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The Five Biggest Corporations Represented at Trump’s Inauguration Could Save $75 Billion from One Tax Break Before Congress
• By Matthew Gardner, Spandan Marasini
New financial reports indicate five of America’s biggest corporations—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Tesla—could win $75 billion in tax breaks if Congress and the President satisfy demands from corporate lobbyists to reinstate a provision repealed under the 2017 Trump tax law.
State Rundown 2/6: Tax Proposals in the Spotlight
• By ITEP Staff
Tax changes have been proposed or are nearing the finish line in many states. Kentucky is poised to enact an income tax cut as a bill heads to the governor’s desk. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal called to accelerate existing corporate tax cuts while closing corporate tax loopholes by enacting combined reporting. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine proposed a new credit for children of working parents. And Virginia Democrats countered Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed…
Policymakers Could Consider Using Tax and Transfer Policy to Reduce the Racial Retirement Wealth Gap
• By Brakeyshia Samms, Carl Davis
As we show in our recent study, this is, in part, due to longstanding discrimination shaping racial differences in economic wellbeing in the U.S. Moreover, aspects of federal and state tax policies have helped create the vast racial retirement wealth gap in place today. For this reason, we evaluate how tax and transfer policy reforms could help shrink racial retirement wealth inequality. To inform lawmakers as they approach the 2025 debates, below we offer several guiding…
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s Tax Plan Boosts Revenue, Increases Fairness
• By Miles Trinidad, Nick Johnson
Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore put forward a tax reform plan that would make the tax system fairer, simpler, and better able to meet the state’s needs. The proposed changes to the income tax ask more of those at the top and provide an average tax cut for those earning less.
State Rundown 1/30: The Revenue Decrease is in the Details
• By ITEP Staff
More details on this year’s batch of major tax proposals are emerging from statehouses - and some revenue cuts look like they could be steep. A governor-backed and House-passed plan in Mississippi would phase out the personal income tax, while a recent tax cut proposal out of Idaho is anchored by a $253 million dollar income tax cut.
Tesla Reported Zero Federal Income Tax on $2 Billion of U.S. Income in 2024
• By Matthew Gardner
Tesla reported $2.3 billion of U.S. income in 2024 but paid zero federal income tax. Over the past three years, the Elon Musk-led company reports $10.8 billion of U.S. income on which its current federal tax was just $48 million.
Maryland’s Tax Reform Likely Won’t Cause Millionaire Migration
• By Nick Johnson
The moment Gov. Wes Moore announced his proposal to reform Maryland’s tax system, in part, by raising income tax rates on high-income households, opponents began predicting that wealthy people would respond by leaving. Experience from other states says that’s not the case.
Trump and Congress’ Tax Package Likely to Worsen Racial Inequities
• By Brakeyshia Samms
While the country transitions to a new, yet familiar, presidential administration, lawmakers must keep in mind: fighting racial injustice should still be one of the focal points of this year’s tax debates. In theory, the debate over extending much of 2017’s Trump tax law represents an opportunity to advance racial equity. In practice, the tax package is likely to do the opposite, worsening racial inequities that already exist.
State Rundown 1/22: Tax Policy, Affordability, and Where It Misses the Mark
• By ITEP Staff
As state legislative sessions ramp up many lawmakers discuss their prioritization of affordability of necessities like food and housing as they craft their legislative agendas. Arkansas, Mississippi and Utah are looking to reduce or fully exempt groceries from their state sales taxes. Meanwhile, multiple proposals to reduce property taxes are making their way around state […]
Different Approaches to the Trump Tax Law’s Cap on Deductions for State and Local Taxes (SALT)
• By Steve Wamhoff
President Trump and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate may not extend the $10,000 cap on federal income tax deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), the one part of the 2017 law that significantly limits tax breaks for the rich. And, depending on which proposal they settle on, leaving out the existing cap on SALT deductions could add between $10 billion and over $100 billion each year to the total cost of…
Congress Could — But Won’t — Pass a Tax Package That Pays for Itself
• By Joe Hughes
If Republican lawmakers were serious about deficit-neutral tax reform, they would focus on increasing taxes for the ultra-wealthy and large corporations. The absence of such proposals in their plan reveals their true priority: delivering enormous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans while average working families receive crumbs.
