News Releases
White House Budget Fails to Acknowledge Role of Tax Cuts in the Deficit while Calling for Draconian Spending Cuts
March 11, 2019 • By Alan Essig
As expected, the president’s budget would enshrine top-heavy tax cuts into law and finance them by slashing domestic programs. It is time for a course correction.
Gov. Pritzker’s Tax Proposal Is a Huge Step Toward Fairer Taxes
March 7, 2019 • By Lisa Christensen Gee
Gov. Pritzker’s Fair Tax proposal reflects a necessary and strong commitment to reforming Illinois’s tax system in a fair way that will help the state raise the revenue it needs to stabilize its finances and improve quality of life for all its residents. The state’s financial crisis spans several years and getting the state back on firm fiscal footing requires bold solutions and—yes—tax increases.
Education Department Tax Credit Proposal Would Undermine Public Schools
February 28, 2019 • By Carl Davis
The Education Department today announced a proposed new federal tax credit for so-called school choice. The $5 billion proposal would give those who donate to private school voucher programs a tax credit. Following is a statement by Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
New Report Outlines Seven Progressive Revenue-Raising Options
February 5, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
ITEP today released a report that charts a path for Congress to enact progressive, revenue-raising tax policies that would target high-income households and reverse the damage from TCJA and prior rounds of tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the well-off.
New Report Makes the Case for a Wealth Tax; Analysis Finds Such a Tax Could Raise More Than $1 Trillion Over a Decade
January 23, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
A federal wealth tax on the top 0.1 percent of households could raise significant tax revenue, curb growing economic inequality and help make the tax system fairer, a new report released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds.
Five Years in, Cannabis Tax Haul Rivals or Exceeds Alcohol Taxes in Many States
January 23, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
A first-of-its-kind look at state excise taxes on legal cannabis sales finds that taxing the substance can be a meaningful source of state revenue but cautions that achieving sustainable revenues over time will be difficult under the price-based tax structures adopted in most states thus far.
Gov. Cuomo Has the Right Idea on How to Tax Recreational Cannabis
January 15, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
Following is a statement by Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the cannabis tax structure unveiled by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
2017 Tax Law Leaves More Wealthy Heirs with Tax-Free Inheritances
December 6, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Media contact A tiny fraction of estates will be subject to the tax in 2018 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act drastically reduced the number of estates that are subject to the estate tax, which is an incredible feat given only a fraction of 1 percent of estates owed any tax in recent years, the […]
New 50-State Analysis: SALT Cap Repeal Would Be Costly, Mostly Benefit Top 1%
November 14, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Repealing the 2017 tax law’s cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions without replacing it with a different type of limit would pile one bad policy on top of the other, annually add $88 billion to the deficit-financed tax law, and mostly benefit the wealthy, a new 50-state analysis released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reveals.
Poorest 20 Percent Pays a 50 Percent Higher Effective State and Local Tax Rate than the Top 1 Percent
October 17, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
A comprehensive 50-state study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that most state and local tax systems tax low- and middle-income households at significantly higher rates than wealthy taxpayers, with the lowest-income households paying an average of 50 percent more of their income in taxes than the very rich.
NYT Expose on Trump Family Tax Avoidance Demonstrates There’s a Different Set of Rules for the Rich and Powerful
October 2, 2018 • By Alan Essig
Following is a statement by Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding an expose in today’s New York Times that reveals Donald Trump’s family engaged in complex schemes to avoid taxes.
U.S. House Advances More Unpopular Tax Cuts That Primarily Benefit the Wealthy
September 28, 2018 • By Alan Essig
The U.S. House this week voted on so-called Tax Cuts 2.0, a package of three tax bills that, among other things, would make permanent temporary provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Alan Essig, ITEP’s executive director, said the following: “While top-heavy tax cuts and their inevitable effect of decimating public investments may seem peripheral to today’s news cycle, they are emblematic of the governing philosophy of those in power today.”
More of the Same: Tax Cuts 2.0 Will Benefit the Rich
September 10, 2018 • By Alan Essig
Media Contact Following is a statement from Alan Essig, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the tax bill introduced today by House GOP leadership. “Once again, lawmakers are attempting to force tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy on an unwilling public. Nearly nine months after the tax law passed, […]
Proposed IRS Regulations Would End SALT Workarounds and Rightly Tamp Down on School Voucher Tax Shelters
August 23, 2018 • By Carl Davis
The main difference between states that recently passed SALT workaround legislation and states that provide overly generous credits for donations to private schools are their political leanings. Private school supporters were hoping for a special carve out that would allow their tax shelter to remain intact, but the IRS was correct not to pick winners and losers.
