Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Think Progress: One Simple Way To Keep U.S. Corporations From Hiding Cash

April 15, 2016

“That’s a pretty clear indicator that these companies are essentially making things up,” tax expert Matt Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in an interview. “They’re creating accounting fictions.” Read more

Governing: Panama Papers Unlikely to Lead to Reforms in Corporation-Friendly States

April 15, 2016

“The Panama Papers have raised concerns among many here who say it’s hypocritical of the U.S. to complain about its citizens hiding assets from taxation in offshore accounts when some states provide the same service for foreigners. The secrecy these states offer to account holders also brings up questions about whether money is intended for […]

Sun Sentinel: Prosperous but Undocumented

April 15, 2016

“Of the nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, about 1 million are professionals, according to a report from Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. In Florida, about 79,000 professional people are undocumented immigrants.” Read more

Alaska Public Radio: Poorest Alaskans hit hardest by new proposed budget solutions

April 15, 2016

“If every element of Governor Bill Walker’s current fiscal plan is adopted, low income Alaskans would lose nearly 10 percent of their income, middle-income residents would lose about 4 percent. But the top 1 percent of state residents would only see a 1.3 percent cut. That’s according to a report by the nonpartisan Institute on […]

Salt Lake Tribune: Worried about filing taxes? You have three extra days

April 15, 2016

“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy earlier this year issued a state-by-state report looking at what percentage of the income of various groups goes to state and local taxes.” Read more

Politico: Boy, that (de)escalated quickly

April 15, 2016

“ALASKAN FOUNDATION EDUCATES ON THE GREAT NORTHERN OILY BUDGET CRISIS: Leaders of the Rasmuson Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charities, are in Washington this week filling in federal policymakers about its Plan4Alaska campaign, which attempts to get state legislators on board for a solution to the $3.5 billion budget shortfall that the state is […]

Alaska Dispatch News: Governor’s budget plan would hurt low- and middle-income Alaskans, says new report

April 15, 2016

“The Rasmuson report, from a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the balance of budget fixes should be different. The report recommends scaling back the dividend cut and introducing a steeper personal income tax.” Read more

Live Mint: Panama Papers: What next?

April 12, 2016

“While it is relatively easy to force a Switzerland or a Panama to fall in line, it may be next to impossible to bring the US under the OECD framework. It has many firms that play the same role as Mossack Fonseca, said Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” […]

The Gilmer Miller: This Tax Day, A Reminder that Implementing Immigration Executive Action Policies Would Be Good for Texas

April 11, 2016

“If the Supreme Court unfreezes DACA+ and DAPA, state and local tax coffers will grow by $805 million nationwide, including by $59 million in Texas. A recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that if the Supreme Court unfreezes the immigration executive action policies, state and local tax coffers would […]

Democracy Now: Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca Set Up 1,000+ Companies Inside U.S.

April 11, 2016

“The massive data leak known as the Panama Papers has revealed the law firm Mossack Fonseca set up more than 1,000 shell companies inside the United States, once again raising questions about the United States’ role as an offshore tax haven. The papers show more than 600 shell companies were set up in Nevada alone. […]

Info-Europa: Social Media Takes On the Panama Papers Leak Through Cartoons

April 11, 2016

“Often, the person establishes a so-called shell company, which lacks any real operations and exists mainly on paper. “In Wyoming, Nevada and DE, it’s possible to create these shell corporations with virtually no questions asked”, said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization in Washington. More […]

Opposing Views: Massive Data Leak Reveals Tax Havens, Shell Companies

April 8, 2016

“By using shell companies, Mossack Fornesca’s clients are able to avoid the government and the public learning “even the most basic things about what you’re doing and what your company is and who owns it,” Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told USA Today.” Read more

Morning News USA: Panama Papers Prove American Billionaires Are Sneakiest In The World

April 8, 2016

  Speaking with the NBC News, Matt Gardner of the The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said it’s also possible that American billionaires who were not implicated in the scandal simply work with other offshore companies that offer the same services Mossack Fonseca offers. After all, the United States is considered one of the […]

The News Tribune: Have an offshore? Maybe you’re feeling indigestion

April 8, 2016

“The leak may change the long-term behavior of wealthy Americans, said Matt Gardner, executive director of The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based public policy group. “This certainly puts in neon lights that you can no longer rely on the absolute secrecy that people were used to in the past,” he said.” Read […]

WNYC The Brian Lehrer: Panama Papers Highlight Secretive Banking on US Soil

April 8, 2016

“Matthew Gardner, Executive Director of The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, an arm of Citizens for Tax Justice (a public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on tax policies and their impact), discusses his op-ed for CNN, which points out that despite the public and media attention the Panama Papers have garnered, the actions […]

The Herald: State relies on an unfair, insufficient tax system

April 8, 2016

“Last year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research group, said Washington state had the nation’s most unfair state and local tax system, leading its list of the “Terrible Ten Most Regressive.” The state’s poorest 20 percent pay 16.8 percent of their income as taxes, while the middle 60 percent […]

Alaska Dispatch News: It’s time for Alaskans to put skin in the game, fund government through taxes

April 8, 2016

“At a rate of 1.5% of taxable income, an Alaska couple with one child, with a household income of $60,000 a year, would pay about $200 a year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more

Lawyer Herald: Panama Paper Firm Connected to Over 1,000 US Companies Since 2001

April 8, 2016

“”If your goal is secrecy and not having prying eyes find out even the most basic things about what you’re doing and what your company is and who owns it, Wyoming and Nevada are incredibly attractive places from that secrecy perspective,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read […]

Los Angeles Times: For just $309, you too can hide your assets — in the U.S.

April 8, 2016

“The mechanisms are pretty much the same here,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit in Washington. “There’s nothing special happening in Panama. Panama is pretty much a microcosm of what the U.S. is a willing partner in.” Read more

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rules kill Pfizer deal, but experts doubt Johnson Controls-Tyco tie-up will die

April 8, 2016

“Matthew Gardner, a critic of inversions who is executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said this week’s move by the Treasury Department clearly had an immediate impact with the demise of the Pfizer-Allergan deal.” Read more

New York Times: Need to Hide Some Income? You Don’t Have to Go to Panama

April 8, 2016

“In Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware, it’s possible to create these shell corporations with virtually no questions asked,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization in Washington.” Read more

Dhaka Tribune: Why Americans not included in #PanamaPapers

April 8, 2016

“First, this was a leak of more than 11m documents, and it will take some time for the ICIJ to scour them. “So maybe there are revelations about specific Americans and secret funds that we haven’t heard about,” said Matt Gardner, executive director of The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research organisation.” Read […]

Reno Gazette Journal: Panama Papers firm has Nevada ties

April 8, 2016

““If your goal is secrecy and not having prying eyes find out even the most basic things about what you’re doing and what your company is and who owns it, Wyoming and Nevada are incredibly attractive places from that secrecy perspective,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read […]

KENS5: 1,000 secret Nevada firms, 2 overseas addresses

April 8, 2016

“We shouldn’t be thinking about this as a Panamanian problem,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C. “We should be thinking about this as a very American problem, and a problem that arguably is worse here in the states than it is in Panama.” Read more

Quartz: Sorry, David Cameron-“private” offshore holdings are indeed a matter of public interest

April 7, 2016

“Political casualties are mounting fast in the wake of the Panama Papers—a historic leak of confidential documents from a Panama-based law firm that revealed connections between a number of world leaders and nearly 215,000 offshore shell companies. The prime minister of Iceland has said that he plans to step aside “for an undetermined amount of […]