State Rundown 1/15: Tax Debates Heat Up Despite Winter Weather
• By ITEP Staff
While frigid temperatures expected across a large swath of the country, major tax proposals are heating up in the states. Governors are giving their State of the State addresses and state lawmakers have begun to convene for 2025. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to expand the state’s Child Tax Credit earlier this year and has since announced nearly $1 billion in income tax cuts. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore unveiled a new tax proposal…
Policymakers Unwisely Propose Cutting Property Taxes in Favor of Sales Taxes
• By Rita Jefferson
Lawmakers across the country are taking aim at property taxes with a new strategy: raising sales taxes instead. Doing so would create a regressive tax shift that puts unfair burdens on renters and reduces the strength of local government revenues.
State Rundown 1/9: New Year, New Pushes for Tax Policy Changes
• By ITEP Staff
It’s a new year, and state legislatures across the country are resolved to write new tax policy. Tax debates are heating up nearly everywhere in the early days of 2025, but states’ fiscal situations vary dramatically. New York is considering expanding the state’s Child Tax Credit following Gov. Hochul’s proposed expansion. On the other side […]
Undocumented Immigrants Pay More Than Their Fair Share of Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
Undocumented immigrants help fund teacher salaries, road and bridge repairs and other local quality-of-life improvements. They also pay into vital programs that make up our social safety net (including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance) even though they will likely never see any benefits from these programs — because, in most circumstances, they are legally prohibited from accessing them.
State Rundown 12/19: Anti-Tax Playbook in Action
• By ITEP Staff
The anti-tax playbook has been on full display in recent weeks as state policymakers run their offenses against public services and shared priorities. As the playbook dictates, if you have a little breathing room in your budget, propose cuts to the one major tax (personal income tax) that tends to ask more of those who […]
ITEP’s Top Charts of 2024
• By Alex Welch
As we close out 2024, we want to lift up the tax charts we published this year that received the most engagement from readers. Covering federal, state, and local tax work, here are our top charts of 2024.
Defunding the IRS Would Cost Taxpayers
• By Joe Hughes
As Congress negotiates a bill for federal funding during the lame-duck session, lawmakers would be wise to remember that stripping funds from the IRS costs more than it saves. On the table in the appropriations bill is a $20 billion recission of funds to the nation’s tax administration. While this may look like a spending cut, it will increase deficits by $46 billion due to a drop in the agency’s capacity to enforce taxes on…
State Rundown 12/3: Some States Cast Away Fiscal Responsibility as They Plan for 2025
• By ITEP Staff
The 2025 legislative season will be here before we know it, and state lawmakers have begun unveiling their priorities and proposals. Unfortunately, despite stagnating revenue growth, many lawmakers continue to push for deep, regressive tax cuts - often before the full impact of previous tax cuts is felt.
Louisiana Lawmakers Pass Deeply Regressive Tax Plan
• By Neva Butkus
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called the legislature back to the capitol the day after the national election to take up his plan to overhaul the state’s tax system during a 20-day special session. Our analysis shows the tax overhaul would worsen the inequity already rampant in Louisiana’s tax system while potentially shortchanging essential services for families across the state.
Average Louisianans Will Pay for Gov. Landry’s Tax Break for the Rich
• By Neva Butkus
Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations will not make Louisiana more competitive. Rather, they will blow a hole in the state budget while asking low- and middle-income working families to make up the difference. Gov. Landry and the Louisiana legislature would make much better use of their time looking for ways to make Louisiana’s tax structure fairer and more capable of adequately funding important priorities.
State Rundown 11/20: Some Budgets and Tax Proposals Fail to Defy Gravity, Fall Short
• By ITEP Staff
This week, there are high-profile budget and tax debates at both the state and local levels. The Louisiana legislature continues to debate Gov. Jeff Landry’s deeply regressive tax package in a special session focused on replacing corporate and personal income tax revenue with additional sales taxes, but some efforts to find offsets for the cuts […]
State Tax Policy Should Adopt the Principles of ‘Black Women Best’
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Focusing policy analysis on Black women illustrates how Black women have long shouldered the shortcomings of the economy and clearly points to solutions that work for all. Black women are at their best when they are financially secure, healthy, and free – and our economy is at its best when all people can thrive and benefit.
On Election Day, Voters Across the Country Chose to Invest in Their States & Communities
• By Kamolika Das
On election day, voters across the country — in states red and blue and communities rural and urban — approved a wide range of state and local ballot measures on taxation and public investment. The success of these measures clearly shows that voters are willing to invest in public priorities that feel tangible and close to home.
Taxing Transportation Is One Great Way to Reduce Carbon Emissions
• By Amy Hanauer
Federal, state, and local tax codes are important but underused tools that can create a more climate-resilient, less carbon-emitting America. A modernized tax code would stop subsidizing emissions and instead encourage lower-carbon design. Because cars and trucks produce roughly one-fourth of US greenhouse gas emissions, transportation taxation is a great starting point.
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