Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

CNN: Democratic Debate Night 1

July 31, 2019

According to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for the second year running, Amazon made a profit of more than $11 billion in 2018, but reported a $129 million tax rebate from the federal government. Amazon does pay state taxes, and has also paid federal taxes in the past. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Amazon’s […]

New York Times: Trump Administration Is Divided Over Tax Cut for Investors

July 31, 2019

But critics argue that the administration could open the door to a variety of unintended consequences, including allowing investors to exploit the change. Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote in a June report criticizing the proposal that indexing capital gains for just certain types […]

Newsweek: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reminds America Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes: ‘They Pay Your Kids’ Schooling’

July 31, 2019

While it is difficult to say exactly how much undocumented immigrants contribute in taxes today, a 2013 report from the Institute On Taxation and Economic Policy highlighted how “the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States” at the time were “already paying a significant share of their income in state and local taxes.” […]

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

July 31, 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, […]

Washington Times: 2020 Democratic Candidates Put Trump’s Corporate Tax Rate Cut in Crosshairs

July 31, 2019

Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, agreed that the rate alone isn’t enough. “If we raise the corporate income tax rate but we leave in place some of the rules right now that seem to be encouraging American corporations to have more tangible assets offshore, more […]

Orlando Sentinel: Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday – a Costly Gimmick

July 31, 2019

And an analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said one of the alleged benefits — that the tax holidays stimulate spending — is bogus. Why? Because if your kid needs a backpack, your kid needs a backpack. Maybe you buy it this weekend. Maybe you buy it next weekend. Either way, you […]

WPEC: Retailers Ready for Back-to-School Tax ‘Holiday’

July 31, 2019

But not everyone is sold on the value of sales-tax holidays. The Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit liberal think tank, calls such holidays an “outdated gimmick.” Dylan Grundman, a senior policy analyst for the institute, argued in a news release that the brief holiday periods don’t reduce taxes for low- […]

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Sales Tax Holiday, Here’s What You Need To Know

July 30, 2019

The Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit liberal think tank, calls such holidays an “outdated gimmick.” Dylan Grundman, a senior policy analyst for the institute, argued in a news release that the brief holiday periods don’t reduce taxes for low- and moderate-income families the rest of the year. He pointed to […]

Salt Lake Tribune: Treatment of Immigrants Is a Dark Stain on America

July 28, 2019

Immigrants contribute more in tax revenues than they receive in government benefits. Per the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.6 billion annually in taxes, yet they are not eligible for federal benefits except in dire circumstances like medical emergencies. In 2017, all immigrants paid $405.4 billion in federal, state […]

Chattanooga Times Free-Press: Yet Again, Tennessee Combined State, Local Sales Tax Rates Nation’s Highest

July 27, 2019

While the sales tax is the workhorse of Tennessee’s budget, it’s also seen by critics as a “regressive tax” in that it takes a larger percentage of income from the pockets of lower-income and, some say, middle-income earners than those with higher incomes. Heavy reliance on the sales tax has thrust Tennessee into the No. […]

Filter: Kamala Harris Cannabis Legalization Bill Is Also About Immigrant Justice

July 25, 2019

While some critics, like Carl Davis, the research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, argue that Harris’s bill would just be a tax-cut for Big Marijuana, the MORE Act would begin to pave the way for more undocumented people to participate in an industry from which they have been unequally excluded. Read […]

Reno News Review: Another Portrait of Ripped-off Nevadans

July 25, 2019

But wait, there’s more bad news for Nevada. The New York Times editorialized last Sunday on the growing trend toward inequality caused by how state and local taxes are assessed. According to a 2018 study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, (ITEP) “the poor pay taxes at higher rates in 45 of the […]

Politico: Taxing the Pot

July 24, 2019

So how might this actually be a tax cut? By removing marijuana from the controlled substance list, Harris and Nadler would also make legitimate businesses eligible to deduct routine business expenses — something the industry has been seeking for years. Carl Davis of the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said it would be […]

Anchorage Daily News: As Alaska’s Budget Uproar Rolls on, a Top Dunleavy Adviser Has Seen It Before

