The federal estate tax is one of our most progressive sources of revenue and a critical tool in the fight against rising wealth inequality. Congressional legislation has significantly eroded the tax over the years, and now it is levied on only the wealthiest 0.2% of estates, meaning that 99.8% of estates will have no federal estate tax liability. The estate tax should be not only preserved but restored to a historical level to increase revenues and ensure more progressivity in the tax system.
States
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report December 7, 2016 Fact Sheet: Preserving the Estate Tax
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report November 30, 2016 Privatization, Waste, and Unfunded Projects: The Problems with Trump’s Infrastructure Proposal
In his acceptance speech, President-elect Donald Trump placed a heavy emphasis on the need to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. In theory, expanded investments in our nation’s infrastructure could generate wide support among the public and within Congress. And yet Congressional negotiations on this issue have repeatedly broken down because of disagreements over how to fund those investments. Unfortunately, a flawed proposal for new funding put forth by Mr. Trump fails to offer a realistic path forward.
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brief November 28, 2016 State Tax Preferences for Elderly Taxpayers
State governments provide a wide array of tax breaks for their elderly residents. Almost every state that levies an income tax allows some form of income tax exemption or credit for citizens over age 65 that is unavailable to non-elderly taxpayers. Most states also provide special property tax breaks to the elderly. Unfortunately, too many of these breaks are poorly-targeted, unsustainable, and unfair. This policy brief surveys federal and state approaches to reducing taxes for older adults and suggests options for designing less costly and better targeted tax breaks.
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report November 28, 2016 Comprehensive Guide to “Repatriation” Proposals
Corporations falsely claim that they have to engage in offshore tax avoidance maneuvers because the U.S. corporate tax rate is too high, an argument which has unfortunately found an audience in lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. In 2017, Congress likely will evaluate a number of approaches to taxing the trillions of dollars corporations currently hold offshore. This report explains and evaluates these proposals, including a so-called repatriation holiday and deemed repatriation. Further, it explains why ending deferral of taxes on U.S. multinational corporations’ foreign earnings could halt the widespread corporate practice of funneling money to subsidiaries for the express purpose of avoiding taxes.
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report November 28, 2016 Fact Sheet: What You Need to Know About Repatriation Proposals
Fortune 500 corporations collectively have stashed $2.5 trillion in profits offshore, on which they have avoided up to $718 billion in taxes. It’s no wonder that policymakers on both sides of the aisle are weighing legislative options to either tax these profits or create an incentive for corporations to “repatriate” or bring these profits to the United States so that they are subject to taxation.
Lawmakers have introduced several “repatriation” proposals that would glean tax revenue from these offshore profits. But the only solution that will ensure corporations pay taxes on their offshore profits AND shut down the practice of stashing cash offshore is to end deferral, the tax code loophole that allows corporations to indefinitely avoid paying taxes on profits stashed offshore.
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media mention November 23, 2016 Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Clive McFarlane: Worcester trying to balance tax options
“Both the bureau’s and Mayor Petty’s proposal nevertheless would shift a greater share of the tax burden to those least able to afford it. The Institute on Taxation and Economic… -
media mention November 21, 2016 Lincoln Journal Star: UNL students rally in support of a better future
“Rodriguez said immigrants have contributed greatly to both the country and state, citing statistics from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy which state the 11 million undocumented immigrants in… -
brief November 18, 2016 Collecting Sales Taxes Owed on Internet Purchases
Retail trade has been transformed by the Internet. As the popularity of “e-commerce” (that is, transactions conducted over the Internet) has grown, policymakers have engaged in a heated debate over how state and local sales taxes should be applied to these transactions. This debate is of critical importance for states as sales taxes comprise close to one-third of all state tax revenues and hundreds of billions of dollars in retail spending is now occurring online.
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media mention November 16, 2016 Chicago Herald: New Chicago bag tax will boost revenue, but will it cut waste?
“Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research group based in Washington, D.C., said these one-off taxes on goods exacerbate income inequality.… -
media mention November 16, 2016 McClatchy DC: Undocumented students asked council to make Washington’s Bellingham a sanctuary city
“Prado said undocumented immigrants contribute about $292 million in taxes to Washington state each year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The amount would be higher with… -
report November 15, 2016 Fact Sheet: Comparison of House GOP Tax Plan, Trump’s Initial Tax Proposal and Trump’s Revised Tax Proposal
Chart comparing House GOP Tax Plan, Trump’s Initial Tax Proposal and Trump’s Revised Tax Proposal.
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media mention November 14, 2016 Denver Post: CDOT to test taxing drivers by the mile instead of at the pump
“Carl Davis, research director at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it’s true that state governments will have to find alternate ways of generating revenues for… -
media mention November 14, 2016 St Louis Post: Missouri’s new governor will need new ideas to fix a broken tax structure
“Governor-elect Eric Greitens has bold tax-reduction plans for Missouri but vague budget-balancing ideas. He should pay attention to the advice of Dylan Grundman, a senior analyst with the Institute on… -
media mention November 9, 2016 The Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems
“Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation… -
media mention November 7, 2016 The Atlantic: Are Washingtonians About to Vote Down a Chance to Fight Climate Change?
“Progressives in Washington have argued for years that the state’s tax system is unfair and exacerbates inequality. Indeed, according to a 2015 report by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and… -
media mention November 7, 2016 Yahoo! Finance: New Jersey just hiked its gas tax by 159%. Is your state next?
“Of course, New Jersey isn’t the only state that has or is toying with raising gasoline taxes. Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington… -
media mention November 3, 2016 BNA State Tax: Extras on excise: New Jersey fuel taxes are going up in the world
“New Jersey isn’t the only state that has seen a gas tax increase in recent years. Nineteen states and D.C. have seen gas tax changes in the past three years,… -
media mention November 3, 2016 Progressive Pulse: New policy brief: The tax cut that North Carolina should enact
“According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, low-income North Carolinians pay nearly twice the share of their income in taxes as our state’s richest residents. Reinstating the EITC… -
media mention November 3, 2016 The Acadiana Advocate: Task force reveals budget, tax recommendations for Legislature
“Meanwhile, the Louisiana Budget Project, which advocates on behalf of low and moderate income people, said “more is needed to put Louisiana’s budget back in the black.” “A preliminary analysis… -
media mention November 3, 2016 Oklahoma Watch: Five Things to Remember About the Penny Tax Proposal
“The tax would fall hardest on the poor, who spend a larger portion of their income on retail purchases. It would cost the bottom 20 percent of households an average… -
media mention November 1, 2016 Fox Business: New Jersey Gas Tax Hike: Will Your State Be Next?
“‘Many other states are facing similar issues, but haven’t raised the gas tax in a decade or more,’ said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic… -
media mention October 31, 2016 Las Cruces Sun-News: Millennials like this mixed-ethnicity couple are reshaping America
“Luz said her father, a manual laborer, pays income tax — as do half the immigrants living in the United States without legal status, according to the Institute on Taxation… -
media mention October 31, 2016 Poughkeepsie Journal: Tax exempt: Millions in breaks for IDAs, but few jobs
“Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit research group, agreed that New York has done a good job of keeping tabs… -
media mention October 31, 2016 The Daily Targum: KHAVICH: Enforcement of law is not anti-immigrant
“As to their contributions, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy calculated that the undocumented population pays nearly $12 billion in taxes annually.” Read more -
report October 28, 2016 The Short and Sweet on Taxing Soda
The concept of taxing sodas and other sugary beverages has gained traction recently across the United States and around the world. The World Health Organization officially recommended a tax on sugar sweetened beverages as a way to battle the obesity epidemic. In the US, multiple states and localities have looked to taxes on sugar sweetened beverages as a way to improve public health and increase revenue. In 2014, Berkeley, California became the first U.S. locality to enact such a tax. In 2016, similar taxes were enacted in Boulder, Colorado; Albany, Oakland, and San Francisco, California; Cook County, Illinois; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.