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Aidan Davis
State Policy DirectorA recent New York Times article serves as a stark reminder that child poverty remains a persistent problem in this country and that the policies we have in place to help this vulnerable population need immediate attention and improvement. -
Lorena Roque
Policy AnalystDecember 18, 2019
Why Corporate Tax Avoidance Matters
Corporate tax avoidance boosts companies’ bottom lines, and this benefits the owners of corporate stocks, which are mostly concentrated in the hands of the well-off. The cost of corporate tax dodging is borne by everyone, in several different ways. -
Matthew Gardner
Senior FellowA new report from ITEP released today shows that, based on the first year of financial reports released by companies operating under the new tax law, tax avoidance appears to be every bit as much of a problem under the new tax system as it was before the Trump tax law took effect. -
Lorena Roque
Policy AnalystTwo new ITEP reports lay bare the irreparable flaws of the federal Opportunity Zones program, created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by President Trump in 2017. -
Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorITEP estimates show that if the House Democrats' proposal was in effect in 2022, it would have a net cost of $81 billion in that year alone. The estimates also show that 51 percent of the benefits would go to the richest 1 percent of taxpayers in the U.S. Clearly, lawmakers concerned about the SALT cap need to go back to the drawing board. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorDecember 9, 2019
Legal Cannabis and a Tax Cut, Too
A new ITEP report explains that an income tax cut for cannabis businesses embedded in the MORE Act is probably larger than the new 5 percent sales tax. This means that the average cannabis retailer—and its customers—could expect to pay LESS tax if the MORE Act is signed into law. Congress might have good reasons for structuring legalization this way, but it is an underappreciated aspect of the bill that should be made clearer as this debate progresses. -
November 27, 2019
State Rundown 11/27: Don’t Forget to Thank Taxes!
In the last few weeks, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has served up his budget proposal, which advocates are eager to dig into and hoping to contribute to with a delectable Earned Income Tax Credit proposal of their own. Utah lawmakers have been cooking up tax ideas as well, but haven’t yet decided when to come to the table to debate them. And Maryland leaders finalized their menu of needed education reforms, now moving on to assigning responsibilities for funding them. With respect to dividing up the pie, our “What We’re Reading” section below includes reporting on evidence that corporate tax subsidies contribute to inequality at both the federal and state levels. We at ITEP are very thankful for your readership, support, and encouragement! -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorThe last few years have brought major improvements in how states enforce their sales tax laws on purchases made over the Internet. Less than a decade ago, e-retailers almost never collected the sales taxes owed by their customers. The result was a multi-billion dollar drain on state coffers and a competitive disadvantage for local businesses. But this holiday season looks a bit different. -
Many of yesterday’s Election Day votes came down to questions of whether or not to improve on upside-down and often inadequate state and local tax systems. The status quo was maintained in Colorado, where voters failed to approve a proposition to allow the state to invest tax revenue in education and other needs, and in Texas, where a constitutional amendment was approved to prohibit the state from creating an income tax. But voters supported important reforms in other states by approving needed funding for schools in Idaho, opting to legalize and tax recreational cannabis in California. And for more on why and how we can make tax policy more fair, find the link below to today’s live-streamed Tax the Rich conference!
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Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorSenator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren released a plan today to offset the costs of Medicare for All, a publicly funded single-payer health care program. While ITEP has not crunched the numbers, it seems likely overall that her proposals would raise trillions of dollars and leave costs and taxes either unchanged or lower for most low- and middle-income people. -
Lorena Roque
Policy AnalystOctober 30, 2019
There’s a lot more to Corporate Tax Reform than Tax Rates
Several Democratic candidates have proposed raising the statutory corporate tax rate from its current level of 21 percent to fund their spending proposals. Political reporters and observers may read a great deal into the different corporate rates proposed by candidates, but the truth is that rates mean very little on their own. -
Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorOctober 28, 2019
A Financial Transaction Tax Could Raise Revenue, Curb Inequality
A new report from ITEP explains the potential benefits of a financial transaction tax (FTT), which is supported by several presidential candidates. Few proposals can be said to raise revenue for public investments, make our tax code more progressive, and improve the efficiency of our financial system all at the same time. An FTT can do all of that. -
As autumn brings a colorful display of foliage to many states, so too are tax proposals taking on interesting hues as states move from the summer off-season toward 2020 legislative sessions. Ohio lawmakers are blue in the face from debating and re-debating tax and budget issues there. Maryland residents again showed they can’t be called yellow-bellied when it comes to footing the bill for needed education improvements, showing their broad support for higher taxes to fund those needs even despite a hefty price tag. Alaska, Michigan, and other states are giving the green light to laws implementing their new ability to collect sales taxes from online retailers, and Massachusetts came out of the blue with a proposal to apply that ability to its corporate income tax. Meanwhile, anti-tax interests showed their true colors in pushing for personal income and business tax cuts in North Carolina and Utah, though advocates for tax justice aren’t by any means waving white flags in those states.
