Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Fortune: Trump Doesn’t Want Us to See His Real Tax Plan

August 30, 2017

Following is an excerpt from a op-ed by Alan Essig, executive director of ITEP, published on Fortune. President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are eager to turn our attention to tax changes. This Wednesday, Trump will head to Missouri to promote the supply-side argument for tax cuts. But he doesn’t want us to […]

Quartz: Most of Trump’s Tax Cuts Would Go to Taxpayers Making over $599,300 a Year

August 30, 2017

He didn’t provide any specifics about how these things might happen however. So far, the most detail that’s been offered about Trump’s tax reform plan is a one-page, less-than 250 word outline handed out at a White House press briefing in April. Using that and subsequent statements from administration officials as a guide, the Institute […]

HuffPost: Donald Trump Kicks Off Push For Tax Reform In Missouri

August 30, 2017

The president spoke at an event at Loren Cook Co., which manufactures fans, blowers and lab exhaust systems. The company’s owner donated to Trump and to various Missouri GOP officials during the 2016 campaign cycle. We don’t know much yet about Trump’s plan for tax reform ― but based on the broad outlines released by the […]

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Sorting Through the Fallacies in Trump’s Missouri Tax Speech

August 30, 2017 • By Steve Wamhoff

Sorting Through the Fallacies in Trump’s Missouri Tax Speech

President Donald Trump spoke in Springfield, Missouri today about the need for a tax reform that provides “more jobs and higher wages for America” and “tax relief for middle-class families.” But the proposals the Trump administration has released so far would cut taxes for companies moving investment offshore and would provide most tax cuts to the richest one percent of taxpayers.

The Fiscal Times: Will Trump’s Corporate Tax Reform Really Boost the Economy?

August 30, 2017

A territorial tax system is still open to abuse: Although there may be benefits to changing the way foreign profits are taxed, there is no guarantee that tax dodging will be reduced. “It’s an endless cat-and-mouse game” that leaves countries racing to lower their business tax rates to zero, Matthew Gardner of the Institute on […]

The New York Times: Trump Tax Plan May Free Up Corporate Dollars, but Then What?

August 30, 2017

But skeptics worry that making the system airtight is impossible. “It’s an endless cat-and-mouse game,” said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research group based in Washington. “What’s driving companies to engage in paper transactions is not our 35 percent tax rate,” he said, but other countries’ willingness […]

The Washington Post: Trump Says a Corporate Tax Cut Would Create More Jobs. Economists Aren’t So Sure.

August 30, 2017

IPS used data from company filings — analyzed by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning research organization — to make a list of publicly held firms that made a profit every year from 2008 to 2015 and that also paid less than 20 percent of their earnings in federal corporate income tax. Ninety-two companies fit that description, including […]

The New York Times: It’s a Myth That Corporate Tax Cuts Mean More Jobs

August 30, 2017

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, AT&T enjoyed an effective tax rate of just 8 percent between 2008 and 2015, despite recording a profit in the United States each year, by exploiting tax breaks and loopholes. (The company argues that it pays significant taxes, at a rate close to 34 percent in […]

The Columbian: A Taxing Debate

August 30, 2017

The awe actually should be over Ryan’s selective use of facts. As Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times reported: “Not only is Boeing gushing cash, but its own financial documents show it has actually paid an average federal income tax of just 3.2 percent of profits over the past 15 years. That’s less than one-tenth […]

The Chicago Tribune: After the Rush Job to Use Public Money on Private Schools, Now We Wait

August 30, 2017

Third, the Illinois program specifies that donations to scholarship funds — up to $1,000 a year for an individual — are not eligible for the 75 percent state tax credit if the taxpayer also claims that donation as a charitable contribution for federal tax purposes. This provision eliminates the ability of donors in higher tax […]

The Street: Corporate Tax Cuts Promote CEO Pay Raises and Stock Buybacks, Not Jobs

August 30, 2017

A new study from the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., analyzes data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy to determine what companies that pay lower tax rates do with their extra earnings. Researchers looked at 92 publicly-held companies that reported a U.S. profit from 2008 to 2015 […]

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ITEP on President Trump’s Missouri Visit: The Policy Doesn’t Match the Rhetoric

August 30, 2017 • By Alan Essig

ITEP on President Trump’s Missouri Visit: The Policy Doesn’t Match the Rhetoric

Following is a statement by Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding President Trump’s visit to Springfield, Mo. The president is expected to tout his plans for overhauling the federal tax code. “Much like the GOP health plan was a tax cut for the wealthy masquerading as health reform, […]

