Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Washington Post: White House open to narrowing who qualifies for stimulus checks but keeping payments at $1,400 per person

February 2, 2021

Biden’s plan would provide stimulus payments to approximately 95 percent of the country, while the Republican plan, lowering the threshold to those making under $50,000 a year, would provide payments to about 70 percent of the country, according to preliminary estimates of the proposals by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think […]

Bloomberg: Vehicle Mile Tax Draws Fresh Attention as Buttigieg Takes Post

February 2, 2021

Large segments of the population are as skeptical of government as they’ve ever been, so asking them to install devices in their vehicles to determine how far and sometimes even where they’ve driven seems “tone deaf for this moment,” Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said. “I don’t know […]

The Hill: Biden plan would provide more taxpayers stimulus checks than GOP’s

February 2, 2021

The Tax Foundation’s findings are similar to an estimate from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that found that about 95 percent of adults and children are in households that would receive payments under Biden’s plan. Read more

Nevada Current: NV can have a job-creating energy agenda, unless it costs money

February 2, 2021

The bottom 20 percent of Nevadans with an income of less than $20,500 pay 10.2 percent of their daily income in taxes, including 7 percent in sales tax, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. However, Nevadans with an income of $473,600 or higher only pay about 2 percent share of their household […]

The (Tacoma) News Tribune: Washington parents would get big tax breaks under Biden’s COVID relief plan

February 2, 2021

The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that the second lowest 20% of Washington income earners, those making $28,800 to $53,200, would save an average $2,470. The middle 20%, who make $53,200 to $84,400, would get an average $2,190 break, and the next group of 20% would see an average $2,110 break. They earn […]

Market Place: Caught in the Unemployment Benefits Gap

February 1, 2021

This episode features commentary from Jessica Scheider on the risk of too small a stimulus. Read more: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace/people-caught-unemployment-benefits-gap/

news release  

New Analysis: President Biden’s Proposed Child Tax Credit Expansion Would Reduce Poverty, Address Racial Disparities

January 26, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Media contact The credit would boost after-tax income for the poorest 20 percent by $4,570 or an average 37% of their incomes  President Biden’s proposed expansion to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) as part of his American Rescue Plan would provide a financial boost to most of the nation’s families with children, but it would […]

news release  

ITEP: Biden’s American Rescue Plan Is the Start We Need to Right the Economy

January 14, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer

Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding President-elect Biden’s economic package released today.  “President-elect Biden’s plan offers sound solutions to the health and economic fallout of COVID-19 and promises to address structural challenges that made so many families economically vulnerable in the first place.   […]

Business Insider: The poorest quintile of Americans will get a 29% income boost if $2,000 stimulus checks become a reality, a new report finds

January 12, 2021

Low-income Americans can expect to see a significant income boost if the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help Act passes in the Senate. The House passed the CASH Act on Dec. 28, which would increase stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000, among other measures. According to a report published last week by the Institute on […]

Yahoo! Finance: $2,000 stimulus checks would be a massive boost for America’s poorest

January 12, 2021

America’s poorest families would see their incomes grow by more than quarter if the $2,000 stimulus check proposal that President-elect Joe Biden supports passes, according to a new analysis. The 20% of households with the lowest incomes would see their annual income increase by 29% if Congress passes the provision under the CASH Act, the Institute on […]

Newsweek: $2,000 Stimulus Checks Would ‘Significantly’ Help 60% With Lowest Income: Report

January 12, 2021

A $2,000 payment would give a 60 percent majority of Americans, those with annual incomes under $65,000, an average income boost of 11 percent, according to a reportreleased last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The bottom 20 percent, those with incomes below $21,300 per year, would see a substantial average income […]

Robesonian: Tax Debates Feature Many Myths

January 12, 2021

On the other hand, our federal tax code, even after the Bush-era and Trump-era tax changes, is rather progressive. It taxes the wealthy at much higher rates than the nonwealthy. If you combine the effects of all taxes — and you should because we all pay taxes at multiple levels and because lots of federal […]

Jacobin: Joe Manchin and Mitch McConnell’s Case Against $2,000 Checks Is Complete Garbage

