Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Select Media Mentions

Democracy Now!: Report: 91 Fortune 500 Companies Effectively Paid No Federal Taxes in 2018

December 17, 2019

A new study reveals how 91 of the Fortune 500 companies effectively paid no federal taxes in 2018. The study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows how Amazon, Starbucks, Chevron, Duke Energy, Halliburton and others paid an effective federal tax rate of zero percent or less. Link

Bloomberg Tax: Tax Perk to Boost Investment May Work—For Small Businesses

December 17, 2019

The 2017 tax law allowed businesses to use full expensing, or 100% bonus depreciation, for both new and used assets, a benefit that begins phasing out in 2023. Republicans heralded it as a provision that would lead to a flood of new business investment that would buoy economic growth. But some say it incentivizes investment […]

Washington Examiner: Amazon, Netflix, and Starbucks Paid $0 in 2018 Federal Income Taxes

December 16, 2019

A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that many of America’s largest corporations paid $0 in federal income taxes under the first year of President Trump’s tax law in 2018. Notable corporations in the study included Amazon, Netflix, Starbucks, Delta, Halliburton, and General Motors. Read more

Yahoo Finance: 91 Profitable Fortune 500 Companies Paid $0 in Taxes in 2018 under Trump’s Tax Law

December 16, 2019

Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at ITEP and lead author of the report says that what companies doing is “entirely legal”, but that they can avoid paying taxes thanks to tax breaks. “A whole host of tax breaks in the code collectively have this pernicious effect,” Gardner said. But he added, though legal, “this doesn’t exonerate […]

Des Moines Register: Richest Iowans Saw Most of the Benefit from 2017 Tax Cuts, Study Finds

December 16, 2019

No group in Iowa benefits more from the 2017 federal tax cuts than the wealthiest 1%, according to a new research paper from the left-leaning Iowa Policy Project. With an average annual income of $1 million, each member of that group receives tax cuts worth about $35,000 a year. In all, they receive a quarter of the total […]

The American Independent: 91 Major US Companies Paid Zero Federal Taxes Last Year Thanks to the GOP Tax Law

December 16, 2019

A total of 91 of the largest companies in the United States paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2018 under the tax law passed by Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. A new analysis released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) on Monday found that Fortune 500 companies were able […]

Tulsa World: 91 Big Companies Paid No Federal Taxes Last Year. And Others Paid Less Than New, Lower Rates for Firms

December 16, 2019

“Profitable American corporations in 2018 collectively paid an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.3 percent on their 2018 income, barely more than half the 21 percent statutory tax rate,” said the report from Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

Common Dreams: Amazon, Chevron, and Starbucks Among 91 Fortune 500 Corporations That Paid $0 in Federal Income Taxes in 2018: Report

December 16, 2019

More than 90 large, profitable corporations on the Fortune 500 list effectively did not pay a penny in federal income taxes in 2018, according to a new report published Monday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. ITEP examined financial filings from 379 Fortune 500 companies that reported a profit in 2018, the first year President […]

CNBC: These 91 Companies Paid No Federal Taxes in 2018

December 16, 2019

Nearly 100 Fortune 500 companies effectively paid no federal taxes in 2018, according to a new report. The report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, covers the first year following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act championed by President Donald Trump, which was signed into law in December 2017. Read more

Axios: 91 Fortune 500 Companies Paid No Federal Income Tax in 2018

December 16, 2019

91 Fortune 500 companies paid no federal income taxes on their U.S. income last year, according to a report released Monday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Why it matters: Some of the companies that paid no federal income tax last year still made billions of dollars — and they include some of the country’s biggest names, […]

Washington Post: Corporations Paid 11.3 Percent Tax Rate Last Year, in Steep Drop Under President Trump’s Law

December 16, 2019

About 400 of America’s largest corporations paid an average federal tax rate of about 11 percent on their profits last year, roughly half the official rate established under President Trump’s 2017 tax law, according to a report released Monday. The 2017 tax law lowered the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, […]

Chicago Tribune: What Happens to the Weed Black Market when Recreational Marijuana Goes Legal Jan. 1? ‘I See It Opening the Door to More Clients,’ One Dealer Says.

