Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Gizmodo: Meet the Shell Company Uber Used to Acquire Otto

July 25, 2017

This kind of patent game has been played best by Pfizer. In its annual report on offshore tax havens used by Fortune 500 companies, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes that Pfizer hasn’t reported any federal taxable income in eight years, in part because of its effort to offshore its patents. “The company […]

Bloomberg: Americans Say They Back Gas Tax to Fix Crumbling Roads

July 20, 2017

Twenty-six states have raised or updated their gas taxes since 2013, including eight so far this year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit research organization in Washington. Read more

Law 360: Wealthy Benefit More Under $5T Trump Tax Plan

July 20, 2017

The  Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy on Thursday projected a minimum $4.8 trillion federal revenue reduction over a 10-year period under President Donald Trump’s tax plan that the nonprofit said would give more than three-fifths of all tax cuts to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. Based on the broad outlines of the Trump […]

50-State Analysis of Trump’s Tax Outline: Poorer Taxpayers and Poorer States are Disadvantaged

Not only would President Trump’s proposed tax plan fail to deliver on its promise of largely helping middle-class taxpayers, it also would shower a disproportionate share of the total tax cut on taxpayers in some of the richest states while southern and a few other states would receive a smaller share of the tax cut […]

Newsday: Rural America Keeps Rejecting Big Wind

July 19, 2017

Since last October, NextEra Energy, the world’s biggest producer of wind energy, has filed lawsuits in federal and state courts against five rural governments, including the town of Hinton, Oklahoma, population: 3,000. NextEra is funding its courthouse mugging of small-town America with your tax dollars. A recent report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

Louisville Courier-Journal: Fix Kentucky’s Upside Down Tax Code

July 19, 2017

And among other things, the legislation would raise Kentucky’s tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. This would initially generate about $155 million in revenue, but – more importantly – it would discourage tobacco use and reduce associated costs. Kentucky has one of the highest smoking rates and highest rates of lung cancer […]

The Hill: Tech Groups Voice Support for Tax Reform

July 19, 2017

The U.S. currently taxes companies on their income at home and abroad. Corporations, however, don’t have to pay taxes on their income abroad until they repatriate it back home. Supporters of a territorial system argue it could help bring lost tax dollars back into the U.S. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that […]

Bloomberg BNA: Low Tax Revenue Fuels State Deficits, Budget Battles

July 16, 2017

In more than a dozen other states, legislators fought down to the wire. Maine and New Jersey were forced into brief government shutdowns. Much press was given to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) time at the beach over the July 4th weekend when some stretches of state coastline were closed to beach-goers. “In some […]

MarketWatch: Why Back to School Sales Could Actually Cost You Money

July 14, 2017

Currently 16 states have back-to-school sales tax holidays planned for 2017, with most located in the Southeast. Some states also have sales tax holidays for other products, such as guns and hunting supplies, energy-efficient appliances and hurricane preparedness items. “Sales tax holidays may provide some taxpayers savings on necessary purchases, but they’re a distraction from […]

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Legislator Proposes Exempting Poorest Virginia Localities from Some Taxes

July 14, 2017

Carl Davis, research director at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says state taxes don’t play that large a role in economic development decisions. Companies search for an ideal location and a trained workforce and balance a host of other factors during site selection. “There’s just so much more than state tax policy […]

Regardless of Political Maneuvers, Tax Cuts for the Rich Remain Tied to Cuts in Health Care

The GOP continues its dogged attempt to unravel the Affordable Care Act under the guise of ‘fixing’ our health system despite multiple Congressional Budget Office reports indicating millions stand to lose health care coverage. It’s is not obvious that this version of the bill is much different from the previous fiasco of a bill in which CBO projected 22 million would lose coverage.

