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ITEP Work in Action February 25, 2019 Chicago Resilient Families Task Force: Big Shoulders, Bold Solutions: Economic Security for Chicagoans
People with low and middle-incomes are financially savvy in ways that are often underestimated, but despite this are on thin ice financially. Despite doing all the right things, they are… -
ITEP Work in Action February 25, 2019 West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: House Income Tax Cut Plan Mostly Benefits Wealthy and Puts Large Holes in the State Budget (HB 3137)
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a one-percentage reduction in each personal income tax rate would give a West Virginian with an income between $36,000 and $56,000… -
media mention February 22, 2019 Bloomberg: Amazon Doesn’t Plan to Pay the IRS Anything This Tax Season
The fact that Amazon can legally reduce its tax bill to nothing calls into question the effectiveness of the code, said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute of… -
media mention February 22, 2019 InsideSources: Amazon Paid Zero Corporate Taxes Last Year. Why Aren’t 2020 Democrats Talking About It?
“I blame Congress,” says Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy which first released the news of Amazon’s zero corporate tax bill. “Unless we… -
media mention February 22, 2019 Financial Post: Lawrence Solomon: Amazon Is Fleecing Taxpayers. Strangely, Socialists Are the Ones Saving Us
According to the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, while profitable major corporations have paid an average of over 21 per cent in federal taxes, over the last 10 years Amazon’s use of tax loopholes has lowered its average to just three per cent. In the last two years, during which it earned US$16.8 billion in profits, it paid no federal income tax at all, thanks to its use of unspecified tax credits and executive stock options.
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media mention February 22, 2019 The Guardian: Why Didn’t Amazon Pay Federal Taxes for the Second Consecutive Year?
Amazon is already getting plenty of benefits from the federal government. The company nearly doubled its profits to $11.2bn in 2018 from $5.6bn the year before and, for the second year running didn’t pay a single cent of federal income tax. In fact, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate for the past two years totalling almost $270m according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Netflix also paid no federal or income tax on profits of $845m last year.
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media mention February 21, 2019 Irish Examiner: New EU Competition Commissioner Must Take on US Tech Giants, Says ISME
“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report in Washington DC has noted that Amazon enjoyed a negative tax rate in the US in 2018. That is not a misprint.… -
media mention February 21, 2019 Think Progress: U.S. Banks Raked in Record Profits Thanks to GOP Tax Bill
Because of the corporate tax cut, massive corporations like Amazon, which is valued at nearly $800 billion, will pay $0 in federal taxes this year. In fact, the company is expecting a federal refund of nearly $129 billion. This essentially puts Amazon at a federal income tax rate of -1 percent this year, after paying a federal rate of more than 11 percent from 2011 to 2016. This is the second year in a row that Amazon has not paid any federal taxes. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) suggests that this is due to a combination of the corporate tax cut and a loophole that allows corporations to avoid paying state and federal taxes on roughly half their income.
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media mention February 20, 2019 Truck-Only State Tolls Roil Industry That Favors Fuel-Tax Hike
Two dozen states have raised fuel taxes since 2013, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which encourages states to take the lead in fixing their roads. All but 11… -
media mention February 20, 2019 The Columbian: In Our View: Amazon HQ2 Outcome Leaves Much to Unpack
But at the same time, growing wealth disparity throughout the United States is fueling mistrust of large corporations. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy last week reported that Amazon… -
media mention February 20, 2019 Hawai’i Public Radio: Corporate Tax Loophole Costs Hawaii $38 Million Annually
Hawaii lawmakers are missing out on millions in potential tax revenue. That is the conclusion of a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The ITEP found that a loophole… -
media mention February 20, 2019 New York Observer: Amazon Paid $0 in Federal Taxes Despite Making $11 Billion in 2018—And No One Knows Why
You may feel like a champion financial planner after filing last year’s income taxes, even though you did pay a hefty fee to an accountant or some tax software. But… -
media mention February 20, 2019 Vox: Amazon’s $0 Corporate Income Tax Bill Last Year, Explained
For starters, Jeff Bezos is rich because of the value of Amazon stock, but for years, Wall Street loved the company even though it was a curiously unprofitable retail and technology giant. But more recently, Amazon has emerged recently as a consistently profitable firm, reporting nearly $11 billion in earnings last year. Yet during this surge into profitability — the company’s earnings doubled between 2017 and 2018 — Amazon’s tax bill has actually gone down. The company paid $0 in corporate income tax last year, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, an astonishing figure that generated dozens of news stories last week.
