One of the most attention-grabbing anti-tax campaigns at work today is called SAFE, which stands for Saving America’s Family Enterprises. But it might as well mean Saving Aristocrats From Everything given the outfit’s knack for opposing any national proposal to limit special tax advantages that only the wealthy enjoy. The basic approach of SAFE is […]

Last year, Congress reversed decades of funding cuts to the IRS to help the agency improve taxpayer services and crack down on wealthy tax cheats through the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS adopted their assignment, and this past tax filing season was a marked improvement from the year before – both for the agency and […]

The latest analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau provides an important reminder of the compelling link between public investments and families’ economic well-being. Policy decisions can drastically reduce poverty and improve family economic stability for low- and middle-income families alike, as today’s data release shows.

Fourteen states now provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states created new Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in seven states expanded existing credits. To maximize impact, lawmakers should consider making their credits fully refundable, not including an earnings requirement, setting a maximum amount per child instead of per household, setting state-specific phase-out ranges that target low- and middle-income families, indexing to inflation, and offering the option of advanced payments.

The new Census data should provide both concern and optimism for lawmakers. The steep rise in child poverty is an inexcusable tragedy. But it shows that child poverty is avoidable when Congress makes the decision to make tax policy for those who need the hand up rather than for the rich and powerful.

Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit, an effective tool that boosts low-paid workers’ incomes and helps lower-income families achieve greater economic security. This year, 12 states expanded and improved EITCs.

Expanding the federal Child Tax Credit to 2021 levels would help nearly 60 million children next year. It would help the lowest-income children the most and would particularly help children and families of color.

In the year since Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), ITEP has written extensively on the law’s provisions to increase tax fairness and raise revenue for public investments. The IRA, however, also includes tax provisions that serve purposes other than ensuring that we raise adequate revenue and that we do so in a fair […]

The three tax bills that cleared the House Ways and Means Committee in June are reportedly stalled due to some House Republicans’ demands that the package include provisions weakening the $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT). Modifying the House tax package in this way would make it much more expensive while benefiting the richest fifth of taxpayers almost exclusively.

The number of states with sales tax holidays on the books fell to 19 in 2023 from 20 in 2022. Yet even as slightly fewer states have them, they are estimated to cost much more. In 2023, sales tax holidays will cost states and localities nearly $1.6 billion in lost revenue, up from an estimated $1 billion just a year ago.

Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2023, and these suspensions will cost nearly $1.6 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system. Overall, the benefits of sales tax holidays are minimal while their downsides are significant.

Too many state and local governments tap legal-system collections, rather than adequate tax systems, to fund shared essentials like public safety and education. But a growing number of states and localities are choosing a better approach. Momentum for change has continued to build in 2023, with no fewer than seven states enacting substantial improvements.

The Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would reform the taxes that Americans pay to finance these two important programs so that the richest 2 percent of Americans pay these taxes on most of their income the way that middle-class taxpayers already do.

Since TCJA expanded tax breaks for “accelerated depreciation” starting in 2018, it has reduced taxes by nearly $67 billion for the 25 profitable corporations that benefited the most. Congress is now looking at extending this policy.

In 2023 so far, 17 states have either adopted or expanded a Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit. Both these policies can help bolster the economic security of low- and middle-income families and position the next generation for success.

Summer is here and many states nearing the end of their legislative sessions. Temperatures are rising in more ways than one in some state legislatures while others seem to be cooling off.

Restoring the federal Child Tax Credit to 2021 levels would benefit nearly 60 million children. Three-quarters of the benefit would go to families in the bottom three quintiles, consisting of households with less than $86,600 in income.

The trio of tax bills that cleared the House Ways and Means Committee in June include tax cuts that would mostly benefit the richest one percent of Americans and foreign investors.

Read as PDF Re: Recommendation for Inclusion of Section 1001 Regulation in 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan To Whom It May Concern, We are writing to respectfully urge that the IRS return to the work it left unfinished in 2019 when it issued final regulations on “Contributions in Exchange for State or Local Tax Credits” (RIN: […]

This op-ed was originally published by Route Fifty and co-written by ITEP State Director Aidan Davis and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Advisor for State Tax Policy Wesley Tharpe. There’s a troubling trend in state capitols across the country: Some lawmakers are pushing big, permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and […]

The latest debt-limit bill in Congress includes a provision to claw back important IRS funding meant to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This cut in funding would actually increase the deficit while continuing the rig the system in favor of the most well-off.

Short-sighted tax cuts continue to make their way to Governors’ desks this week. In Florida, Gov. DeSantis signed a $1.3 billion tax cut package with $550 million of the tax cuts from sales tax holidays, alone. The Nebraska legislature also sent $6.4 billion in tax cuts to Gov. Pillen’s desk which includes an enormous personal income tax cut that will reduce taxes on the top 1 percent by tens of thousands of dollars.

Instead of focusing on low-income people who are already mostly employed or facing significant barriers to employment, lawmakers who want to encourage labor force participation should revisit existing tax breaks subsidizing wealthy individuals who live off their assets rather than work.

No tax cut offers a more targeted solution to property tax affordability problems than circuit breaker credits. This is because circuit breakers are the only tools for reducing property taxes that measure the affordability of property taxes relative to families’ ability to pay. Circuit breakers protect families from property tax “overload” much like how traditional […]

Concerns over property tax affordability have been at the forefront this year as housing prices have climbed and property tax bills have often increased along with them. As lawmakers mull a range of property tax cuts, circuit breakers are the best possible approach—and these policies are receiving far too little attention in the states.