Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

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 […]

blog  

The Mortgage Interest Deduction Is a House of Cards

August 12, 2019 • By Jessica Schieder

The Mortgage Interest Deduction Is a House of Cards

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 […]

blog  

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

August 9, 2019 • By Steve Wamhoff

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

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, […]

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 […]