Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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175 posts
Intuit Receives Millions in Federal Subsidies While Arguing IRS Direct File Would Be Too Costly

The tax preparation industry has for years lobbied to prevent the IRS from providing a tool that would allow Americans to file their taxes online for free. Recent public disclosures from Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and the leader of the pack, show that tax breaks the company claims for doing “research” might be larger […]

The Campaign by Democratic Former Officials to Stop Taxes on the Wealthy

One of the most attention-grabbing anti-tax campaigns at work today is called SAFE, which stands for Saving America’s Family Enterprises. But it might as well mean Saving Aristocrats From Everything given the outfit’s knack for opposing any national proposal to limit special tax advantages that only the wealthy enjoy. The basic approach of SAFE is […]

Moore Case Could Enrich Tax-Avoiding Multinational Corporations – and the SCOTUS Justices Who Own Their Stock

The Moore v. United States case that will soon be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court could jeopardize at least $270 billion if SCOTUS finds the entire transition tax to be unconstitutional. The decision could also invalidate other important parts of the current tax system while preempting progressive wealth tax proposals. Such an outcome would represent one of the costliest—and most ethically questionable - Supreme Court decisions in U.S. history.

Kyrsten Sinema’s Latest Fight to Protect Tax Breaks for Private Equity

Sen. Sinema's bill to stop a seemingly arcane business tax increase that was enacted as part of the 2017 Trump tax law would be hugely beneficial to the private equity industry.

Celebrating One Year Since the Landmark Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act was a course correction from decades of tax cuts that primarily went to the richest Americans and left the rest of us with budget shortfalls that conservative lawmakers now seek to plug with cuts to Social Security and Medicare. For the first time in generations we are finally asking those who have benefited the most from our economy to contribute back.

Congressional Republicans Distort a New Report on the Global Minimum Tax

The notion that we are better off allowing our corporations to pretend their profits are earned in the Cayman Islands or Ireland simply defies logic and the facts. There is no scenario in which the U.S. would be better by ditching the international agreement that the government already negotiated. 

Congress Should Raise Taxes on the Rich, But That’s a Totally Separate Issue from the Debt Ceiling

Congress absolutely should raise taxes on the rich and on corporations to generate revenue and improve the fairness of our tax code. President Biden has several proposals to do exactly that. But this is an entirely separate question from whether we should raise the debt ceiling to honor the debts the nation has already incurred and avoid an economic apocalypse.

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Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich

March 14, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich

As one of the most prosperous countries in human history, we have enough resources for our collective needs. By better taxing corporations and the wealthiest, we can generate revenue to improve family security, strengthen our communities, and reduce the debt too.

The No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act Is Needed More than Ever

The new corporate minimum tax enacted as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act will address some of the worst corporate tax dodging, but what else is needed? A group of Democrats have answered this question with the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act.

Biden Says the Stock Buyback Tax Should Be Higher. Here are Three Reasons Why He’s Right.

A higher tax on stock buybacks would reduce the tax disparity between dividends and buybacks, raise more revenue for productive public investments, and recoup some of Trump's corporate tax cuts that went to wealthy shareholders.

State of the Union Likely to Continue Progress on Tax Justice

After decades of Presidents who ran away from taxes, it’s a sea change to have a chief executive who understands that the rich should pay their fair share, extremely profitable corporations should pay their fair share, and the public sector should have revenue to invest in problems – like climate change and healthcare – that will only be solved with pathbreaking public action.

GAO Report Confirms: Trump Tax Law Cut Corporate Taxes to Rock Bottom

A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds the average effective federal income tax rate paid by large, profitable corporations fell to 9 percent in the first year the Trump tax law was in effect, and the share of such companies paying nothing at all rose to 34 percent that year.

The European Union Moves Forward on Global Minimum Tax. Time for the U.S. to Follow.

The European Union has reached unanimous agreement to implement a global minimum tax beginning in 2024. With the EU and UK fully on board, it's time for Congress to follow suit and implement the plan negotiated by the Biden administration. Doing so would improve the corporate tax system here and around the world while making the United States economy stronger and more competitive.

