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The Tax Legislation Debated in Congress Would Reduce Inflation and Help Americans Deal with Rising Costs
• By Steve Wamhoff
Opposing a fully paid-for spending bill because of inflation concerns does not make any sense. Opposing a deficit-reducing bill because of inflation is absurd.
No Reason to Water Down the Tax Reforms in the Build Back Better Act
• By Steve Wamhoff
There is no justification for recently reported efforts to scale back the tax reforms in the Build Back Better Act, a bill passed by the House of Representatives in November that would raise significant revenue and make our tax code more progressive by enacting widely popular proposals. (See ITEP’s report on the BBBA.) Of course, […]
Most Senate Democrats Join Republicans in Calling for Corporate Tax Break
• By Steve Wamhoff
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.
Biden’s Proposals Would Fix a Tax Code that Coddles Billionaires
• By Steve Wamhoff
Billionaires can afford to pay a larger share of their income in taxes than teachers, nurses and firefighters. But our tax code often allows them to pay less, as demonstrated by the latest expose from reporters at ProPublica using IRS data. According to their calculations, Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary under former President Donald Trump, […]
Public Problems Demand Public Solutions
• By Amy Hanauer
Long-term troubles for this country and this planet now demand our attention. Progressive tax policy would transform our ability to tackle them.
President Biden’s Proposed Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax Would Ensure the Wealthiest Pay a Reasonable Amount of Income Tax
• By Steve Wamhoff
The Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax included in President Biden's budget plan would limit an unfair tax break for capital gains income and complement proposals the president has offered previously to limit other tax breaks for capital gains.
Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns About the President Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax
• By Steve Wamhoff
Find the answers to some frequently asked questions about President Biden's Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax, which would limit very wealthy individuals’ ability to put off paying income taxes on capital gains until they sell assets.
New ITEP Report Explains How the Biden Administration Can Act on Its Own to Fix Our Tax Code
• By Steve Wamhoff
The Biden administration should revise regulations from the TCJA to enforce the law as it was written and passed by Congress, not as big banks and multinational corporations have lobbied for it to be enforced.
Excess Profits Tax Proposals Meet the Moment, But Lawmakers Should Keep Their Eye on Fundamentally Fixing Our Corporate Tax
• By Steve Wamhoff
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.
Women’s History Month is a Reminder that Sensible Tax Policy is Central to Women’s Economic Security
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Women’s History Month is a chance to remember what happens for women when tax policy becomes more progressive, boosts income, and helps make raising a family more affordable.
State Gas Tax Holidays are Nothing to Celebrate
• By Carl Davis
It’s unlikely that state gas tax holidays will meaningfully benefit consumers, and they come with risks for states’ infrastructure quality.
What We Can Learn Today from the American Rescue Plan – and Sen. Rick Scott’s Proposed Tax Increases
• By Steve Wamhoff
The success of the American Rescue Plan Act is worth revisiting today. Instead of pursuing Sen. Rick Scott’s agenda of making life more difficult for those already working the hardest, Congress should extend or make permanent some of the beneficial policies in ARPA.
Taxes Should be Part of the State of the Union Agenda
• By Amy Hanauer
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.
Senate Republicans Revive the Myth of the Takers
• By Steve Wamhoff
Sen. Scott and others who favor shifting taxes away from the rich and down the income distribution often focus solely on the federal personal income tax and ignore all the other taxes that Americans pay.
The Federal Gas Tax Holiday is Not a New Idea, Just a Bad One
• By Steve Wamhoff
The argument for suspending the gas tax, which would cost $20 billion, is weaker than ever.
Imagine a Better Tax Code, Use Evidence to Make It Real
• By Amy Hanauer
It’s become popular to urge people to imagine a better world. But on tax policy, the last year gives us ample evidence that lets us move far beyond imagining.
Amazon Avoids More Than $5 Billion in Corporate Income Taxes, Reports 6 Percent Tax Rate on $35 Billion of US Income
• By Matthew Gardner
Amazon avoided about $5.2 billion of federal income tax on its record $36 billion in U.S. pretax income for fiscal year 2021.
Netflix Posts a Record $5.3 Billion in Profits and a Federal Tax Rate of Just 1.1 Percent
• By Matthew Gardner
Netflix's 2021 financial report shows it doubled its profits to $5.3 billion from the previous year and reported an effective federal corporate income tax rate of 1.1 percent.
Build Back Better’s Tax Provisions Would Help Advance Racial Equity
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Build Back Better can help ensure that all people are provided with the chance to lead healthy lives, have access to quality education, are treated fairly and justly, and thrive in today’s economy.
Why Tax Reform Should Remain on the Table
• By Amy Hanauer
In this country, wealthier than any other and wealthier than we’ve ever been, we can create a smarter, more equitable tax code that better taxes those most able to pay.
The Compelling Data and Moral Case for Continuing the Child Tax Credit Expansion
• By Alex Welch, ITEP Staff, Jenice R. Robinson
In just six short months, the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), decreased the number of children living in poverty by 40 percent. ITEP estimated that the lowest-income 20 percent of households with children would receive a 35 percent income boost from this policy alone in 2021. This is a meaningful, life-changing sum.
The Problem with Returning to a $2,000 Non-Refundable Child Tax Credit
• By Joe Hughes
Prior to last year, more than one in three children lived in households with incomes too low to receive the full $2,000 credit because it is not fully refundable. This means earnings requirements and other limits reduce the amount tax filers can receive as a refund. In fact, the maximum refundable portion is reduced to $1,400 (less than half of the maximum refundable credit available in 2021).
ITEP Data on Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit Provisions Before Congress
• By Steve Wamhoff
Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). The additional benefits that millions of families and workers received under that law will end this month if Congress does not act soon. The CTC expansion boosted the annual tax credit […]
Tax Credits in Build Back Better Support Millions of Families
• By ITEP Staff
The EITC and CTC are proven poverty-fighting tools. The monthly CTC payments alone kept 3.6 million people out of poverty in October. This policy success is worth repeating.
Latest Proposal from Senate Democrats Would Bar the Rich from SALT Cap Relief
• By Steve Wamhoff
Richest taxpayers would receive $0 benefit under new compromise compared with 51 percent of the benefit of House-passed SALT provision DOWNLOAD NATIONAL AND STATE-BY-STATE ESTIMATES In the latest chapter of the saga over SALT, some Senate Democrats are discussing a new compromise that would amend the House-passed provision providing relief from the SALT cap to […]
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