House Republicans’ Not-So-New Tax Plan: Crumbs for Working People 2.0
July 24, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Media Contact Rep. Kevin Brady, the top tax-writer in the House of Representatives, today called on his colleagues to make permanent the temporary provisions that were enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). These provisions, which will otherwise expire at the end of 2025, mostly benefit the richest households. As illustrated […]
A Practical Case Against Sales Tax Holidays
July 12, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
The lack of investment in public school systems is a problem in jurisdictions throughout the country. So, at this time of year when many states across the country are temporarily suspending sales taxes to provide a break to taxpayers who have to purchase back-to-school supplies, it’s worth examining whether this is the most effective use of resources.
65 Percent of Federal Tax Cuts Since 2000 Have Gone to Richest 20 Percent
July 11, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Since 2000, Congress has passed several rounds of tax cuts that have increased the federal deficit by nearly $6 trillion and disproportionately benefited the top 20 percent of households, which received nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the value of all tax changes.
New Report Highlights Growing Tax Breaks for Wealthy Real Estate Investors Like Donald Trump
July 5, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff
Following is a statement by Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the report released today by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee addressing tax breaks for real estate developers in the new tax law. “The conclusion of this report should surprise […]
South Dakota v. Wayfair Decision Brings Overdue Fairness to Retail Sales Tax
June 21, 2018 • By Carl Davis
Following is a statement by Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. Mr. Davis has authored numerous policy briefs regarding how online retailers that fail to collect sales taxes deprive states of necessary sales tax revenue and maintain an unfair advantage over bricks and mortar retailers.
State Efforts to Shield Taxpayers From SALT Cap Expose Deeper Flaws with Tax Incentives for Charitable Contributions
May 23, 2018 • By Carl Davis
Long before the tax law passed, some states abused the idea of charitable giving to funnel public money to various activities, such as private K-12 education, by reimbursing up to 100 percent of their taxpayers’ donations with tax credits. The flimsy, hastily-written SALT deduction cap enacted last year made this type of gaming even easier than before, and it was entirely predictable that states would respond by enacting more tax credits of this type.
Millionaires Average Annual Tax Cut in North Carolina Is Comparable to Average Teacher’s Salary
May 11, 2018 • By Meg Wiehe
North Carolina lawmakers' misplaced priorities are evident: The recent rounds of tax cuts will provide the state’s millionaires with an average annual tax break of more than $45,000, which is nearly as much as the average teacher’s annual salary of about $50,000.
Arizona and Other Teachers’ Strikes are Directly Connected to Tax-Cutting Fervor
April 24, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Following is a statement by Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the pending teachers’ strike in Arizona. “The Arizona teachers’ strike, like other recent strikes and walkouts before it, is as much a state fiscal policy story as it is an education story. Year after year, lawmakers in […]
ITEP Resources for Tax Day 2018
April 14, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Two recent Congressional Budget Office reports underscore why the nation needs progressive tax policies. The first, published in March, demonstrates that tax and other public policies have a measurable effect on income disparity. According to CBO data, tax policies (think Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit) and means-tested programs (Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, food assistance, etc.) have helped alleviate growing income inequality. The second CBO report, released this week, reveals that the national debt will soar to untenable levels in the coming years due in part to the recent Trump-GOP tax cuts.
Same Old Same: 50-State Analysis Finds Extending the New Tax Law’s Temporary Provisions Would Mainly Benefit the Wealthy
April 10, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
While rhetoric may bill this tax law and proposed extension as a middle-class tax cut, the data tell the real story: the Trump-GOP tax law was and remains a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy.
Amazon Maintains Sales Tax Advantage over Local Businesses
March 26, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
This report concludes that lack of consistent sales tax collection is contributing to an unlevel playing field for local businesses “because millions of shoppers are able to pay less tax if they choose to buy from out-of-state companies over the Internet rather than at local stores.” It recommends that states explore reforms to bring their sales tax policies into the digital age.
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