Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Newsweek: We Shouldn’t Wait for Washington to Tax the Rich: We Can Begin at the State Level

February 11, 2019

Following is an excerpt from an op-ed by ITEP deputy director Meg Wiehe published in Newsweek Magazine: The historic role tax and other policies have played in exacerbating the wealth divide and discussions about how to remedy this injustice is a national conversation that is long overdue. Examining the federal policy landscape is a logical […]

The Guardian: How Did Netflix Get Away with Not Paying Income Tax in 2018

February 9, 2019

According to a blogpost from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the company posted its largest ever profit in 2018 – $845m – but paid no federal (or state) income tax. “After a year of speculation and spin, the public is getting its first hard look at how corporate tax law changes under the […]

The Daily Mail: Netflix Paid NOTHING in Federal or State Taxes in 2018

February 7, 2019

Netflix didn’t pay a cent in state or federal income taxes last year, despite posting its largest-ever U.S. profit in 2018 of $845million, according to a new report. In addition, the streaming giant reported a $22 million federal tax rebate, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Senior fellow at ITEP Matthew Gardner […]

Montana Public Radio: Lawmakers Hear Massive Proposal For Statewide Sales Tax

February 6, 2019

Another D.C. based think tank, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, puts Montana’s current tax system among their top ten most equitable systems in the country, in part because there’s no statewide sales tax. However ITEP research also indicates the poorest 20 percent of families in Montana pay more of a share of their […]

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New Report Outlines Seven Progressive Revenue-Raising Options

February 5, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

ITEP today released a report that charts a path for Congress to enact progressive, revenue-raising tax policies that would target high-income households and reverse the damage from TCJA and prior rounds of tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the well-off.

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Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Taxes

February 5, 2019 • By Matthew Gardner

The popular video streaming service Netflix posted its largest-ever U.S. profit in 2018­­—$845 million—on which it didn’t pay a dime in federal or state income taxes. In fact, the company reported a $22 million federal income tax rebate.

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Arkansas Senate Panel Fives Fast Nod to Governor’s Tax-cut Plan

February 5, 2019

While the finance department projected the governor’s tax will eventually reduce tax revenue by $97 million a year after it’s fully implemented, Lisa Gee, a senior policy analyst for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., said last week that she projected the governor’s income-tax cut would reduce state revenue by $157 […]

Bloomberg Tax: Economic Policy Group Proposes Slew of Progressive Tax Policies

February 5, 2019

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in a new report detailed several potential progressive tax policy proposals—including a revamp of capital gains taxation that would pull in nearly $2.5 trillion. The group previously released an outline of a wealth tax proposal just one day before Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a likely 2020 presidential contender, […]

Washington Post: Live Commentary on Trump’s SOTU

February 5, 2019

E.J. DIONNE JR., 9:27 p.m.: “A massive tax cut for working families.” Really? “If you look at the richest 1 percent, they’re getting more than the bottom 60 percent of Americans,” said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

City Lab: The Airbnb Effect: It’s Not Just Rising Home Prices

February 4, 2019

And cities with less stringent Airbnb regulations might also be losing out on a lot of tax revenue. Traditional lodging entities (when combining city, state, and county taxes), are taxed at an average rate of 13 percent in the 150 largest cities. But Airbnb is treated differently in different jurisdictions, and is trusted to self-report […]

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Why We Should Talk about Progressive Taxes Despite Billionaires’ Objections

January 30, 2019 • By Jenice Robinson

It was the tone-deaf remark heard ‘round the world. Last week on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested that furloughed government employees who hadn’t been paid in a month could go to a bank and get a loan to make ends meet. This was not a gaffe. It’s hard to fathom how a […]

Washington Post: Warren’s Push for a Wealth Tax Could Be a Game Changer

January 29, 2019

Many on the right are already lashing out at Warren’s proposal. (On Fox News, it was preposterously likened to Venezuelan socialism.) Others have argued that it would be unconstitutional, a dubious claim that relies on a controversial 1895 Supreme Court ruling that, as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains, “has been limited to […]

