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Lawmakers in seven states will introduce legislation this week to tax wealth in a new coordinated effort to combat ever-increasing income and wealth inequality. The bills couldn’t come at a better time, as those at the very top continue to pull apart from the rest of us and far too many states contemplate piling on to this runaway inequality with seemingly endless tax cuts for those at the top.
Two-thirds of states with broad-based personal income tax structures have a graduated rate, while one-third have flat taxes.
The Commonwealth Institute: Support Virginia Families Through a Commonwealth Kids Credit
January 17, 2023
True economic prosperity means that families are doing well and have the resources and opportunity to thrive. By coming together, people in Virginia have won an improved Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), increased minimum wage, and expanded workers rights in recent years — policy wins that lift families up. Yet more must be done to […]
While most states have a graduated rate income tax, some state lawmakers have recently become enamored with the idea of moving away from graduated rate personal income taxes and toward flat rate taxes instead. But flat taxes create problems for ordinary families and let the wealthy off the hook. When faced with a flat income […]
CBS News: As Tax Season Nears, a Backlogged IRS Faces GOP Push to Stamp It Out
January 13, 2023
The IRS is gearing up for another tax season amid a slew of challenges, according to a new report. Most pressing is the need to upgrade its “antiquated” systems and hire more workers to provide better service, a watchdog group within the IRS found. Yet the agency’s leadership also faces another test: repelling the latest […]
New House Rules: Low Taxes for the Wealthy on Cruise Control, Tax Credits for Working People Face Roadblock
January 10, 2023 • By Joe Hughes
Two new rules will hamper the new Congress’s ability to pass tax legislation in the next two years. One requires a supermajority for legislation that increases income tax rates, and the other requires cuts to mandatory spending programs—like Medicare, Social Security, veterans’ benefits or unemployment insurance—in exchange for changes to the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit that would mostly help low-income families.
The “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act” would rescind 90 percent of the new funding for the IRS included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. This would eliminate the new law’s $45.6 billion to enforce the tax code for people making more than $400,000 and repeal an additional $26 billion in IRS funding that would include, among other things, a pilot for a free e-file program to make it easier for people with relatively simple tax returns to file. The slash-and-burn bill comes just weeks after Republicans forced a 2 percent cut in annual IRS funding as part of…
Newsweek: Wealthy Tax Cheats Set To Benefit From Republicans’ Defunding of IRS
January 10, 2023
Now that Kevin McCarthy has finally been elected House speaker, and a new congressional term sworn in, the GOP has already voted on one of its key promises made during last year’s midterm elections: to target the Internal Revenue Service. Read more.
Governing: The Biggest Issues to Watch in 2023
January 10, 2023
State coffers are overflowing, but inflation could put a pinch on spending plans and tax cuts. The labor market remains tight just when the demand for more teachers is skyrocketing. And then there are the ongoing culture wars. Welcome to 2023. Read more.
Better Wyoming: Want to Slow Wyo’s Boom-and-Bust Cycle? Tax Jackson.
January 6, 2023
According to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Wyoming has several options to generate new tax revenue from our ultra-wealthy residents and decrease the state’s reliance on boom-and-bust fossil fuels—even while keeping taxes low on the middle class. All we need to do is tax Jackson. Read more.
Vox: The Ultrarich are Getting Cozy in America’s Tax Havens at Everyone Else’s Expense
January 4, 2023
More states are slashing or eliminating taxes, lessening the burden mostly for the wealthy. What does that cost the rest of us? Read more.
Los Angeles Times: You’re Not Getting Child Tax Credit Checks Anymore. Here’s Why
January 3, 2023
If you raised children during the pandemic, you probably remember something remarkable: getting checks in the mail, every month, from the federal government. The expanded child tax credit provided a few hundred dollars to help pay for your son’s braces or your daughter’s ballet lessons — or to ease the stress over whether you had […]
The Hill: Trump Tax Returns Raise Alarms About Fairness of US Tax Code
January 3, 2023
A preliminary review of the thousands of pages of Donald Trump’s tax returns released by a key congressional committee on Friday confirms that the former president was using business losses in the tens of millions of dollars to reduce his annual tax liability, in some cases all the way down to zero. Read more.
