Just Taxes Blog by ITEP

Category: Education Tax Breaks



  • February 23, 2018

    Why the Minute Federal 529 Provision Has Huge Consequences for States

    When Republican leaders rushed through an overhaul to the federal tax code over a seven-week legislative period, they failed to acknowledge that many provisions in their bill would have negative consequences for states. One such provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that undermines state laws is the expansion of federal tax breaks that now allows taxpayers to use 529 savings plans to pay for private K-12 education.
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    December 14, 2017

    Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill

    For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    August 30, 2017

    Private School Voucher Credits Offer a Windfall to Wealthy Investors in Some States

    State lawmakers who want to send public dollars to private schools have devised a shrewd tactic for getting around political and constitutional obstacles that make it difficult to do so. These lawmakers found a way to pay high-income taxpayers to fund those schools on states’ behalf, sometimes even offering those taxpayers a tidy profit in […]
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    August 9, 2017

    It’s a Fact: Voucher Tax Credits Offer Profits for Some “Donors”

    In nine states, tax rewards gained by donating to fund private K-12 vouchers are so oversized that “donors” can turn a profit.  This is the shocking but true finding of a pair of studies released by ITEP over the last year.
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    May 17, 2017

    Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit

    A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being used as profitable tax shelters by high-income taxpayers. By exploiting interactions between federal and state tax law, high-income taxpayers in nine states are currently able […]

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