The Tax Deal That Wasn’t: Congress Decides Corporate Tax Cuts Are Too Expensive if it Means Also Helping Children

Congressional leaders announced their long-awaited omnibus spending package which will fund the government through September 2023. The good news: the bill does not include needless corporate tax giveaways. The bad news: it also leaves out any expansion of the child tax credit.

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Guide to a Potential Year-End Tax Bill in Congress

December 14, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff

Guide to a Potential Year-End Tax Bill in Congress

Any tax legislation enacted before this Congress ends should prioritize policies that have a proven track record of helping workers and children rather than policies that cut taxes for corporations or for individuals who are already well-off. It's not clear right now whether lawmakers will do that - or whether they will enact any tax legislation at all before the year ends, but here we take a look at the key tax issues that lawmakers are discussing.

Lawmakers Seek to Extend Tax Break for “Research” that Corporations Use to Develop Frozen Foods, New Beer Flavors, Casino Games and Tax Avoidance

If Congress creates a tax break to encourage businesses to conduct research that benefits society, should Netflix be eligible for it? There is no shame in binge-watching Stranger Things or Bridgerton or The Crown, but how many of us really think Netflix deserves a tax break for whatever “research” the company did to provide this […]

Reversing the Stricter Limit on Interest Deductions: Another Huge Tax Break for Private Equity 

Private equity is doing fine on its own and does not need another tax break. Congress should keep the stricter limit on deductions for interest payments —one of the few provisions in the 2017 tax law that asked large businesses to pay a little bit more.

What Tax Provisions are in the Senate-Passed Inflation Reduction Act?

The Inflation Reduction Act approved by the Senate on Aug. 7 would raise more than $700 billion in new revenue over a decade by closing corporate tax loopholes, empowering the IRS to enforce the tax laws on the books, taxing stock buybacks, and extending a limitation on deductions for business losses. The IRA – if […]

Corporations are Shifting Profits to Wealthy Investors Tax-Free—Stock Buyback Tax Would Change That

Senate Democrats have announced an agreement on the Inflation Reduction Act that, among other changes to a previous version of the bill, would apply a 1 percent tax on corporations repurchasing their own stock. This proposal was included in the House-passed Build Back Better Act last year and was estimated at that time to raise $124 billion over 10 years. This measure would ensure that income transferred from corporations to wealthy shareholders does not continue to escape taxation.

Corporate Minimum Tax Examples: Apple Would Likely Pay More, 3M Would Not

Apple, one of the largest corporations in the United States despite manufacturing most of its physical products offshore, would likely pay the corporate minimum tax that is included in the Inflation Reduction Act that the Senate is debating this week. 3M, a manufacturer that has about 40 percent of its workforce in the United States, likely would not pay the corporate minimum tax if current trends in the company’s profits and taxes continue, because it is already paying above 15 percent of its profits in taxes.

Opponents of Inflation Reduction Act Call for Continued Tax Avoidance by Large Manufacturers

The biggest revenue-raising provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the 15 percent minimum tax for corporations that have more than a billion dollars in profits, is under attack from members of Congress who argue that manufacturing companies should not be required to pay any minimum amount of tax. Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on […]

Most Senate Democrats Join Republicans in Calling for Corporate Tax Break

The vast majority of Senate Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in approving a new corporate tax break related to research in legislation that contains no offsetting corporate tax increases.

Excess Profits Tax Proposals Meet the Moment, But Lawmakers Should Keep Their Eye on Fundamentally Fixing Our Corporate Tax

New corporate tax proposals address the current situation, but ultimately leaders in Washington must fix federal law to tax all corporate profits and stop the tax dodging that is rampant today.

Taxes Should be Part of the State of the Union Agenda

President Biden should elevate his tax and revenue proposals which remain essential if we are to pay for environmental restoration, health priorities and peacekeeping, the front-burner items that may dominate the speech.

Amazon Avoids More Than $5 Billion in Corporate Income Taxes, Reports 6 Percent Tax Rate on $35 Billion of US Income

Amazon avoided about $5.2 billion of federal income tax on its record $36 billion in U.S. pretax income for fiscal year 2021.