December 16, 2019

Stores selling recreational marijuana will be allowed to operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., though operating hours vary by dispensary. Whether stores truly are convenient will depend on how many are allowed to open and where they can locate, said Carl Davis, research director at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]

SF Gate: These Bay Area Companies Paid Zero Federal Taxes in 2018

December 16, 2019

A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy discovered that 91 of Fortune’s top 500 corporations paid no federal income taxes in 2018 — and many actually got money back. The report studied the first year companies were under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Donald Trump in 2017. The act […]

Fox Business: Many Fortune 500 Companies Paid Half of Trump’s Lower Corporate Tax Rate in 2018: Study

December 16, 2019

President Trump’s sweeping 2017 tax reform law substantially lowered the corporate tax rate, yet a large proportion of Fortune 500 companies paid an effective rate that was nearly half of what was expected of them, new research shows. A number of companies — including Amazon to Starbucks and Chevron — appear to have evaded federal income taxes entirely in […]

Washington Post: A New Report Hands Democrats a Major Weapon Against Trump

December 16, 2019

There is probably no more glaring example of President Trump’s massive betrayal of the economic populist nationalism that infused his campaign than the 2017 tax law. It isn’t just that he signed a massive tax cut that showered most of its benefits on the very highest earners after vowing to take on financial elites. It’s […]

NJ Spotlight: Pascrell, Other House Dems, Introduce Bill to Scrap Federal SALT Cap

December 12, 2019

For example, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that 80% of the benefit of a SALT-cap repeal would go to just the top 5% of tax filers. That followed up on a report released last year by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that estimated 60% of the benefits would […]

The News Tribune: Washington State Leaders Must Tax the Way to a Just Society

December 7, 2019

The inequalities in our state’s tax code are well known, and have gained us the ignoble designation of “the most unfair state and local tax system in the country.” This medal of dishonor from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy is based on ITEP’s assessment of how fairly the tax burden is spread among […]

Beacon: New Ad Highlights Collins’ Vote to Pass Tax Break for Wealthy Corporations

December 4, 2019

Marking two years since Senator Susan Collins cast a key vote in support of the 2017 Republican tax overhaul, the progressive 16 Counties Coalition launched a new ad on Monday highlighting corporations like Amazon and Prudential Financial that paid no corporate income taxes following the bill’s passage. In comparison, the ad notes, “one in four Mainers will eventually see their taxes […]

Fox Business: Biden to Unveil Tax Proposal Targeting Corporations, Wealthy

December 4, 2019

Under Biden’s plan, companies like Amazon, Netflix, General Motors, JetBlue and IBM, which reported net income of more than $100 million in the U.S. but paid zero or negative federal income taxes, would be hit with a 10 percent minimum levy on book income. The minimum tax, which Biden’s campaign expects to impact 300 companies, […]

The News Tribune: How Did Tacoma Do Under Trump Tax Cuts? You Can Calculate it for Yourself

November 26, 2019

President Donald Trump has said it’s time to consider another tax cut — as evidence mounts that wealthier taxpayers in the Tacoma area and around the nation benefited a lot more than others from his first one. … Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, pointed out that the […]

CNBC: Blue States File Appeal in Legal Battle Over SALT Tax Deductions

November 26, 2019

Whether the final rule will ultimately deter people from donating to these funds remains to be seen. “If you’re really passionate about private school vouchers in Georgia, you donate and you still get 100% of your donation back,” Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told CNBC earlier. “You just […]

The Oracle: Big Corporate Tax Loopholes Strain Florida Budget

November 25, 2019

A 2019 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, for instance, examined data from the IRS and Congressional Budget Office, estimating that Florida loses $1.1 billion annually from state corporate tax loopholes. $1.1 billion might seem small compared to the state’s $90 billion budget, but even small funding changes can have big impacts. The […]

Vanity Fair: “My Reserve Of F–Ks To Give Is Really Depleted”: How Teflon Tim Cook Gets Away With Enabling Donald Trump

November 25, 2019

Cook runs the biggest company on earth, with a current market cap of $1.16 trillion, and yet, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tax-policy think tank, Apple has been playing America for billions in taxes for years. Read more

Business Insider: From Amazon To GM, Here Are all the Major Tech and Transportation Companies who Avoided Federal Income Tax Expenses Last Year

November 24, 2019

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit think tank, analyzed SEC filings of Fortune 500 companies and identified 60 major corporations that didn’t report any federal income tax expenses in 2018. Of those, 11 do business in the tech or transportation industries. Read more

The New York Times: How FedEx Cut Its Tax Bill to $0

November 17, 2019

“Something like $1.5 billion in future taxes that they had promised to pay, just vanished,” said Matthew Gardner, an analyst at the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. “The obvious question is whether you can draw any line, any connection between the tax breaks they’re getting, ostensibly designed to encourage capital expenditures, and what […]

Members of the media rely on ITEP for analysis and insight about how tax policies affect people. If you’re a reporter looking to talk to one of our experts, contact Jon Whiten at [email protected].