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Progressives Need a Slight Course Correction on Tax Policy
• By Steve Wamhoff
Corporate tax reforms should be the backbone of any progressive tax agenda and should be counted on to remain if other changes to our tax code are later thwarted by any of the three branches of government.
State Rundown 5/7: Federal Showers Make States Dour
• By ITEP Staff
The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.
Amidst Soaring Tech Earnings, Meta and Qualcomm Disclose a $13.7 Billion Tax Gift from Trump Administration
• By Matthew Gardner
Both companies acknowledge that they will save billions because of the Trump administration's weakening of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT). Meta and Qualcomm are just two of the corporations that will benefit from this corporate tax cut provided unilaterally by the Trump's Treasury Department.
State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes
• By ITEP Staff
This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.
The Washington Post Is Wrong: Many Rich Americans Are Not Paying Their Fair Share
• By Jessica Vela
Bezos' hand-picked editorial board argues that our tax code does not need to be more progressive because the share of federal income tax paid by the rich already exceeds their share of income. This is grossly misleading for at least two reasons.
The Big Corporations That Avoided All Federal Income Taxes on Their 2025 U.S. Profits Would Like Us All to Please Just Look at That Squirrel Over There
• By Matthew Gardner
When confronted with the completely accurate observation that their own annual reports disclose an estimated current federal income tax expense of zero on current-year income, the companies will desperately point to something else entirely.
State Rundown 4/23: While Some States Stop Digging, Others Move Full Steam Ahead with Anti-Affordability Agendas
• By ITEP Staff
Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that will have residents vote on a proposal at the ballot box. The ask: for them to pay more in sales taxes to offset cuts – and the possible elimination – of the state's individual income tax, which makes up nearly two-thirds of Missouri’s general fund.
State Rundown 4/16: Tax Day, a New Millionaires’ Tax and Late Blooming State Tax Action
• By ITEP Staff
Yesterday was Tax Day, and with many state legislative sessions wrapping, some tax changes are gearing up or crossing over the finish line.
Tax Break for Ultra-wealthy Investors Takes a Hit in Maine and Oregon
• By Nick Johnson
Policymakers in Maine and Oregon wisely said “no” last week to an income tax break for deep-pocketed tech investors and venture capitalists that was expanded in last year’s federal tax bill.
Maine Passes Millionaires’ Tax and Pushes Back on Federal Changes
• By Marco Guzman
Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Friday put her seal of approval on a supplemental budget bill that includes a “millionaires’ tax.”
North Carolina, Pushing Tax Cuts on Three Fronts, Risks a Repeat of Kansas Debacle
• By Carl Davis
Tax cuts are looming large on the horizon in North Carolina. So large, in fact, that even some traditionally anti-tax voices are starting to get nervous.
State Rundown 4/8: Budget and Tax Packages Take Shape as Sine Die Approaches in Many States
• By ITEP Staff
State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.
Despite Any Refunds, You’re Probably Paying More Taxes Under Trump While Richest Pay Less
• By Steve Wamhoff
For a large majority of Americans, the tax increase resulting from Trump’s tariffs, along with the ending of the health care tax credits, more than offsets any tax cuts provided by OBBBA. The exception is the richest 5 percent of Americans, for whom the net result is a tax cut on average.
State Rundown 4/1: No Fooling Around Anymore in Washington, But Cruel Pranks in South Carolina
• By ITEP Staff
In Washington, Gov. Bob Ferguson and lawmakers decided to stop fooling around with one of the nation’s most upside-down tax codes and finally brought to life a new millionaires’ tax, the first new income tax created in a state since 1991.
Low Tax for Whom? California vs Texas
• By Cassidy Sheppard
California Gov. Gavin Newsom went to Texas recently and claimed: “Texas taxes poor folks more than we tax our richest." He’s right.
The Progress of Tax Policy: Q&A With Vanessa Williamson, Author of ‘The Price of Democracy’
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Williamson speaks about why tax politics has long been tied to questions of democratic inclusion, what history can teach us about today’s tax debates, and how tax policy shapes the future of American democracy.
State Rundown 3/26: Sobering Revenue Projections Keep States on Their Toes
• By ITEP Staff
This week, troubling revenue projections are making headlines, with many lawmakers scrambling to determine how the tax changes at the federal level, plus price hikes driven by national policy decisions, will impact their states.
How to Make the Rich and Corporations Pay for This Unpopular War
• By Michael Ettlinger
The war is widely unpopular. Whether the cost of the war ends up being $200 billion, more than that amount, or less, let’s at least have it paid for by those who can most afford it.
States Like Missouri Are Seeking to Raise Taxes on the Working Class to Cut Taxes for the Rich
• By Eli Byerly-Duke
A proposal to replace the Missouri personal income tax with a higher sales tax would increase costs for low- and middle-income households while giving the richest Missourians an average annual tax cut of almost $40,000.
We Must Focus on Black Women to Reduce Inequity in the Tax Code
• By Brakeyshia Samms, Francine Lipman
As nice as it is to celebrate Women’s History Month, if we want a brighter future for women, we need to forge public policies that reduce inequity and include all of us.
State Rundown 3/18: New Mexico Enacts Most Significant Corporate Tax Reform of the Year
• By ITEP Staff
As states lawmakers continue to weigh their linkages to the federal tax code in light of the recent federal tax law, New Mexico provides a blueprint for limiting multinational corporate tax avoidance.
States Should Be Doing More About Corporate Tax Avoidance. New Mexico’s Tax Conformity Law Shows How.
• By Carl Davis
On top of declining to fold large federal business tax cuts into state law, New Mexico also took the monumental step of hardening the state’s corporate tax base against offshore profit shifting.
State Rundown 3/12: Washington Lawmakers Pass Millionaires’ Tax, Expand Working Families Tax Credit
• By ITEP Staff
Washington is on its way to making history after the legislature approved the “millionaires’ tax,” a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. The bill, which is expected to raise more than $3 billion a year, making significant investments in public education and childcare, will also expand the Working Families Tax Credit – the […]
Washington Millionaires’ Tax, Expanded Working Families Tax Credit Make Tax Code Fairer
• By Marco Guzman, Dylan Grundman O'Neill
The Washington legislature has approved a new "millionaires' tax," a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. The bill, which makes significant investments in public education and child care, will also expand the Working Families Tax Credit – the state’s EITC – to reach an additional 460,000 households.
Governor Should Put New Mexico’s Tax Interests First
• By Amy Hanauer, Amber Wallin
By decoupling from three misguided federal corporate income tax cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill, plus taking steps to curb unfair corporate tax avoidance, SB 151 would raise and safeguard more than $120 million annually.
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