Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Philadelphia Inquirer: If We are Overpaid and Underworked, Why is There a Teacher Shortage?

August 17, 2017

Lower-income Pennsylvanians pay nearly three times as much of their income in taxes as higher-income residents (those making more than $426,000/year). The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has ranked Pennsylvania as the 6th most unfair state tax system in the country. In other words, Pennsylvania’s poor and middle class families are already paying more […]

The Atlantic: The Tax Break Dividing the Republican Party

August 17, 2017

“You can never really know if they’re changing people’s behavior,” said Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Gardner pointed me to a quote from Paul O’Neill, President George W. Bush’s first Treasury secretary, who told a Senate committee at his 2001 confirmation hearing: “If you want to […]

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Context Is Everything

August 17, 2017 • By Alan Essig

Context Is Everything

Today, the economic climate is starkly different, but it seems GOP leaders are relying on messaging and luck to push through the biggest tax package since 1986. The White House, Republican leaders and anti-tax advocates all have been toeing the same erroneous line: their plans to cut individual and corporate taxes will benefit middle class families and grow the economy. This is, of course, baloney.

Associated Press: Tense Days for Business Owners without Legal Status in US

August 17, 2017

Those selling often see no choice but to take a loss. Under Trump, detentions of immigrants in the country illegally rose 37 percent over the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2016. The administration says it is focused on those with criminal records, but the number of detainees who […]

The Motley Fool: Seven States that Tax the Poor the Most

August 16, 2017

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), here are the seven worst offenders when we’re talking about the working-age population. Specifically, these are the seven states where inequality increases to the greatest degree from pre-state-tax income to post-state-tax incomes, as calculated by ITEP’s formula. Read more

Portland Tribune: Workers without Legal Documents Still Pay Taxes

August 15, 2017

All in all, undocumented working Oregonians contribute about $81 million in state and local taxes per year, according to recent estimates by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). To put that in perspective, that is enough to hire 925 Oregon teachers. And these figures do not include the federal income taxes undocumented workers […]

USA Today Network: Gov. Rick Scott Wants Super Majority Vote for Tax Hikes

August 14, 2017

But one tax policy expert said future lawmakers will eventually find ways around the super majority requirement. Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said voters expect elected officials to make financial decisions without such a mandate.  “What they’re trying to do is artificially limit the amount of […]

Washington Examiner: Mitch McConnell Faces Dug-in Democrats on Tax Reform

August 13, 2017

“There’s been more and more awareness that actually C-corporations are not paying 35 percent in taxes,” said Steven Wamhoff, a tax expert at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-of-center think tank. His group has highlighted that corporations as a group pay much lower than 35 percent of their profits in taxes, thanks […]

New York Times: Questions Emerge Over What Wisconsin Must Give for Foxconn Plant

August 11, 2017

Mr. Walker, who has made promises of job creation a centerpiece of his two terms in office, has pushed lawmakers to move quickly in approving the bill, which would offer Foxconn, a producer of flat-panel display screens for televisions and other consumer electronics, close to $3 billion in state tax credits. The subsidies for the […]

AP: School Voucher Programs Raise Questions about Transparency and Accountability

August 11, 2017

The AAA Scholarship Foundation Inc. which runs programs in Nevada and five other states, says it doesn’t give tax advice but has, when asked, shared an IRS memo on the matter. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy say loopholes in the tax code would allow contributors to both eliminate their state tax bill and […]

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The Many Reasons for the Seattle Income Tax

August 10, 2017 • By Lisa Christensen Gee

The Many Reasons for the Seattle Income Tax

A month ago, the Seattle City Council passed an income tax measure, which has garnered a lot of attention as well as volumes of supportive and opposition commentary. Haven’t had a chance to dive into the details yet? We’ve got you covered. What is the new income tax law and who does it impact? The […]

Wall Street Journal: Lawsuit Says Seattle’s ‘Tax-the-Rich’ Measure Violates State Constitution

August 9, 2017

The tax would bring in about $140 million every year for the city. The money would be used to fund affordable housing, education and transit services, and replace federal funding that might be lost because of federal budget cuts. Backers of the tax say they want the rich to pay their fair share. The state […]

International Business Times: How Changing Corporate Tax Rates Affects The Economy, Government Revenue

August 7, 2017

As Suarez Serrato pointed out in the IBT interview, the study also highlighted the gulf between statutory and effective corporate tax rates.  While the federal corporate rate stands at 35 percent and the average state rate is just over 6 percent, two studies by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that, taking loopholes into […]

USA Today: In Some States, Sales Tax Holidays Lose Luster

August 4, 2017

For more than a decade after New York started the modern trend in 1997, the number of states with annual sales tax holidays grew steadily. But the count peaked at 19 in 2010, and this year’s tally is one fewer than last year. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that states lost $300 million […]

Politifact: Are There Over $4 Trillion in Earnings Offshore?

