4,362 posts
News and Tribune (Indiana): Editorial: Raising Sales Tax Would Hurt Poor Hoosiers
November 1, 2023
With statewide elections on the doorstep, some 2024 candidates are playing on a familiar ploy in calling for a reduction or an end to Indiana’s income tax. The most popular idea floated by those who are campaigning on the proposal, including current lieutenant governor and gubernatorial hopeful Suzanne Crouch, is to replace a sizable portion […]
Power to the People: How Workers Can Fight Tax Inequity
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Workers of all races and ethnicities are confronting a tax code that puts them at a disadvantage relative to those with immense wealth, and people of color and women are among those most likely to be negatively impacted by this injustice.
Free Tax Filing Option from the IRS Would Benefit People of Color, Contrary to Corporate Warnings
• By Brakeyshia Samms
There's a patchwork of programs and preparers for people of color to turn to when filing taxes, and most come from corporations that profit from providing a service that the government could provide more effectively and efficiently for free. The Direct File program can change that and is a great step forward in the IRS’ work addressing racism in the tax code.
New from ITEP: Three Localities Are Leading the Way on Local EITCs
• By ITEP Staff
Refundable local EITCs improve the economic security of workers, families, and children. These credits put dollars directly into the pockets of financially vulnerable households, helping them afford the basics and achieve better health and economic outcomes.
Three Localities are Boosting Communities with Refundable EITCs; Others Should Follow Suit
• By Kamolika Das
Most states already offer their own Earned Income Tax Credits, typically matching a certain percentage of residents’ federal EITC, but this is still a rarity among localities.
New York Times: Why Do We Enrich Older Americans at the Expense of Everyone Else?
October 26, 2023
We older Americans are not only controlling national politics, we are consuming an ever larger share of our economy’s resources through programs like Social Security and Medicare, leaving younger Americans to foot growing bills for their parents’ and grandparents’ retirements. And politicians of both parties are refusing to recognize the consequences. Read more.
On Corporate Tax Avoidance, Critics Take Aim at ITEP – and Miss
• By Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
In identifying companies that avoid taxes, ITEP presented evidence that our federal corporate income tax was not working the way most Americans think it should work. The public and lawmakers paid attention, including President Biden who then made the case that this demonstrated the need for reform. As a result, Congress enacted the corporate minimum tax, to make the tax system a bit closer to what most Americans want it to be. If you look…
Stateline: Blue and Red States Slash Taxes Despite Warnings of Hard Times Ahead
October 25, 2023
Since 2021, half the states have cut personal income tax rates. Read more.
2023’s State and Local Tax Ballot Measures: Voters to Weigh in on Property Taxes, Wealth Taxes, and More
• By Jon Whiten
Even in this slow year for candidate elections, the decisions that voters in states and cities make could strengthen or weaken revenue for needs in their communities and could change how taxes are distributed across the income spectrum. In the places where tax fairness is on the ballot, much is at stake.
Accountable.us: Right-Wing Think Tank Competitive Enterprise Institute Using Supreme Court Case Moore v U.S. To Push Its Corporate Funders’ Anti-Tax Agenda
• By ITEP Staff
Moore v. US, which is set to be heard by the Supreme Court on December 5th, threatens to deliver a major victory to multinational corporations and billionaires hoping to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Read more.
TIME: How Giant Corporations Can Still Get Out of Paying Taxes
October 23, 2023
For decades, multinational corporations—especially those based in the U.S.—have funneled billions of dollars in profits to tax havens, earning even more money for their shareholders. Read more.
ITEP’s Carl Davis: Who Pays New Mexico Taxes?
• By Carl Davis
ITEP Research Director Carl Davis gave a presentation on New Mexico’s tax system to that state’s Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee on October 19, 2023. Click here for the slide deck.
Every Texan: Proposition 3 Will Maintain Texas’ Extreme Wealth Inequality
• By ITEP Staff
We all benefit when everyday Texans, regardless of where we live or what we look like, have a fair opportunity to prosper. Contrarily, a state tax system designed to favor the ultra-wealthy undermines all of us. In Texas, the wealth gap is so extreme that 66 billionaires living in the state own more wealth than 70% […]
Video: Tax Policy Experts Warn Indiana Tax Force Drastic Cuts Could Hurt Lowest-Earning Hoosiers
October 21, 2023
As Indiana seems poised to restructure its tax system in the next few years, some policy experts are urging the State and Local Tax Task Force not to make drastic cuts to the state’s individual income tax. Read more and watch the video featuring ITEP’s Neva Butkus here.
Testimony of Neva Butkus Before the Indiana State and Local Tax Review Task Force
• By Neva Butkus
Today ITEP State Policy Analyst Neva Butkus presented to the Indiana State and Local Tax Review Task Force. For a related blog from Neva, click here. For her slide deck, click here. Good morning members of the State and Local Tax Review Task Force, Thank you for providing me the opportunity to share ITEP’s findings […]
Wall Street Journal: How Will States Pay for Roads When Gas Taxes Evaporate?
October 20, 2023
As electric vehicles become more popular and gasoline sales decline, governments are struggling to find new ways to fund infrastructure. Read more.
Eliminating Indiana’s Income Tax Would Jeopardize Public Services & Create a Windfall for the Well-Off
• By Neva Butkus
Meaningful investments in Indiana’s future require a smart, and fair, tax code that recognizes current economic realities and can raise a sustainable stream of funding from those most able to pay.
St. Louis Magazine: Why Can’t St. Louis City Tax People Like 94 Percent of U.S. Localities Do?
October 17, 2023
Even if the city wanted to scrap its 1% earnings tax and make the property tax dominant—as it is nationwide—conservative state laws block it. Read more.
Large and Growing Tax Gap Underscores the Need to Adequately Fund the IRS
• By Jon Whiten
New figures released show the difference between what Americans paid and owed in taxes grew to $688 billion in 2021, a significant jump from previous estimates. This new data underscores that last year’s boost to IRS funding under the Inflation Reduction Act was absolutely necessary and should be protected by lawmakers.
The Moore Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court Could Widen the Racial Wealth Gap
• By Brakeyshia Samms, Moore v. United States
Moore v. United States, already a cause for concern for tax lawyers, could create more barriers for racial equity advocates working to reverse the economic plight of many households of color.
Tulsa World: Eliminating State Income Tax Faces Same Challenges It Did More Than Two Decades Ago
October 16, 2023
More than 20 years ago, during Frank Keating’s second term as governor, he proposed replacing the state’s individual income tax, its sales tax on groceries and its business franchise tax with a 5.9% tax on some 200 additional business activities, from hair cuts to house sales. Oklahomans liked the idea of no income tax, but […]
Forbes: Mapping Billionaire Wealth: Where The Richest Americans Live Now Vs. Two Decades Ago
October 15, 2023
Extreme wealth has been consolidating in the United States. Read more.
The Street: Here’s Why Microsoft is Trying to Get Out of Paying its Massive Tax Bill
October 13, 2023
Corporate tax evasion has become a much more prominent piece of the discussion as Americans have struggled under high inflation, rising energy and home prices. Read more.
The American Prospect: Can States Plug Gaps in Federal Policy?
October 10, 2023
Expansion of the Child Tax Credit is blocked in Washington, but many states are partly helping. They can do only so much. Read more.
Arkansas Democrat Gazette: State’s Tax Relief Not Created Equal
October 10, 2023
For the second consecutive special session in about 13 months, the Arkansas General Assembly last month approved a temporary nonrefundable income tax credit for low-income and middle-income taxpayers as part of a tax cut package that permanently trimmed the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates. Read more.
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