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media mention February 20, 2019 The Columbian: In Our View: Amazon HQ2 Outcome Leaves Much to Unpack
But at the same time, growing wealth disparity throughout the United States is fueling mistrust of large corporations. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy last week reported that Amazon has paid no federal tax the past two years, rather than the statutory 21 percent.
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media mention February 19, 2019 Axios: 1 Big Thing: Filthy Rich, Owing No Tax
Amazon is not a passive player in tax law, says ITEP’s Matthew Gardner, who researched and wrote the Amazon report. “Amazon in particular has shaped tax law in its own image. They made the laws by lobbying so persistently and effectively,” Gardner tells Axios.
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media mention February 19, 2019 Forbes: Amazon Paid $0 In Federal Income Taxes Last Year [Infographic]
Despite doubling its profits, Amazon has paid zero dollars in federal taxes for the second successive year. A recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has raised… -
media mention February 18, 2019 Fox Business, Bulls & Bears: Amazon, Netflix Did Not Pay Any Federal Taxes in the US in 2018: Report
ITEP senior fellow Matthew Gardner discusses how big tech companies are taking advantage of tax loopholes in the U.S. Watch the video -
media mention February 17, 2019 The Leaf Online: Cannabis Revenue Catching Up With Alcohol
State and local excise tax collections on retail adult-use cannabis sales surpassed $1 billion in 2018 nationally. That is a 57 percent increase over 2017 levels, according to data compiled… -
media mention February 17, 2019 The Hill: Tech Looks for Lessons From Amazon HQ2 Fight
Amazon’s decision to scrap its plans for a second headquarters in New York City, dubbed HQ2, stunned both the tech world and its critics this week, raising new questions about the industry’s ambitious expansion plans and their dealings with state and local governments.
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media mention February 17, 2019 Herald and News: No Relief in Sight for Taxpayers Denied Deductions
An analysis by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that nearly two-thirds of the benefit of repealing the [SALT] cap would go to the top 1 percent… -
media mention February 16, 2019 Inequality.org: Organizers Oust Amazon HQ2 from New York
As details of the incentives agreement came out, New Yorkers heard from Seattleites about the mass gentrification spurred by Amazon. Seattle and King County declared a state of emergency over… -
media mention February 16, 2019 Washington Post: Amazon Paid No Federal Taxes on $11.2 Billion in Profits Last Year
Amazon, the e-commerce giant helmed by the world’s richest man, paid no federal taxes on profit of $11.2 billion last year, according to an analysis of the company’s corporate filings by the… -
media mention February 16, 2019 Yahoo! Finance: Amazon Will Pay $0 in Taxes on $11,200,000,000 in Profit for 2018
“It’s hard to know exactly what they’re doing,” said Steve Wamhoff, ITEP’s Director of Federal Tax Policy. “In their public documents they don’t lay out their tax strategy. So it’s unclear exactly which breaks [the company is taking advantage of]. They vaguely say tax credits. One could think of many different ways a corporation could do this, like the depreciation breaks which were expanded under TCJA.”
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media mention February 15, 2019 CNN: Despite Record Profits, Amazon Didn’t Pay Any Federal Income Tax in 2017 or 2018. Here’s Why
“This is tax avoidance, not tax evasion. There’s no indication of any wrongdoing, except on the part of Congress,” said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank.
US tax code allows money-losing companies to reduce their future taxable income. -
media mention February 15, 2019 Columbia Journalism Review: Jeff Bezos’s Bad Week
Hero to 0: On Wednesday, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy suggested, in a report, that Amazon will pay $0 in federal taxes this year, despite doubling its US…