Federal Policy
ITEP’s federal policy resources provide quantitative and qualitative research and analysis on current tax policies, proposals and reform options. Its distributional analyses highlight how tax proposals will affect Americans in different income groups nationally and in all 50 states.
ITEP's Federal Policy Research Priorities
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blog August 9, 2022 What Tax Provisions are in the Senate-Passed Inflation Reduction Act?
The Inflation Reduction Act approved by the Senate on Aug. 7 would raise more than $700 billion in new revenue over a decade by closing corporate tax loopholes, empowering the… -
blog August 5, 2022 They Might Really Do It: The Senate Is About to Reform Our Tax Code
For now, the Senate is poised to reverse cuts to the IRS enforcement against wealthy tax evaders for the first time in a decade, crack down on tax-dodging by huge corporations for the first time since 1986, and finally address the method increasingly used by corporations to transfer income to shareholders to avoid federal taxes. The multi-decade winning streak of corporate lobbyists and special interests who have practically written many of our tax laws in recent years is about to come to an end.
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blog August 5, 2022 Corporations are Shifting Profits to Wealthy Investors Tax-Free—Stock Buyback Tax Would Change That
Senate Democrats have announced an agreement on the Inflation Reduction Act that, among other changes to a previous version of the bill, would apply a 1 percent tax on corporations repurchasing their own stock. This proposal was included in the House-passed Build Back Better Act last year and was estimated at that time to raise $124 billion over 10 years. This measure would ensure that income transferred from corporations to wealthy shareholders does not continue to escape taxation.
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blog August 5, 2022 Corporate Minimum Tax Examples: Apple Would Likely Pay More, 3M Would Not
Apple, one of the largest corporations in the United States despite manufacturing most of its physical products offshore, would likely pay the corporate minimum tax that is included in the Inflation Reduction Act that the Senate is debating this week. 3M, a manufacturer that has about 40 percent of its workforce in the United States, likely would not pay the corporate minimum tax if current trends in the company’s profits and taxes continue, because it is already paying above 15 percent of its profits in taxes.
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blog August 2, 2022 Opponents of Inflation Reduction Act Call for Continued Tax Avoidance by Large Manufacturers
The biggest revenue-raising provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the 15 percent minimum tax for corporations that have more than a billion dollars in profits, is under attack from members… -
blog August 2, 2022 Top Republican Tax-Writer Falsely Claims that Minimum Tax for Huge Corporations Is a Tax Hike on Middle-Class
Opponents of requiring corporations to pay even a minimum amount of taxes hold an unpopular position. But Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and a leader of that opposition, is using a one-sided and incomplete analysis to claim that the corporate minimum tax would raise taxes on low- and middle-income people.
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blog July 19, 2022 The Tax Legislation Debated in Congress Would Reduce Inflation and Help Americans Deal with Rising Costs
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.
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blog June 30, 2022 No Reason to Water Down the Tax Reforms in the Build Back Better Act
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… -
blog May 6, 2022 Most Senate Democrats Join Republicans in Calling for Corporate Tax Break
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.
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report April 26, 2022 Revenue-Raising Proposals in President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Plan
President Biden’s latest budget plan includes proposals that would raise $2.5 trillion in new revenue. While many of these reforms appeared in his previous budget, some of them are brand new, such as his proposal to prevent basis-shifting in partnerships and his Billionaires Minimum Income Tax.
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blog April 21, 2022 Biden’s Proposals Would Fix a Tax Code that Coddles Billionaires
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… -
blog April 18, 2022 Public Problems Demand Public Solutions
Long-term troubles for this country and this planet now demand our attention. Progressive tax policy would transform our ability to tackle them.
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blog April 6, 2022 President Biden’s Proposed Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax Would Ensure the Wealthiest Pay a Reasonable Amount of Income Tax
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.
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blog April 6, 2022 Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns About the President Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax
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.
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blog March 25, 2022 New ITEP Report Explains How the Biden Administration Can Act on Its Own to Fix Our Tax Code
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.
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blog March 25, 2022 Excess Profits Tax Proposals Meet the Moment, But Lawmakers Should Keep Their Eye on Fundamentally Fixing Our Corporate Tax
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.
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report March 25, 2022 What the Biden Administration Can Do on Its Own, Without Congress, to Fix the Tax Code
The Biden administration has several options to address tax reform even when Congress is unable or unwilling to help.
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blog March 24, 2022 Women’s History Month is a Reminder that Sensible Tax Policy is Central to Women’s Economic Security
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.
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blog March 16, 2022 State Gas Tax Holidays are Nothing to Celebrate
It’s unlikely that state gas tax holidays will meaningfully benefit consumers, and they come with risks for states’ infrastructure quality.
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blog March 11, 2022 What We Can Learn Today from the American Rescue Plan – and Sen. Rick Scott’s Proposed Tax Increases
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.
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report March 7, 2022 State-by-State Estimates of Sen. Rick Scott’s “Skin in the Game” Proposal
A proposal from Sen. Rick Scott would increase taxes for more than 35% of Americans, with the poorest fifth of Americans paying 34% of the tax increase.
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blog March 1, 2022 Taxes Should be Part of the State of the Union Agenda
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.
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blog February 22, 2022 Senate Republicans Revive the Myth of the Takers
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.
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blog February 17, 2022 The Federal Gas Tax Holiday is Not a New Idea, Just a Bad One
The argument for suspending the gas tax, which would cost $20 billion, is weaker than ever.
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blog February 16, 2022 Imagine a Better Tax Code, Use Evidence to Make It Real
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.