Comments on Senate Finance Committee Paper on Anti-Deferral Accounting
Taxing Wealth and Income from Wealth
ITEP analyzes proposals to address the many special breaks in loopholes for income from wealth, such as capital gains and stock dividends. We also analyze the federal estate tax, which is a tax on wealth itself, as well as proposals to create a comprehensive federal wealth tax.
-
September 12, 2019 Comments on Senate Finance Committee Paper on Anti-Deferral Accounting
-
blog September 10, 2019 How Tax Policy Can Help Mitigate Poverty, Address Income Inequality
Analysts at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy have produced multiple recent briefs and reports that provide insight on how current and proposed tax policies affect family economic security and income inequality.
-
blog July 31, 2019 A Wealth Tax Might Be Easier to Implement than You Think
A direct federal tax on wealth, as described in a January report from ITEP and proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, could raise substantial revenue to make public investments, curb rising inequality, and is supported by a large majority of Americans. But would it work? Recent research highlighted in a new academic paper outlines approaches that would make it easier than you might think.
-
brief July 26, 2019 Election 2020: Tax Policy Essentials
The nation’s tax policies and their role in economic inequality are front and center during this election cycle. For those interested in how the nation can move toward a fairer tax system and or more detailed information about progressive tax policy ideas, ITEP created this quick guide.
-
blog June 28, 2019 Why Trump Administration’s Plan to Index Capital Gains to Inflation Is Just Another Giveaway to the Wealthy
The White House is reported to be planning to unilaterally adjust the way capital gains are assessed to benefit the wealthiest Americans. The proposal would adjust capital gains for inflation, reducing taxes disproportionately for the wealthiest households who own most assets by limiting their taxable gains to those above and beyond the inflation rate.
-
blog June 27, 2019 Wealth Tax Is Supported by Basically Everyone Who Is Not a Politician
A February survey found that 61 percent of registered voters supported a wealth tax proposal, including 51 percent of Republican voters. And it’s not just the non-rich wanting to tax the very rich. A June survey found that 60 percent of millionaires support the idea.
-
blog June 25, 2019 What to Watch for on Tax Policy During the Presidential Primary
America needs a new tax code. The Democratic presidential debates beginning this week present an opportunity for candidates to make clear how they would address inequality or to raise enough revenue to make public investments that make the economy work for everyone. Here are some of the big tax issues that we hope they will touch on.
-
blog June 4, 2019 File Under “No Surprise”: Wealthiest Taxpayers Use Offshore Tax Shelters More Than the Rest of Us, New Research Finds
Tax evasion matters. It drains needed revenues from the public treasury, and saps public confidence in rules of the game. A recent Pew Research poll finds that 60 percent of… -
April 26, 2019 ITEP Testimony Supporting H.B. No. 7415, An Act Concerning a Surcharge on Capital Gains
Comments are intended to offer some perspective on the broader tax policy context in which this proposal is being considered. We find that this proposal would help to lessen long-running inequities in Connecticut’s state and local tax law that have allowed high-income taxpayers to pay lower overall effective tax rates than most low- and middle-income families.
-
blog April 2, 2019 Sweeping Reform Would Tax Capital Gains Like Ordinary Income
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, announced that he would soon release a proposal to eliminate massive tax breaks enjoyed by the wealthy on their capital gains income. If successful, the proposal would ensure that income from wealth is taxed just like income from work.
-
report February 5, 2019 Progressive Revenue-Raising Options
America has long needed a more equitable tax code that raises enough revenue to invest in building shared prosperity. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted at the end of 2017, moved the federal tax code in the opposite direction, reducing revenue by $1.9 trillion over a decade, opening new loopholes, and providing its most significant benefits to the well-off. The law cut taxes on the wealthy directly by reducing their personal income taxes and estate taxes, and indirectly by reducing corporate taxes.
-
report February 1, 2019 Congress Should Reduce, Not Expand, Tax Breaks for Capital Gains
Even though income derived from capital gains receives a special lower tax rate and is therefore undertaxed, some proponents of lower taxes on the wealthy claim that capital gains are overtaxed due to the effects of inflation. But existing tax breaks for capital gains more than compensate for any problem related to inflation. Congress should repeal or restrict special tax provisions for capital gains rather than creating even more breaks.
-
blog January 30, 2019 Why We Should Talk about Progressive Taxes Despite Billionaires’ Objections
It was the tone-deaf remark heard ‘round the world. Last week on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested that furloughed government employees who hadn’t been paid in a… -
blog August 1, 2018 The Preferential Tax Treatment of Capital Gains Income Should Be Curbed, Not Substantially Expanded
For true believers in supply-side economics, however, one major flaw of the TCJA is that it did not further cut taxes for the wealthy by reducing capital gains tax rates. But now the Trump Administration is considering using executive action to remedy this by indexing capital gains to inflation for tax purposes.