Albany Times Union: Ending Poverty Will Take a New Look at Wealth, Too
January 2, 2023
We would do well to remember the millions of families in New York that were already experiencing the storms of poverty, inequality and policy violence, not to mention those who have nowhere safe to celebrate the holidays. Read more.
Seattle Times: Proliferation of GoFundMes Reveals a Dirty Little Open Secret
January 2, 2023
This time of year, we find ourselves touched by the generosity, grace and kindness of people helping people. Extending ourselves to others reveals the best of who we are as humans, and that emerges so clearly during the holiday season. Yet as moved as I often am by the ways people show up for each […]
Yahoo Finance: These 23 Companies Got $50 Billion in Tax Breaks Due to a Trump Tax Law
December 24, 2022
The government spending bill that was just passed through the Senate and awaits approval from Congress is estimated to total nearly $1.7 trillion. While it will fund a variety of initiatives like aid to Ukraine and enhanced retirement savings, it will not extend “accelerated depreciation” tax breaks, which were initiated during the Trump administration and seen by […]
The Tax Deal That Wasn’t: Congress Decides Corporate Tax Cuts Are Too Expensive if it Means Also Helping Children
December 20, 2022 • By Joe Hughes
Congressional leaders announced their long-awaited omnibus spending package which will fund the government through September 2023. The good news: the bill does not include needless corporate tax giveaways. The bad news: it also leaves out any expansion of the child tax credit.
Hawaii Public Radio: Report: State could slash child poverty in half with new tax credit
December 20, 2022
The child tax credit has been available at the federal level since 1997. Before 2021, families were able to take advantage of a $2,000 credit per child. Under the American Rescue Plan, the credit was expanded to $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17, and $3,600 for every child under 6 years […]
Pluribus News: States Advance Child Tax Credits as Congress Deliberates
December 15, 2022
Lawmakers in Connecticut, New York and several other states want to expand tax breaks for families with children next year, inspired by a 2021 federal tax credit that dramatically reduced child poverty. Read more.
Reversing the Stricter Limit on Interest Deductions: Another Huge Tax Break for Private Equity
December 6, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
Private equity is doing fine on its own and does not need another tax break. Congress should keep the stricter limit on deductions for interest payments —one of the few provisions in the 2017 tax law that asked large businesses to pay a little bit more.
Bipartisan Retirement Proposals Are Mostly Just More Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
December 5, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
The EARN Act and SECURE Act 2.0, two bipartisan retirement bills working their way through Congress, are major disappointments. They would mainly provide more tax breaks for the well-off who will most likely retire comfortably regardless of what policies Congress enacts. The bills would provide modest assistance for those who really need help to save.
Montana Budget & Policy Center: Tax Credits for Workers and Families
November 23, 2022
Montana has an opportunity to invest high state revenues to support families and individuals and improve our tax system. State tax credits targeted to those in most need of assistance help Montanans struggling to afford necessities. By expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), establishing a refundable state Child Tax Credit (CTC), and passing […]
The Lever: Will Biden End An Illegal $50 Billion Tax Giveaway?
November 23, 2022
The IRS is sanctioning state laws allowing rich Americans to bypass the SALT cap and avoid billions in taxes, but a new Biden nominee could end the scheme. Read more.
Route 50: How Tax Credits Could Help States Reduce Child Poverty by 25%
November 23, 2022
Child poverty in the U.S. hit a record low last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in part due to the American Rescue Plan Act’s expansion of the federal child tax credit. While the initiative expires at the end of 2021, states could continue the trend with their own child tax credit policies, a new […]
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