Category: Taxing Wealth and Income from Wealth
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Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicySeptember 13, 2022
Billionaires Should Pay Taxes on Their Income Every Year Like the Rest of Us
The Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden last month will crack down on corporate tax dodgers and strengthen enforcement of tax laws already on the books, raising hundreds of billions of dollars to be spent on climate, health and other priorities. But these reforms will not directly raise taxes on even the wealthiest individuals. […] -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyThe 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. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyFind 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. -
Amy Hanauer
Executive DirectorJanuary 25, 2022
Why Tax Reform Should Remain on the Table
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. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyWhile the Ways and Means bill includes many helpful tax reforms, people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk would still pay an effective tax rate of zero percent on most of their income if it was enacted without this change. Sen. Wyden’s proposal would finally end this injustice. -
Brakeyshia Samms
State Policy AnalystCurrently, millennials of color are worse off than their parents when it comes to wealth expectations. So, if one of the goals of federal policymakers is to reduce racial income and wealth disparities, the proposals outlined are a good start. Tax reforms included in the budget package making its way through Congress would help by boosting incomes and making raising children more affordable—two things that would help millennials of color thrive in today’s economy. -
Joe Hughes
Federal Policy AnalystThe racial wealth and income gaps are the results of centuries of government policies favoring the accumulation of wealth among white communities while marginalizing communities of color. Policy solutions that are race-forward, meaning they remedy past and ongoing racial inequities, can also address broader social inequities. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyWhen people first hear about proposals to tax unrealized capital gains, they often ask, “Is this income, and if so, should we tax it?” The answers to those questions are “yes” and “yes, when we are talking about the very rich.” -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorSeptember 28, 2021
Reforming Federal Capital Gains Taxes Would Benefit States, Too
Congress’s action or inaction on federal tax changes under consideration in the Build Back Better plan could have important implications for states on many fronts. One critical area of note is at the foundation of income tax law: setting the definition of income that most states will use in administering their own income taxes. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyHigh-income people and corporations would pay more than they do today, which is a monumental change. But some wealthy billionaires like Jeff Bezos would continue to pay an effective rate of zero percent on most of their income, and American corporations would still have some incentives to shift profits offshore. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyMarch 1, 2021
Senator Warren Introduces Federal Wealth Tax Legislation
With the onslaught of news about billionaire wealth soaring while low- and moderate-income families have trouble making ends meet, a federal wealth tax makes good economic and fiscal sense—and the public supports it. One poll found that 64 percent of respondents favor the idea, including a majority of Republicans. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyFebruary 18, 2021
Enacting a Federal Wealth Tax Is Playing the Long Game
Should lawmakers enact laws that they believe are sensible and constitutional, or should they shape their legislative agenda around what they believe ideological Supreme Court justices will allow? This is a dilemma facing Americans who support a federal wealth tax. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyAnti-tax activists’ convoluted claims that the rich pay too much in taxes broke new ground with an op-ed published last week in the Wall Street Journal. Penned by former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and John Early, a former official of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the piece is particularly misleading. The so-called evidence in support of their argument against raising taxes on the rich fails to correctly calculate effective tax rates. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyFebruary 19, 2020
How Democratic Presidential Candidates Would Raise Revenue
One of the biggest problems with the U.S. tax code in terms of fairness is that investment income, which mostly flows to the rich, is taxed less than the earned income that makes up all or almost all of the income that working people live on. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyJanuary 13, 2020
Time to Throw Cucumbers
A basic understanding and idea of fairness is a trait we share with intelligent primates, which is precisely why more than two years ago as Congress was debating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the American public disapproved of the tax bill. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyCue Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. In their new book, The Triumph of Injustice, the economists, who already jolted the world with their shocking data on exploding income inequality and wealth inequality, tell us to stop acting like we are paralyzed when it comes to tax policy. There are answers and solutions. And in about 200 surprisingly readable pages, they provide them. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyOctober 2, 2019
How a Federal Wealth Tax Can Help the Economy
A New York Times article explained that proponents of a federal wealth tax hope to address exploding inequality but then went on to list the fears of billionaires and economic policymakers, finding that “the idea of redistributing wealth by targeting billionaires is stirring fierce debates at the highest ranks of academia and business, with opponents arguing it would cripple economic growth, sap the motivation of entrepreneurs who aspire to be multimillionaires and set off a search for loopholes.” A wealth tax will not damage our economy and instead would likely improve it. Here’s why. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicySeptember 25, 2019
Wealth Tax Proposals from Warren and Sanders: What You Should Know
Earlier this year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed a federal wealth tax on a handful of U.S. households with the highest net worth. Sen. Bernie Sanders has just announced his own wealth tax proposal, which is similar to Warren’s. A few other presidential candidates say they support the concept although they have not provided any details. Here's what you need to know about the potential for a federal wealth tax. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicySeptember 19, 2019
Capital Gains Tax Breaks Are Finally on the Defensive
One of the most glaring sources of unfairness in the federal tax code are rules that tax capital gains, which mostly go to the rich, less than wages and other types of income that most of us depend on. The capital gains tax breaks have for decades been comfortably ensconced behind trenches filled with special interests who would defend them until the end. But the end is now conceivable. -
ITEP Staff
September 16, 2019
The Case for a Federal Wealth Tax
A federal wealth tax on the richest 0.1 percent of Americans is a viable approach for Congress to raise revenue and address economic inequality. This new video from ITEP makes the case for a federal wealth tax. -
ITEP Staff
September 10, 2019
How Tax Policy Can Help Mitigate Poverty, Address Income Inequality
Analysts at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy have produced multiple recent briefs and reports that provide insight on how current and proposed tax policies affect family economic security and income inequality. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyJuly 31, 2019
A Wealth Tax Might Be Easier to Implement than You Think
A direct federal tax on wealth, as described in a January report from ITEP and proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, could raise substantial revenue to make public investments, curb rising inequality, and is supported by a large majority of Americans. But would it work? Recent research highlighted in a new academic paper outlines approaches that would make it easier than you might think. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyThe White House is reported to be planning to unilaterally adjust the way capital gains are assessed to benefit the wealthiest Americans. The proposal would adjust capital gains for inflation, reducing taxes disproportionately for the wealthiest households who own most assets by limiting their taxable gains to those above and beyond the inflation rate. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyA February survey found that 61 percent of registered voters supported a wealth tax proposal, including 51 percent of Republican voters. And it’s not just the non-rich wanting to tax the very rich. A June survey found that 60 percent of millionaires support the idea. -
Steve Wamhoff
Director of Federal Tax PolicyAmerica needs a new tax code. The Democratic presidential debates beginning this week present an opportunity for candidates to make clear how they would address inequality or to raise enough revenue to make public investments that make the economy work for everyone. Here are some of the big tax issues that we hope they will touch on.
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