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Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorOn Tuesday night, 25 Republicans joined nearly all the chamber’s Democrats to approve the Corporate Transparency Act, a bill that would require those creating a company to report its owners to the federal government. The White House expressed support but called for the House and Senate to work on certain details, creating the possibility that the measure could be enacted. -
Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorOctober 18, 2019
Depreciation Tax Breaks Are a Problem that Deserves More Attention
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ recently released corporate tax plan would shut down the major breaks and loopholes that allow corporations to dodge taxes. The reforms in his plan that are most likely to get attention are proposals to shut down offshore tax dodging, as ITEP has long called for. -
Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorCue 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. -
Creative thinking from Pennsylvania lawmakers has helped them discover that the Wayfair ruling allowing states to collect sales tax from online retailers can also help them identify and tax corporate profits earned in their borders. Similarly, New York leaders had the vision to put bold environmental goals in place and identify a carbon price as a potential pay-for. Gubernatorial candidates in Mississippi and Kentucky showed less ingenuity, proposing tax cuts even though Mississippi is still phasing in a massive tax cut from a few years ago and Kentucky’s next election isn’t until 2020. Meanwhile, the old idea of eliminating income taxes is so strong in Texas that anti-tax interests have gotten a constitutional ban on income taxes onto the state ballot even though the state doesn’t have one. And “What We’re Reading” is stocked this week with good reading about the role tax policy can play in addressing inequities related to income, wealth, and race.
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Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorOctober 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. -
Stephanie Clegg
Communications ManagerSeptember 27, 2019
The Nation’s Income Inequality Challenge Explained in Charts
Income inequality has reached its highest level since the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking the measure more than 50 years ago, according to recent data. While recent Census data show modest increases in median household income and average hourly wages—numbers anti-tax politicians and pundits have used to deny rising inequality—a deeper look at some of the latest numbers reveals a decades-long trend of widening economic inequality. -
September 26, 2019
State Rundown 9/26: Shady State Business Tax Subsidies Coming to Light
Lawmakers in Michigan and New Hampshire made progress toward enacting their state budgets, though Michigan may yet end up in a government shutdown. Leaders in Wyoming advanced a proposal to create a limited tax on large corporations to raise some revenue and add a progressive element to their state’s tax code. Georgia agencies are forced to recommend their own funding cuts amid state income tax cuts. And business tax subsidies are looking particularly bad in Maryland, where subsidy money has been handed out without verification that companies were creating jobs, and New Jersey, where a false threat to leave the state was all it took for companies to bilk the state out of hundreds of millions in subsidies. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorA well-designed carbon tax package—that is, levied at a sufficiently high rate and paired with equitable offsets for lower- and middle-income families—could improve both our environment and the fairness of our tax system. -
September 26, 2019
Maine Reaches Tax Fairness Milestone
Lawmakers in Maine this year took bold steps toward making the state’s tax system fairer. Their actions demonstrate that political will can dramatically alter state tax policy landscape to improve economic well-being for low-income families while also ensuring the wealthy pay a fairer share. -
Steve Wamhoff
Federal Policy DirectorSeptember 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. -
Matthew Gardner
Senior FellowIt was this side of last month that the Business Roundtable made headlines by announcing its new vision of the purpose of a corporation. More than 180 corporate leaders signed the statement, which declared corporations will prioritize the communities in which they work—instead of shareholder value. But for some corporations, the Business Roundtable statement is yesterday’s news, and they are commencing with business as usual.
Blog Categories
- Corporate Taxes
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Education Tax Breaks
- Federal Policy
- Fines and Fees
- Immigration
- Inequality and the Economy
- Local Income Taxes
- Local Policy
- Local Property Taxes
- Local Refundable Tax Credits
- Local Sales Taxes
- Maps
- Personal Income Taxes
- Property Taxes
- Refundable Tax Credits
- Sales, Gas and Excise Taxes
- SALT Deduction
- State Corporate Taxes
- State Policy
- Tax Analyses
- Tax Basics
- Tax Credits for Workers and Families
- Tax Reform Options and Challenges
- Taxing Wealth and Income from Wealth
- Trump Tax Policies
- Who Pays?