A refundable tax credit proposed by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would be more expansive than other recent tax credit proposals, new estimates from ITEP show. Rep. Tlaib’s proposal, unlike others, does not require households to work to receive the benefit.

The BOOST Act would provide a new tax credit of up to $3,000 for single people and up to $6,000 for married couples, which would be in addition to existing tax credits. Income limits would prevent well-off households from receiving the credit. Unlike other refundable tax credit proposals, the BOOST Act would not be limited to people with earnings or people with children.

America needs a new tax code. The Democratic presidential debates beginning this week present an opportunity for candidates to make clear how they would address inequality or to raise enough revenue to make public investments that make the economy work for everyone. Here are some of the big tax issues that we hope they will touch on.

A House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing on Tuesday will explore a highly controversial provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that prevents individuals and families from writing off more than $10,000 in state and local tax (SALT) payments on their federal tax forms each year. The focus of the hearing will be whether the cap negatively affects state and local revenue streams that fund schools, firefighters, and other services. There are at least three ways this could happen though only one of those is plausible, and it’s not the one that the organizers of this hearing likely…

Today the House Ways and Means Committee is marking up the Economic Mobility Act of 2019, a bill introduced by Chairman Richard Neal to expand some key tax credits to help low- and moderate-income people and families. New data generated with the ITEP microsimulation tax model show how adults and children would benefit nationally and in each state.

Join our team! ITEP has an opening for a Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack) to join our creative, passionate and productive staff as Lead Tax Model Platform Developer. This position will work directly with the technical engine behind our work: ITEP’s Microsimulation Tax Model. The Lead Tax Model Platform Developer reports directly to ITEP’s senior economist and works closely with the entire policy analyst team.

Dismissing calls for progressive taxes as “radical,” “extreme,” or “socialism” are taunts meant to distract from the real question: Why should we ignore the bottom half of Americans, whose share of the economic pie shrank and now have negative net worth, while allowing the wealthy and powerful, whose net worth more than tripled, to dictate our public policies?

States are putting evidence into practice with multiple efforts to improve services and tax codes through more progressive taxes on the wealthy. Clear evidence has spread widely this year, informing a national conversation about progressive taxation and leading lawmakers in multiple states to eschew supply-side superstition and act on real evidence instead. Taxing the rich works, and in this Just Taxes blog we review state-level efforts to put these proven findings into effect.

Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its final regulations cracking down on a tax shelter long favored by private and religious K-12 schools, and more recently adopted by some “blue state” lawmakers in the wake of the 2017 Trump tax cut. The regulations come more than a year after the IRS first announced the […]

Eighteen states provide public support to private and religious K-12 schools through large tax credits for taxpayers who contribute money to K-12 school voucher funds. These credits range from 50 percent to 100 percent of the amount contributed, which far exceeds the tax benefit available for charitable contributions to other organizations such as homeless shelters […]

After states implemented laws that allow taxpayers to circumvent the new $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), the IRS has proposed regulations to address this practice. It’s a safe bet the IRS will try to crack down on the newest policies that provide tax credits for donations to public education and other public services, but it remains to be seen whether new regulations will put an end to a longer-running practice of exploiting tax loopholes in some states that allow public money to be funneled to private schools.

From a new report comparing five major federal tax credit proposals to resources for continuing gas tax debates and the launch of ITEP's interactive library On the Map, here’s a summary of ITEP news this month.

This new report is the most comprehensive assessment yet undertaken by the CRS, which has an unimpeachable reputation as an impartial arbiter of policy disputes. So, when it says that the TCJA doesn’t appear to have grown wages or the economy and has made our long-term budget deficits even worse, it’s a judgment that will last.

In 1986, Rhode Island became the first state to enact a tax credit patterned after the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Since then, EITCs have become increasingly widespread at the state level with 28 states and the District of Columbia now offering them. These credits are designed to improve family economic security by bolstering […]

Using the tax code to boost the economic security of low- and moderate-income families is a proven strategy. These bold proposals would go much further than any policy currently on the books, and their approach directly contrasts with longstanding supply-side theories that call for continual tax cuts to those who are already economically faring far better than everyone else.

One of the most important decisions that must be made when designing a state personal income tax is whether to charge taxpayers a single flat rate on all their taxable income, or whether to levy a series of graduated rates that ask more of high-income taxpayers

A new ITEP report examines five big proposals that have been announced this year to create or expand tax credits to address inequality and help low- and middle-income households.

Federal lawmakers have recently announced at least five proposals to significantly expand existing tax credits or create new ones to benefit low- and moderate-income people. While these proposals vary a great deal and take different approaches, all would primarily benefit taxpayers who received only a small share of benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The Cost-of-Living Refund Act would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low- and moderate-income working people. The maximum EITC would nearly double for working families with children. Working people without children would receive an EITC that is nearly six times the size of the small EITC that they are allowed under current law.

The American Family Act would expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families. The CTC would increase from $2,000 under current law to $3,000 for each child age six and older and to $3,600 for each child younger than age six. The proposal removes limits on the refundable part of the credit so that low- and moderate-income families with children could receive the entire credit.

The Working Families Tax Relief Act would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families.

The LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) the Middle Class Act would create a new tax credit of up to $3,000 for single people and up to $6,000 for married couples, which would be an addition to existing tax credits. Eligible taxpayers would be allowed a credit equal to the maximum amount or their earnings, whichever is less. Income limits would prevent well-off households from receiving the credit.