Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Missouri Budget Project: Special Session Tax Proposal Leaves Out 1/3 of Missouri Taxpayers, Weighted to Benefit Wealthiest

August 28, 2022

Governor Parson’s recently released tax proposal would leave out about one-third of Missourians, including many of those who pay the highest proportion of their income in state & local taxes, and set the state up for a Kansas-like budget bomb that would require significant cuts to schools, public safety, healthcare, and other critical needs. Read […]

The New Republic: How Red States Use Regressive Grocery Taxes to Feed the Rich

August 23, 2022

Conservative state legislatures are using pandemic-era surpluses to give tax cuts for the wealthy while maintaining unfair flat taxes that punish the poor. Read more.

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Four Tax Policy Wins in the Inflation Reduction Act and Four More That Can Build on This Progress

August 22, 2022 • By Joe Hughes, Jon Whiten

With four major tax policy provisions, the IRA takes a huge step toward a fairer tax code and a more equitable economy. But as always, there are more steps lawmakers should take to build on this progress.

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Putting Cleveland and the Nation on a Path Toward Tax and Climate Justice

August 22, 2022 • By Amy Hanauer

Editor’s note: This originally ran as an opinion piece in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. When I left Cleveland to work on federal tax policy after 20 years running Policy Matters Ohio, I knew Ohio would stay in my heart and fuel my work.  Accustomed to an America that often ignores our toughest problems, I understood […]

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The Case for More IRS Funding

August 22, 2022 • By Jon Whiten

Editor’s note: This originally ran as an opinion piece in The Hill. Though the Inflation Reduction Act is enormously popular, some politicians and pundits are trying to generate hysteria about one feature: Funding for the IRS. All the false claims are distracting us from two important things: how necessary the funding increase is to reverse […]

Newsweek: Stimulus Check Update: Child Tax Credit Bill Faces Uphill Battle

August 19, 2022

Conversations on reviving the expanded child tax credit—which the White House credited as the main driver behind bringing child poverty to record lows in 2021—might not be finished yet. Read more.

The Progressive: Finding Cash for Kids

August 18, 2022

Congress failed to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit, which cut childhood poverty by nearly a third. Now, states are adopting their own versions. Read more.

KALW’s ‘Your Call’: Senate Democrats Impose New Tax Rules on Corporations

August 15, 2022

ITEP’s Joe Hughes joined Your Call to discuss the tax provisions in the Democrats’ reconciliation bill, which passed the Senate on Sunday without one Republican vote. Listen here.

Marketwatch: Here’s How Private Equity Got Relief in Democrats’ Healthcare, Climate and Tax Package

August 15, 2022

The bipartisan duo of Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and John Thune helped private equity firms escape tens of billions of dollars in potential tax increases and instead walk away with relief from the new 15% corporate minimum tax in the Inflation Reduction Act. Read more.

NBC: Right-Wing Outcry Over IRS Funding Builds as Agency Workers Describe Shortages of Staff and Printer Paper

August 14, 2022

Inside the Internal Revenue Service, which is on the brink of a major funding infusion that Democrats and agency workers say is badly needed to boost efficiency and revenues, staffers describe bringing their own office supplies and working extensive overtime in understaffed divisions. Read more.

Insider: The Inflation Reduction Act’s Tax on Stock Buybacks Isn’t a Perfect Solution to Close the Wealth Gap — But It’s a Step in the Right Direction

August 14, 2022

One last-minute addition to the IRA received relatively little attention, and it could stand to be one of the most transformative policies in the bill. Read more.

Common Dreams: ‘Biggest Win for Tax Fairness’ in Decades: Progressives Cheer Reforms in IRA, Demand More

August 14, 2022

Following House Democrats’ passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, progressives applauded the most significant changes to the federal tax code since 2017, when Republicans’ highly regressive and deeply unpopular Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enthusiastically welcomed by corporations and the wealthy. Read more.