January 12, 2021

In all, the bottom 60 percent of income earners — who made less than $65,000 in 2020 — “would see an average income increase of 11 percent by a $2,000 payment,” according to the report from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). That compares with just a 3 percent increase with only the […]

MarketWatch: Already Spent Your $600 Stimulus Check? Another May Be on the Way

January 12, 2021

If passed, the CASH Act — in combination with the latest round of $600 stimulus checks — would boost the incomes of the poorest 20% of Americans by an estimated 28.7%, according to research published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank. These Americans had projected incomes of less than […]

The Business Times: The Wealth Tax Is Going Global

January 9, 2021

There’s no income tax in Washington state, home to some of the world’s richest people: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos; his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer. That’s led to a system that is the most regressive in the US, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

Law360: ITEP Says Incomes Of Poorest Would Rise 29% With $2K Checks

January 8, 2021

ncreasing economic payments to $2,000 from $600 as part of a coronavirus stimulus bill would have a “significant impact” on the households of lowest-income Americans, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has found.The study, published Wednesday, found that the poorest 60% of households — those with incomes of less than $65,000 […]

The Hill: Democrats vow to deliver $2K checks with control of Senate

January 8, 2021

But Democrats argue that the more-direct assistance to Americans is needed at a time when many are struggling to cover basic expenses. According to an analysis released Thursday by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, people in the bottom 60 percent of income would on average see their income rise by 11 percent […]

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Tax-Increase Agenda Revived as Democrats Win Senate

January 7, 2021

Now, some of Mr. Biden’s ideas are much more likely to become law, said Steve Wamhoff of the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who said that the president-elect’s plans are less far-reaching than some Democratic alternatives and are broadly popular with the public. “The issue was always, could Democrats get something on the […]

Austin American Statesman: GOP creates ‘socialism for rich’ and bupkis for the rest of us

January 7, 2021

A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported on the first year following the passage of the GOP tax cuts and found that 91 of the Fortune 500 companies effectively paid no federal taxes in 2018, and some even got refunds. Here are two examples from that list. In 2018, Amazon (whose founder […]

Bloomberg: The Wealth Tax Is Going Global

January 6, 2021

There’s no income tax in Washington state, home to some of the world’s richest people: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos; his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer. That’s led to a system that is the most regressive in the U.S., according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: […]

Bloomberg Tax: Taxing Tech Giants on Cash-Strapped States’ Agendas in New Year

December 28, 2020

The spate of proposals could mean higher tax bills for tech titans Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix, in addition to the millions of consumers using their services. Agencies will next year push more to tax tech companies “in ways that achieve parity with the traditional goods and services economy,” said Carl Davis, director […]

Barrons: Elon Musk Shrugs at Tesla’s $5 Billion Stock Issuance. ‘It’s an Entry in a Database.’

December 9, 2020

Musk has another good reason for moving to Texas: taxes. His 170 million shares of Tesla are worth $110 billion. And he could pay billions of dollars if he were to be taxed at California rates instead of Texas, which doesn’t have a state income tax. Indeed, the top 1% of California taxpayers pay an […]

Newsweek: Will Republicans Show They Can Reach Across the Aisle on Tax Policy?

December 4, 2020

Following is an excerpt of an opinion piece by Steve Wamhoff published in Newsweek: During his campaign, President-elect Joe Biden talked about raising taxes on rich people more than any candidate in recent memory—and he won. Beating an incumbent president is rare, but Biden pulled it off and appears to be the first presidential incumbent-challenger […]

The New York Times: In Blue States and Red, Pandemic Upends Public Services and Jobs

December 4, 2020

Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said Wyoming at least was dealing with the painful reality. “The bigger kind of cuts that will resonate with people are all going to come to a head in the early part of next year,” Ms. Wiehe said. “We’re staring down some […]

The Conversation: A better way for billionaires who want to make massive donations to benefit society

December 4, 2020

Aside from concerns that Amazon is anti-competitive, the U.S. government is investigating Amazon for labor violations. Its workers around the world are staging protests, and the company has retaliated by reportedly paying contractors to spy on them. Amazon paid nothing at all in U.S. federal income tax in 2018 on the more than $11 billion […]