. “The revised House COVID-19 relief bill, a significant compromise from House Democrats’ initial HEROES act passed in May, is sorely […]
Donald Trump and Taxes: Fast and Loose with Loopholes or Fraud?
September 30, 2020 • By Matthew Gardner
The president’s apparent abuse of everything from hair-care deductions to consulting fees for family members raises questions about whether Trump was fast and loose with tax loopholes or whether the IRS simply wasn’t enforcing the law. Either way, Trump successfully flouting or pushing the limits of the law shouldn’t come as a surprise: Congress has cut IRS funding, in real terms in each of the last 10 years.
A 2017 Tax Provision Could Have Restrained Trump’s Tax Dodging, But Congress Just Weakened It
September 29, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
President Trump and Republicans in Congress passed up almost every opportunity to shut down special tax breaks and loopholes for real estate investors when they enacted their 2017 tax law. They did, however, include some welcome provisions to limit how business owners use losses to avoid taxes, and these provisions could potentially limit the sort of tax dodging perfected by Trump. Unfortunately, Congress temporarily reversed these limits with some provisions tucked into the CARES Act that was enacted in March, and this may help Trump and others like him to continue avoiding taxes.
Real Tax Reform Never Had a Chance Under Trump
September 29, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
Congress is certainly to blame both for providing a ridiculously lenient tax code for the super-wealthy and for preventing the IRS from enforcing even the existing weak limits in the law on tax avoidance. But make no mistake, one person is primarily responsible for the farce that is Donald Trump’s tax dodging, and that is Donald Trump. For years, he has actively and loudly supported special tax breaks and tax shelters, making him anything but a passive bystander to their creation.
It’s Time to Change the Tax Laws to Make Donald Trump and Corporate Giants Pay Up
September 29, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer
It’s time for a new approach. Trump’s egregious tax avoidance further exposes a system that preserves an enormous and growing economic divide. Congress has gutted IRS funding so that we don’t have the resources to audit wealthy tax avoiders. And lobbyists continue to secure giveaways for corporate clients that do nothing for our communities.
ITEP: New York Times’ Trump Tax Revelation Confirms What We Already Know
September 27, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff
"The New York Times revelation of Trump’s years of dodging taxes confirms something we already know. There are two tax systems: one that most of us follow, and another far more generous one for the very rich."
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