Washington Post: With Sinema’s Help, Private Equity Firms Win Relief from Proposed Tax Hikes

August 11, 2022

Senate Democrats agreed Sunday to protect firms owned by the private equity industry from a new minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations, bowing to pressure from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who insisted on making the change to the Democrats’ sprawling climate, health-care and tax package. Read more.

Time: Some of America’s Largest Corporations Pay Zero Taxes. Here’s How Congressional Democrats Aim to Change That

August 11, 2022

Progressive Democrats have been grousing for what seems like eons about the fact that some of the nation’s wealthiest corporations avoid paying their fair share in taxes. This weekend, the Senate inched a step closer to a fix when it approved a historic $370 billion climate and healthcare spending package that would be paid for almost […]

Los Angeles Times: Tax Provisions May Be Democrats’ Most Unexpected Victory in the Inflation Bill

August 11, 2022

The budget reconciliation bill just passed by the Senate and heading for final congressional approval offers dramatic improvements in American policies aimed at fighting global warming and improving healthcare. Read more.

Washington Post: The Corporate Minimum Tax Could Hit These Ultra-Profitable Companies

August 11, 2022

The House is expected to approve the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday that includes a minimum tax rate of 15 percent on highly profitable companies — a levy that could hit Amazon, Verizon and others. The tax would help pay for large investments across climate and health care. Read more.

U.S. News: What the Inflation Reduction Act Means for You

August 11, 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act requires certain large corporations to pay a minimum income tax of 15% and a 1% tax on stock buybacks. The bill also allocates an additional $80 billion in funding to the Internal Revenue Service for enforcement efforts like conducting audits and uncovering instances of tax fraud. Read more.

TheStreet.com: Amazon’s Biggest Rival Isn’t Walmart, It’s Congress

June 2, 2022

Over that period the company paid $1.9 billion in U.S. corporate income taxes, according to a 2021 analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Those payments gave Amazon an effective tax rate of just 4.3%, about a fifth of the 21% statutory U.S. corporate income tax rate. Read more

Wall Street Journal: States Help Business Owners Save Billions in Federal Taxes

June 2, 2022

“That’s logical from any individual state’s perspective, but in the big national scheme of things, it’s hard to see how this is a good thing,” said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive group. Read more

Bloomberg: Some States Are Offering Sales Tax Holidays for Shoppers in 2022

June 2, 2022

Last year, sales tax holidays cost states and local governments more than $550 million in lost revenue—that’s according to an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) survey of cost estimates from state tax expenditure reports, fiscal notes, revenue departments, and academic studies. Those numbers are up from an estimated $300 million in 2020. Read […]

The New York Times: State Lawmakers, Step Up and Govern

May 17, 2022

Below is an excerpt of a letter to the editor by Aidan Davis: The overarching theme that ties most of them together is that they are a default reaction among leaders who lack an ambitious, positive vision for the role of government. Read more

The Hill: Biden, Bezos Feud Escalates

May 17, 2022

Between 2014 and 2018, Bezos reported $4.22 billion income and paid $973 million in taxes. In that period, the Amazon founder and then-CEO’s wealth grew by $99 billion, according to the report. “I think he doesn’t want the public talking about the fact that wealthy people should pay taxes on their earnings, just like middle-class […]

MarketWatch: Jeff Bezos accuses Biden of ‘misdirection’ over inflation causes and solutions

May 16, 2022

A report earlier this year said Amazon avoided paying about $5.2 billion in corporate income taxes in 2021 as it reported record profits. The report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Amazon paid about $2.1 billion in federal taxes, an effective tax rate of about 6%. Read more

CNN: Fact-checking the Biden vs. Rick Scott argument over Scott’s tax proposal

May 10, 2022

Another analysis, from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy think tank, tested a different hypothetical policy that would satisfy Scott’s proposal to have all Americans pay some income tax. Under that policy, the institute found that the poorest fifth of Americans would face an average tax hike of just over $1,000. Read more

Washington Post: Corporate America takes first battle over future of Trump tax cuts

May 10, 2022

“That’s a fair trade,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, a left-leaning group that has along with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy voiced opposition to the incentive being restored. “It’s a deal, whereas this is not a deal.” Read more