Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Washington Post: Why the U.S. Economy Is Worse Than It Seems

August 27, 2019

The situation looks very different at the high end of the economic scale. Over the past decade, the nation’s highest earners (the 95th percentile) saw their wages grow at almost four times the rate of those whose earnings put them in the middle of the pack (the 50th percentile). Even more remarkably, the top 1 […]

NPR: California Says Its Cannabis Revenue Has Fallen Short Of Estimates, Despite Gains

August 23, 2019

“After adjusting for population, the Golden State raised the second-least amount of revenue from cannabis taxes during the second quarter among states with legal sales, ahead of only Massachusetts,” according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The result was a departure from the spikes seen in states such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon […]

The Hill: Conservatives Push Trump Tariff Relief over Payroll Tax Cuts

August 23, 2019

And conservatives aren’t the only critics of a potential payroll tax reduction. Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said there are more targeted ways to boost consumer spending among low- and middle-income people. “It is inaccurate to think of a payroll tax cut as an […]

BBC: Three Ways Trump Could Juice the Economy

August 22, 2019

The policy was last used during the Obama administration in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis when it faced huge pushback from Congressional Republicans. In 2011 and 2012, the former president lowered the payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2%, immediately giving American workers more disposable income. The White House is nervous that something bad […]

Fortune: What Trump’s Brief Flirtation With a Payroll Tax Cut Says About the State of the Economy

August 21, 2019

“The administration based the big 2017 tax cut on the idea that it would spur economic growth,” says Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. “At a time when there’s little evidence that it’s doing so, they’re under pressure to find […]

Politico Morning Tax: Moderately Short

August 21, 2019

In all, the Congressional Research Service found in 2016 that the seven states collect some $563 million a year in taxes on internet access, and some experts worry that the budget math in those capitals could be more difficult next year without those revenues. “It could prove to be a very ill-timed tax cut, from […]

CBS News: Why Trump’s Payroll Tax Cut Wouldn’t Do Much for the Economy

August 20, 2019

There’s also a political risk in saying the economy needs a spark only 18 months after the Republican party passed one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history. “The Trump administration said their 2017 law was a middle-class tax cut. So when they’re saying, ‘Now we need a cut to help consumers,’ it’s an […]

Washington Times: Trump Says He’s Considering Cut in Payroll Taxes, Calls on Fed to Cut Rates

August 20, 2019

Cutting payroll taxes that fund Social Security programs “should not be cut except in extreme situations,” said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In 2011 and 2012, Congress and President Obama reduced the part of the payroll tax paid directly by employees from 6.2% to 4.2%. […]

Governing: High on Pot Taxes

August 20, 2019

But even with maximized revenue, pot taxes will likely only account for about 1 percent of overall state budgets, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The $266 million Colorado collected in 2018, for instance, pales next to the state’s $15 billion in total revenues and $32 billion budget. Read more

New York Times: Trump’s Policy Could Alter the Face of the American Immigrant

August 15, 2019

For example, an updated report released in March 2017 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants alone contribute $11.74 billion each year in taxes, though they do not qualify for most public benefits. Read more

Boston WCVB: Last Sales Tax Holiday Cost State up to $38M

August 14, 2019

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in a July report that the benefits from sales tax holidays are “minimal,” saying the benefits disproportionately benefit already-wealthy taxpayers and cost crucial revenue that will need to be made up elsewhere. “In the long run, sales tax holidays leave a regressive tax system unchanged, and the […]

NewsDay: Green card policy is shortsighted

August 14, 2019

Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, found in April that 60 top corporations not only paid no federal income tax for 2018, but received tax refunds from the public treasury. Money for these refunds comes partly from taxes paid by those targeted immigrants. Read more

Forbes: Capital Gains Tax Tug-Of-War: Democratic Presidential Candidates, Trump’s Indexing, And IRS Forms

August 13, 2019

The concept of capital gains indexing has been around for a while, as shown in a report issued by the Congressional Budget Office back in 1990, when long-term capital gains did not have the preferential long-term tax rates of 0%, 15%, and 20%. This tax policy has its supporters (see Tax Foundation and Americans for […]

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The Mortgage Interest Deduction Is a House of Cards

August 12, 2019 • By Jessica Schieder

Given how much more exclusively this deduction now benefits the highest-income households, its continued existence is hard to justify. Even when the credit was available to a larger swath of families, it was ineffective at promoting homeownership.