The Hill: We Still Have More Hate to Remove from the White House

August 25, 2017

The DACA program was implemented through an executive action by President Obama in 2012, and has since provided temporary relief from deportation to the young immigrant population. According to the PEW Research Center, more than 750,000 young unauthorized immigrants have received work permits and relief from deportation and in 2017 up to 512,000 unauthorized immigrants […]

Politico: Here We Go Again

August 25, 2017

House tax writers have been doing their part to drum up support over the recess, with Ryan stopping by Boeing on Thursday. Critics were quick to note that Boeing is hardly the poster child for a company weighed down by a high corporate tax rate. “GOP leaders tout corporate tax cuts at Boeing and AT&T, […]

The Seattle Times: Paul Ryan Picked the Most Awkward Spot in America to Argue for Corporate Tax Cuts

August 25, 2017

“The question with Boeing isn’t whether high taxes are hurting them, because that’s ludicrous on the face of it,” says Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., outfit that tracks the taxes companies pay. “The question with Boeing is: How much lower could their taxes possibly […]

The Fiscal Times: Why Boeing Isn’t the Best Poster Child for Corporate Tax Reform

August 25, 2017

Critics have been lighting up the internet pointing out that Boeing isn’t the ideal poster child for corporate tax reform since it and many other major corporations don’t pay anything like a 35 percent tax rate. Matthew Gardner of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy points out that according to ITEP’s analysis, Boeing […]

The American Prospect: Paul Ryan Is Lying About High Corporate Tax Rates

August 24, 2017

Republicans are taking their corporate tax-cut campaign on the road. House Speaker Paul Ryan visited airplane manufacturer Boeing on Thursday in Washington state, where he lamented how the company is quivering underneath the weight of a 35 percent tax rate. Meanwhile, Ways & Means Chair Kevin Brady sang the same song at telecom giant AT&T’s […]

Illinois Public Radio: Flat Vs. Graduated Income Tax

August 24, 2017

Obviously to be fair to taxpayers, Illinois needs the flexibility to tax lower levels of income at lower rates and higher levels of income at higher rates. The constitutional prohibition against that makes Illinois a national outlier. Of the 41 states in America with an income tax, 33 have graduated rate structures. Illinois is one […]

Chicago Tribune: Put the Brakes on GOP’s Backdoor Voucher Idea

August 24, 2017

Donors to the scholarship funds are also allowed to count that donation as a standard charitable donation for federal income tax purposes, meaning, as one Georgia agency that distributes to schools enthuses on its website, “You will end with more money than when you started.” And the higher your tax bracket, the higher your risk-free […]

Think Progress: Trump Plans Major Tax Cut for the Rich But Americans Want the Exact Opposite

August 23, 2017

“Regardless of what state you live in, the Trump tax proposals were not created to benefit you unless you are really well-off,” Steve Wamhoff, senior fellow for federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote in July. “In fact, low- and middle-income people would inevitably face a net loss after cuts […]

The Epoch Times: Trump Targets Amazon Over Sales Tax and Retail Jobs

August 23, 2017

More than half of items sold on Amazon are coming through third-party retailers, according to a CNBC report. These retailers can benefit from Amazon’s facilities or payment system, but they are not required to collect sales tax. It is still a pending issue and a meaningful revenue loss for states, said Carl Davis, research director […]

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Inaccuracies Pile Up During Speaker Ryan’s Town Hall Meeting

August 22, 2017 • By Steve Wamhoff

Inaccuracies Pile Up During Speaker Ryan’s Town Hall Meeting

On Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan participated in a live-broadcast town hall meeting in his district in Wisconsin where he discussed tax reform, among other issues. One could credit Ryan for holding such a meeting, but sadly, anyone wishing to learn about the rationale for Ryan’s ideas on taxes would have been disappointed.

Journal Transcript: Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Cisco Systems, Inc. Buoyed By Trump Proposed 10% Tax Rate

August 18, 2017

The fact that the 5.25% one-time rate in 2004 failed to have the desired impact on American job growth is another headwind that could hinder the proposed 10% rate from coming into effect. The Trump administration will have to come up with a way of preventing the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, and Apple from […]

NPR’s MarketPlace: Doing the Math on Back-to-School Tax Breaks

August 18, 2017

This week, we’re going to talk a little about saving. Sixteen states offer tax holidays during the year, a tax-free day or two of purchasing certain items, like hunting gear and weather-preparedness products. Several of those states have specific back-to-school sales tax holidays targeting school supplies. It’s a popular but controversial tool meant to help […]

New York Times: Does Amazon Pay Taxes?

August 17, 2017

“If this was five years ago, the tweet would be making a very compelling point,” said Carl Davis, the research director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Historically, “there is no doubt that Amazon used its ability to not collect sales tax to gain a competitive advantage.” But that criticism is outdated. […]