The American Prospect: As Trump Gears Up for Big Tax Cuts, Seattle Opts to Tax Wealthy

July 12, 2017

Currently, Washington is one of the few states that don’t levy a personal or corporate income tax. No cities in Washington levy a tax on income, either. That’s partially why the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found in 2015 that the state has most regressive taxation system in the entire country, with low- and […]

Governing: In an Income-Tax Free State, Seattle Hopes to Tax the Rich

July 12, 2017

There were about 11,000 individuals in Seattle with earned annual incomes of at least $250,000 in 2015, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The Seattle tax would cover both earned and unearned income. “Washington has among the most regressive tax systems in the United States,” the legislation states, citing research by the Institute on Taxation […]

The Hill: Repealing Obamacare Has Always Been about Tax Cuts for the Rich

July 11, 2017

Below is an excerpt of an op-ed by ITEP Senior Fellow Steve Wamhoff that was published in The Hill on July 11, 2017 Does moving a tax cut for the rich out of one bill and into another bill make lawmakers seem more in touch with the middle class? Senators trying to repeal the Affordable […]

Seattle Times: Seattle Council to Vote Today on Income Tax on the Wealthy

July 10, 2017

There were about 11,000 individuals in Seattle with earned annual incomes of at least $250,000 in 2015, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The Seattle tax would cover both earned and unearned income. “Washington has among the most regressive tax systems in the United States,” the legislation says, citing research by the Institute on Taxation […]

Bloomberg BNA: Private School Tax Credits Transform Charitable Incentive Into Profit Scheme

July 6, 2017

Public schools are funded by taxpayer dollars. School tuition vouchers allow taxpayer dollars to fund private education by paying for private school tuition. Tuition tax credits work in a similar fashion, by allowing a credit for donations to private school voucher funds. In this article, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Carl Davis, discusses […]

Reno News and Review: Workers Stuck with the Check

July 5, 2017

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Nevada’s poorest 20 percent of families pay 6.1 percent of their income in sales tax. The wealthiest one percent of Nevada families pay six-tenths of 1 percent. Given the fact that low income people bear a heavier portion of taxation in Nevada than the affluent, the […]

USA Today: Gas Taxes Rise in Seven States As Travelers Hit the Road for July 4 Holiday

June 30, 2017

The urge to hit the road comes as the national average gas price is 4 cents per gallon cheaper than at the same time last year, at $2.28 per gallon, according to AAA. “With gas prices at historically low levels, state lawmakers have decided that now is a good time to ask drivers to pay […]

Huffpost: Why States Are Struggling To Tax Services

June 29, 2017

Another challenge is that taxes on services are regressive, with a disproportionate impact on low-income residents, and are sometimes seen as an unfair way to plug a budget hole or reduce other taxes, prompting opposition from advocates for the poor. “The services that get pulled into these plans … are not necessarily the ones that […]

The Congressional Budget Office today released its score of the Senate Health Care proposal and the news is not good. It’s no wonder a narrow group of 13 lawmakers cobbled together the bill behind closed doors. Now that the measure has seen the light of day, we know that it epitomizes Robin Hood in reverse policies by snatching health coverage from 22 million people by 2026 (15 million in 2018) while showering tax cuts on the already wealthy.

Scripps News Service: Money Diverted from Public Schools?

June 26, 2017

All the programs basically work this way: Individuals and businesses make cash or stock donations to scholarship granting organizations. The organizations award scholarships to qualifying families with K-12 students, primarily children in failing public schools or whose families’ income meets the state’s poverty threshold. Students can then attend a private or religious school of their […]

Bloomberg: Corporate Tax Rate at 28% Seen as More Likely Than Historic Cut

June 26, 2017

Both men have pitched their rate-cut plans as a way to spur hiring and economic growth. But setting a 28 percent tax rate would be largely meaningless for more than 150 of the largest U.S. companies, which already paid lower rates than that from 2008 through 2015, according to a recent study. The companies took […]

Public News Service: GOP Health Bill Would Deliver Tax Breaks to the Wealthiest

June 20, 2017

Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says data from the Congressional Budget Office confirms that the health bill that cleared the U.S. House is less about health policy than tax breaks for the top 3 percent of U.S. earners. “The end result is 23 million people losing health care […]

Speaker Paul Ryan today correctly outlined some of working people’s concerns, including the desire for more good jobs and access to the training required to secure those jobs. But his bottom line policy prescriptions for addressing the concerns of working people are the same old trickle-down economic policies that time after time have proven to primarily benefit the wealthy.

Salon: Apple CEO Tim Cook Thinks a Big Corporate Tax Cut is “What’s Good for America”

June 18, 2017

Earlier this year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan liberal think tank, published research showing that few large profitable companies even come close to paying the 35 percent federal income tax rate on U.S. profits. The study, which looked at 258 large U.S. companies that reported annual U.S.-based profit from 2008 to 2015, […]