Here and Now: The Impact of Company Tax Breaks on Cities

August 12, 2019

On this nationally syndicated radio program, ITEP research director Carl Davis describes why cities and states should reconsider doling out tax breaks to corporations in exchange for promised economic development and jobs. Tax incentives are not why companies relocate, he said. Cities and states should instead invest in their communities, which in turn will attract […]

Cleveland Scene: Despite Tax Cuts, Lower-Income Ohioans Likely Won’t See Savings Under Ohio’s New Budget

August 12, 2019

The budget eliminated the state’s bottom two tax brackets below about $21,000 a year, increased the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and took other measures to put money in non-wealthy Ohioans’ pockets. But it also slashed taxes for wealthy Ohioans and boosted the state’s gas tax while directing the state to collect sales taxes on […]

Columbus Dispatch: Make over $208,000 a Year? If Not, Ohio’s Tax Cut Won’t Help

August 11, 2019

In plain language, the rich get richer and the poor (and middle class) get poorer. In fact, only the most affluent 5% of Ohioans (those making more than $208,000 a year) wind up with a net tax cut. The data comes from an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., […]

Akron Beacon-Journal: Make the State Earned Income Tax Credit refundable

August 9, 2019

The analysis, conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, found a familiar outcome. The changes favor wealthier households, those at the top 5 percent of household incomes enjoying an overall reduction in taxes. The rest of Ohioans will see a tax increase, albeit slight. This has been the pattern the past 14 years […]

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Taxing Offshore Profits and Domestic Profits Equally Could Curb Corporate Tax Dodging

August 9, 2019 • By Steve Wamhoff

In recent days, presidential candidates Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio have called for taxing corporate profits the same whether they are earned in the United States or abroad. These calls echo the position of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has long had a proposal along these lines. As ITEP has explained, correcting […]

Associated Press: Oil Unease: Alaska Faces Tough Budget Decisions

August 8, 2019

Carl Davis, research director with the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said cutting the dividend is regressive, hitting lower-income families particularly hard. He sees no conflict between paying a dividend and taxing residents. While some Democrats want to debate oil taxes and whether companies are paying enough, Dunleavy has focused on cutting […]

CNN: Fact Check Democratic debate, night 2

August 1, 2019

Bennet: “Since 2001, we have cut $5 trillion worth of taxes. Almost all of it has gone to the wealthiest people in America.” THE FACTS: This is exaggerated. Bennet’s claim is based on a 2018 report from the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. It finds tax cuts under Presidents Donald Trump, […]

New York Times: Debate Fact Check: What Were They Talking About, and What Was True?

August 1, 2019

What Mr. Bennet said: “Since 2001, we have cut $5 trillion worth of taxes. Almost all of it has gone to the wealthiest people in America.” This is exaggerated. Mr. Bennet’s claim is based on a 2018 report from the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. It finds tax cuts under Presidents […]

Wall Street Journal: Going Out of Style: Tax-Driven Deals to Move Corporate HQs Outside U.S.

August 1, 2019

Through mergers, companies such as Allergan, Mylan, Medtronic and Johnson Controls PLC moved tax addresses abroad. The companies were often managed from the U.S. “It was always a fiction that they were foreign,” said Steve Wamhoff, director for federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal group critical of corporate tax […]

NBC News: Fact-check: The July Democratic debate 2019, Night 2

August 1, 2019

Did ‘almost all’ of the tax cuts since 2001 go to the wealthiest Americans? “Since 2001, we have cut $5 trillion worth of taxes. Almost all of it has gone to the wealthiest people in America,” Michael Bennet claimed Wednesday night. This is exaggerated. Nearly two-thirds of $5.1 trillion in tax cuts went to the […]

Time: Democrats Made Lots of Claims During the Second Debates. Here Are the Facts

August 1, 2019

Amazon paid $0 in federal income tax in the U.S. in 2018 after making over $11 billion in profits, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. What’s more, the analysis found that Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of $129 million. Amazon has paid federal taxes in previous years, […]