The Hill: Warren Stakes out Ground with Wealth Tax Proposal

January 28, 2019

Steve Wamhoff, director of tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said middle-income Americans are essentially already taxed on their wealth because most of it is in their homes, which come with property taxes. For the rich, however, homes tend to comprise a smaller percentage of their financial assets. Warren’s proposal would […]

Arizona Republic: Fact Check on Immigration

January 28, 2019

“It sounds extraordinarily high to me,” Meg Wiehe, deputy director at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told NBC. Read more

Chicago Sun-Times: 47th Ward Candidate for Alderman

January 28, 2019

We need more progressive revenue sources to help address our pension obligations. Our state’s combination of a flat income tax, high sales taxes, and heavy local reliance on property taxes is the basis for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranking of Illinois as having the fifth most regressive tax system in the United […]

Bloomberg: Warren’s Tax Proposal Aims at Assets of Wealthiest Americans

January 25, 2019

Her plan would do more to relieve inequality than New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s idea to raise the top income tax rate to 70 percent, according to Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. New research indicates that raising marginal income rates wouldn’t do […]

Washington Post: Elizabeth Warren to Propose Wealth Tax

January 25, 2019

Estimates of how much money can be raised by taxing the very rich vary dramatically. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, published a report on Wednesday finding that a 1 percent wealth tax on the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Americans would raise $1.3 trillion over a decade. That would affect […]

Wall Street Journal: Democrat Elizabeth Warren Proposes Wealth Tax

January 24, 2019

That is roughly 10 times the revenue that the current estate and gift taxes are projected to raise, but Ms. Warren’s “ultramillionaire-tax” proposal on the top 0.1% isn’t just about generating money to pay for government programs. It marks Democrats’ intense emphasis on inequality as the party tries to reclaim the White House in 2020. […]

CNBC: Elizabeth Warren proposes ‘wealth tax’ on Americans with more than $50 million in assets

January 24, 2019

While the 1 percent of Americans with the highest incomes receive about 20 percent of the total income in the United States, the top 1 percent of wealth holders collectively own more than 40 percent of the nation’s total wealth, according to a report published Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy arguing […]

New York Times: Warren’s Plan Is Latest Push by Democrats to Raise Taxes on the Rich

January 24, 2019

Ms. Warren appears to be the first declared Democratic candidate to release a plan for a wealth tax, but the idea is quickly gaining steam among liberal activists and policy experts. Two think tanks, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, released wealth-tax-themed policy briefs this week in […]

Politico: Let’s Talk Wealth Tax

January 24, 2019

Steve Wamhoff at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy projects that a wealth tax could raise well over $1 trillion in a decade, and notes that wealth inequality far outpaces income inequality in the U.S. “The goals of raising revenue and addressing inequality will be difficult to achieve if federal tax policy continues to […]

Bloomberg: Cannabis Excise Tax Revenue Could Eclipse Alcohol Revenue in 2019

January 23, 2019

Excise tax revenue from marijuana sales is expected to surpass alcohol excise collections in 2019, according to the co-author of a new report. Carl Davis, a research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, noted in his report that state and local retail marijuana excise tax collections already rivaled alcohol tax collections in […]

Bloomberg: Economic Policy Group Makes Case for 1 Percent Wealth Tax

January 23, 2019

A 1 percent tax on taxpayers’ net worth over $32.2 million, starting in 2020, would raise $1.26 trillion over a decade, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Top 1 percent of wealth holders own 42 percent of U.S. wealth, report says, citing research from University of California, Berkeley […]

Politico Morning Tax: The Broad View on Pot

January 23, 2019

There’s been plenty of coverage of states legalizing recreational marijuana and then overestimating how much revenue they’ll see. But a new report from the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes that while legalized pot will likely never be the central component of a state’s revenue stream, there’s still plenty of potential there. For […]

Maui Now: Report: Hawaii Could Recover $38M Lost to Corporate Tax Loopholes

January 19, 2019

Reforms to end corporate tax loopholes in Hawai‘i could reduce lost tax revenue and bring in an additional $38 million to the state, according to a new report released on Friday by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The report called “A Simple Fix for a $17 Billion Loophole,” takes a look at complicated […]