July 24, 2019

Arduin, Laffer & Moore has been criticized by economists for what some see as less than rigorous methods. One Oklahoma study on eliminating the state’s personal income tax produced by the firm was trashed as not “meeting professional standards” and including “biased and greatly exaggerated estimates” by University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University economists. […]

KCBS: Kamala Harris’ Pot Proposal Would Reduce Tax Revenue, Expert Predicts

July 23, 2019

Harris’ proposal would impose a 5% federal tax on pot to pay for new social justice program. Her legislation would also extend significant income tax deductions that have been unavailable to business people in the cannabis industry, because of federal prohibitions on the drug. “There’s actually a really big income tax cut in here,” said Carl […]

New York Times: State and Local Taxes Are Worsening Inequality

July 21, 2019

Low-income households in Illinois pay about 14 cents in state and local taxes from every dollar of income, while the state’s most affluent households pay about 7 cents per dollar. That gap between the poor and the wealthy in Illinois is one of the largest in any state, but the poor pay taxes at higher […]

Washington Post: Trump Aides to Look for Big Spending Cuts in Second Term

July 20, 2019

… with 2018, with 60 Fortune 500 companies paying no federal taxes at all, according to a 2018 study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

New York Times: Back-to-School Sales Tax ‘Holidays’ Lure Shoppers Despite Slim Savings

July 19, 2019

But the tax holidays put a damper on state revenue and don’t necessarily deliver the business results they promise, said Dylan Grundman, a senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “People shift purchases, but don’t increase their overall spending,” Mr. Grundman said. “So the boost to business doesn’t really materialize.” Read […]

Concord Monitor: Why won’t Sununu fight tax avoidance by multinational firms?

July 19, 2019

The estimated revenue loss to New Hampshire was $177 million in 2018, according to a Jan. 17 review by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The name of the review is “A Simple Fix for a $17 Billion Loophole.” In particular, the tax code favors foreign-based multinational corporations operating in New Hampshire. This favoritism […]

Tampa Bay Times: Billions in Profits and No Income Tax Bill? That’s not Fair

July 19, 2019

Amazon made $10.8 billion last year and did not pay a penny in corporate income tax. In fact, it claimed a federal income tax rebate of $129 million. It’s not alone. Sixty profitable Fortune 500 companies avoided all federal income taxes by taking advantage of lax provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. […]

CNBC: Blue states file suit against IRS over rules on SALT workarounds

July 17, 2019

Whether the final rule will ultimately deter people from donating to these funds remains to be seen. “If you’re really passionate about private school vouchers in Georgia, you donate and you still get 100% of your donation back,” Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told CNBC. “You just won’t […]

Chicago Booth Review: Why Some Companies Don’t Maximize Tax Avoidance

July 15, 2019

This conundrum may come as a surprise to those who noticed that Amazon, Netflix, General Motors, and at least 57 other Fortune 500 companies didn’t pay a cent in US income tax last year on a combined $79 billion of profits, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. But as Weisbach has put […]

The Hill: 2020 Democrats Push Tax Hike on Wealthy Investors

July 14, 2019

Former President Obama proposed raising capital gains rates for high earners to 28 percent, still short of the top ordinary income tax rate. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton proposed increasing capital gains rates for investments held in the medium term but proposed keeping the top long-term rate the same. And Democrats […]

CNN: Amazon’s Less-Than-Zero Tax Rate Is Unacceptable

June 28, 2019

So, what is Amazon’s tax rate? According to The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, it was at 11% from 2011 to 2016, which was apparently too much for owner Jeff Bezos’s tastes — Amazon’s 2018 income tax rate plummeted to -1%. That’s a minus sign in front of the 1, signaling a negative tax […]

Bankrate.com: Six Key Takeaways from the First Round of Debates

June 28, 2019

Big technology companies such as Amazon have been hit with criticism in recent months, including after the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reported in February that the online retail giant paid nothing in federal taxes on its $11.2 billion in profits. In October 2018, CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the online retail giant […]