Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Forbes: “Brown People” Are “Genetically Inferior” Trump Supporter Claims, With No Facts To Prove It

September 15, 2016

“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a  non-profit, non-partisan think tank, reported that in 2012, undocumented immigrants paid more than $11.6 billion in state and local taxes.” Read more

Bloomberg Government: Trump to Tout Tax Plan’s Growth Benefits Amid Questions of Cost

September 15, 2016

“Matt Gardner, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, called dynamic scoring a ‘myopic analysis that’s done with a thumb on the scale. The premise is that tax cuts always help, and spending cuts never hurt.’” Read more

The Oklahoman: Flawed alternatives offered by criticis of Oklahoma criminal fees

September 15, 2016

“This is why, when the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analyzed tax systems in all 50 states in 2015, the group found Oklahoma families with annual income of less than $18,000 still paid about 10.5 percent of earnings in state and local taxes.” Read more

Investopedia: How Does Amazon Charge Taxes on Its Products?

September 13, 2016

  Technically speaking, Amazon does not charge sales tax because only governments can levy taxes. What Amazon can do is set up processes and systems through which taxes are applied to online transactions. Since there is no federal sales tax in the United States, this means Amazon has to comply with hundreds of different tax […]

AJC.com: Navigate the ins and outs of Social Security and taxes

September 13, 2016

“State policy on taxation of benefits varies. Twenty-nine states (including the District of Columbia) that have a broad-based income tax exempt all Social Security from tax, according to a tally by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Seven states tax some Social Security benefits but provide an exemption that is more generous than what […]

Washington Post:

September 13, 2016

“‘We should be, shareholders should be, angry that Medtronic has access to as much of the benefits of U.S. citizenship as they do,’ said Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.” Read more

The Daily Cardinal: Scott Walker to push for new sales tax holiday

September 13, 2016

“These temporary reprieves from sales taxes don’t do much to help relieve financial burdens, according to a New York Times article. In the article, Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, claims these holidays are ‘really mostly just a political gimmick.’ Wiehe also said in the article that […]

The Atlantic: The Truth About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes

September 13, 2016

“As rhetoric about illegal immigration dominates this election cycle, it’s hard to argue that undocumented immigrants drain the system. It’s true that not all undocumented workers pay federal income and social security taxes; many are still paid in cash and never fill out W-2 forms, so it’s unclear how many of them independently file tax […]

CNBC: The $2.4 trillion companies are keeping in overseas tax havens

September 8, 2016

“Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a partner organization to CTJ, has done the work of searching through corporate filings for the tax information. The limited disclosure in 10-K filings that is now available requires public companies to list their overseas subsidiaries and how much of their cash has […]

Seattle PI: Labor Day union support for Sound Transit 3

September 8, 2016

“A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the lowest 20 percent, those with family incomes under $21,000, pay 16.8 percent of their incomes in state taxes. The next 20 percent, with incomes of $21,000 to $40,000, pay 11.7 percent in state taxes.” Read more

Casper Star Tribune: Sales tax takes the spotlight as Legislature explores new revenue options

September 8, 2016

“Given that most states use income taxes to help fund state government, Wyoming’s strong reliance on sales tax is unusual. It also puts a disproportionate tax burden on working-class Wyomingites who are likely to spend a higher share of their income on taxed consumption, said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and […]

Fast Company: For All We Know, Undocumented Immigrants Pay A Higher Tax Rate Than Donald Trump

September 8, 2016

“We don’t know how much tax Donald Trump pays because he won’t release his returns. But we do know how much undocumented immigrants contribute annually. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s 50 state study, America’s “11 million” pay $11.64 billion a year in state and local taxes.” Read more

Fast Company: A Tax Expert Takes Tim Cook’s EU Letter Apart Point by Point

September 6, 2016

The European Union, after a lengthy investigation, ruled Tuesday that Apple’s use of Irish subsidiary companies to avoid paying taxes amounts to the tech giant receiving “illegal state aid” from Ireland. As a result, Apple may be required to pay around $14.5 billion in back taxes dating back to 2004. Cook had a carefully worded—and, […]

Christian Science Monitor: Will Ireland agree that Apple owes it billions of euros?

September 2, 2016

“Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a US public policy nonprofit, told the AP that the Commission’s ruling showed it understood that ‘when member nations act as tax havens, as Ireland has, there are casualties far beyond the borders of Ireland. It’s not a good economic development strategy for […]

Yahoo Finance: Apple case highlights huge untaxed profits of corporate giants

September 2, 2016

“‘Apple has systematically organized its Irish affairs in a way designed solely for tax avoidance,’ said Matt Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. US regulators ‘should take a page from the European Commission?s book and crack down on rampant corporate tax avoidance.'” Read more

Bloomberg Government: Tax-Break Bidding Wars Can Make New Jobs Expensive

September 2, 2016

“Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report: ‘Tax Incentives: Costly for States, Drag on the Nation.'” Read more

FC Technology: A Tax Expert Takes Tim Cook’s EU Letter Apart Point By Point

September 2, 2016

“To get the other side of the argument I went to Matt Gardner, the director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (the research umbrella for Citizens for Tax Justice). The CTJ is nonpartisan and nonprofit, and it’s funded by some of the same foundations that fund NPR. As it turns out, Gardner energetically […]

Hartford Courant: European Union orders Apple to pay nearly $15 billion in back taxes

September 2, 2016

“‘To its credit, the European Union understands that when member nations act as tax havens, as Ireland has, there are casualties far beyond the borders of Ireland,’ said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal research group in Washington.” Read more

New York Times: Donald Trump’s Brexit Moment

September 2, 2016

“Unauthorized immigrants pay almost $12 billion a year in state and local taxes, according to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Between 70 and 75 percent of immigrants who are in the country illegally pay Social Security taxes, although they cannot collect Social Security.” Read more

Mother Jones: Accused of Tax Dodging, Apple Says It’s the World’s Largest Taxpayer

September 2, 2016

“An Irish Times list of the country’s top taxpayers in 2016 gave the number one spot to the pharmaceutical group Medtronic, though Apple placed in the top ten. And as to Cook’s claim that the “vast majority” of Apple’s profits are taxed in the United States, Matthew Gardner, the executive director of the Institute on […]

City-Journal: Undocumented-and Unmeasured

September 2, 2016

“In a similar vein, city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito commissioned her finance division to weigh the economic impact on New York City if unlawful residents departed. Citing the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the analysis concludes that illegal immigrants pay $793 million in state and city taxes. However, the source data reveal that […]

fin24tech: Apple case highlights ‘trillions’ in untaxed profits

September 2, 2016

“‘Apple has systematically organised its Irish affairs in a way designed solely for tax avoidance,’ said Matt Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. US regulators ‘should take a page from the European Commission’s book and crack down on rampant corporate tax avoidance.'” Read more

AP: Europe hits Apple with a $15 billion-plus tax bill

August 31, 2016

“‘To its credit, the European Union understands that when member nations act as tax havens, as Ireland has, there are casualties far beyond the borders of Ireland,’ said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal research group in Washington.”

CNN: What you need to know about immigration economics

August 31, 2016

“However, evidence challenges that stigma, showing that undocumented workers do pay taxes. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants pay nearly $12 billion a year in state and local taxes. California alone pulls in more than $3 billion in tax revenue from its estimated 3 million undocumented immigrants.” Read more

Des Moines Register: Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes

August 30, 2016

“An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, updated in February, found that the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States collectively pay $11.64 billion in state and local taxes annually. This includes more than $6.9 billion in sales and excise taxes, $3.6 billion in property taxes, and more than […]