August 4, 2017

We also turned to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which found that Fortune 500 companies — a slightly smaller pool — report $2.6 trillion offshore. ITEP included total untaxed earnings, not just indefinitely reinvested ones, in their studies of Apple and Pfizer, as these companies provide a disclosure allowing for a fuller estimate of […]

Between the Lines: Trump Tax Plan Would Benefit the Wealthiest Americans

August 3, 2017

Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Matthew Gardner, senior fellow with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who discusses his group’s analysis of the Trump administration’s tax reform plan, and what a progressive reform plan focused on reversing growing economic inequality would look like. Read more

International Business Times: As Mnuchin Discusses Tax Reform, Business Groups Lobby To Shape Tax Policy

August 1, 2017

Two reports on effective federal and state corporate tax rates by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that, for dozens of profitable Fortune 500 companies, it has, on occasion, been zero.) Trump’s White House has recently backed off its 15-percent corporate-tax-rate goal, with a plan to implement something closer to 20 percent. Read […]

Houston Chronicle: Sanctuary Cities Law Could Cost Texas Billions

August 1, 2017

An analysis of data from the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that if 10 percent of undocumented immigrants leave Texas, the state would forfeit about $190.7 million in federal tax revenue and $223.5 million more in state and local taxes. The disappearance of those […]

The Problems with the Multi-Million-Dollar Effort to Secure Millionaire and Corporate Tax Cuts

Until GOP leaders put forth a detailed tax proposal, we will not know for certain whether the plan will focus on the middle-class and create jobs. But what we do know is that unless the plan is a radical departure from the principles outlined by President Trump earlier this year or laid out by Paul Ryan last year in his “Better Way,” plan, GOP-led tax “reform” efforts will be a tax break bonanza for the wealthiest Americans while delivering a pittance to working people.

Utah Public News Service: Trump’s Economic Policies to Increase Economic Inequality

July 31, 2017

The Trump administration’s tax proposals would not benefit all taxpayers or states equally, according to new analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Matt Gardner, a senior fellow with the institute, says the richest 1 percent of taxpayers would receive more than 60 percent of the tax benefits. He adds that poorer states, largely […]

San Francisco Chronicle: Should We Fear Big Tech?

July 29, 2017

Many tech companies have avoided taxes by placing intangibles such as patents and copyrights in subsidiaries in low- or no-tax countries, then attributing income likely generated elsewhere to those subsidiaries. Pharmaceutical companies have also employed this strategy, said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research and education. […]

The New York Times: Wisconsin’s Lavish Lure for Foxconn: $3 Billion in Tax Subsidies

July 28, 2017

Big companies like Foxconn possess leverage to extract concessions from state governments that smaller firms cannot, said Carl Davis, research director at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. “This is not a comprehensive strategy for economic development,” he said. “If Wisconsin were going to offer this kind of subsidy for every […]

The Atlantic: How Much is Wisconsin Paying for a Taiwanese Manufacturer’s Jobs

July 28, 2017

Plus, states rarely seem to consider whether the money they lavish on corporations might be better spent elsewhere—on public goods like bridges, say, or educational initiatives for their work forces. “If offering more tax incentives requires spending less on public education, congestion-relieving infrastructure projects, workforce development, police and fire protection, or high technology initiatives at […]

The Sacramento Bee: A Jackpot for the 1 Percent, a Pittance for the Rest of Us

July 27, 2017

In California, the bottom line would be even more unfair. The 1 percent with the highest incomes – an average of more than $2.7 million a year – would get nearly two-thirds of the total tax cut, an average of nearly $150,000 each in 2018, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated this […]

Trump Touts Tax Cuts for the Wealthy as a Plan for Working People

Unless the administration takes a radically different direction on tax reform from what it has already proposed, its tax plan would be a monumental giveaway to the top 1 percent. The wealthiest one percent of households would receive 61 percent of all the Trump tax breaks, and would receive an average of $145,400 in 2018 alone.