Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Select Media Mentions

Daily Mail: The Number of U.S. Companies Paying Zero Federal taxes DOUBLED when Trump’s Tax Plan Took Effect in 2018

April 12, 2019

The change cut the tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and allowed companies to take advantage of deductions, tax credits and rebates. That change alone is projected to save corporations $1.35 trillion over the next decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. ‘We know that there’s this pretty glaring contrast between what […]

Washington Post: The Democrats new Tax Plan Is Their Clearest, Most Efficient Blueprint Yet

April 11, 2019

Just in time for Tax Day, we have new insight into the dueling partisan visions for the U.S. tax system. We already knew that the GOP’s 2017 tax law mostly benefited corporations and the wealthy; that’s old news. But on Thursday, we got some illustrative examples, courtesy of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The organization found that […]

NBC News: Twice as Many Companies Paying Zero Taxes under Trump Tax Plan

April 11, 2019

The controversial Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Donald Trump in December 2017, lowered the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, among other cuts. That’s partly to blame for giving corporations an easier way out of paying taxes, said Matthew Gardner, an ITEP senior fellow and lead author of the […]

NBC News: Warren Targets Big Business with $1 Trillion ‘Profits’ Tax

April 11, 2019

The 2020 presidential hopeful said her “real corporate profits tax” is aimed at companies that report large annual gains but pay little in taxes thanks to a variety of tax credits and deductions that are available to lower their overall bill. An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, […]

The Hill: Report Finds Twice as Many Companies Will Pay Zero Tax This Year

April 11, 2019

The report cites data released Thursday from the left-leaning Washington, D.C., think-tank the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). ITEP reported that the companies listed used a “diverse array of legal tax breaks,” including accelerated depreciation, stock options and energy-related tax subsidies to “zero out” their federal income taxes. According to the report, some of the companies […]

Fast Company: Amazon and Netflix Are among Many Companies Paying Zero Federal Taxes under Trump’s Tax Law

April 11, 2019

Tax season is upon us–and by us, I mean everyone who is not Amazon, Netflix, Chevron, or pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Co., because they are among the 60 or so corporations that paid zero dollars in federal income taxes on the billions of dollars in profits they earned in 2018. That’s according to a new analysis, released […]

KALW: Who Pays Taxes, and Where Does It Go?

April 11, 2019

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll ask who bears what share of the tax burden and where their money goes. Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law gave most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while increasing taxes on some Americans. It also created a windfall for corporations. Now California legislators are considering […]

AP: Bezos, Hunting for Big Wins, Is Comfortable with Big Fails

April 11, 2019

A top spokesman at the world’s largest retailer was also quick to mock on Twitter Amazon’s challenge with its own jab on the issue of taxes. “Hey retail competitors out there (You know who you are) How about paying your taxes?” Walmart’s Dan Bartlett tweeted. Bartlett shared an article that cited a report from the […]

Politifact: Kamala Harris Calls Her LIFT Plan ‘The Most Significant Middle-Class Tax Cut in Generations.’ Is It?

April 10, 2019

Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, considered a left-of-center think tank, said Harris’ descriptions are “a fair and an accurate portrayal.” Wiehe said it’s not just the size of Harris’ plan that makes it significant. It’s how it delivers the benefit. “These refundable credits really are the most cost-effective, […]

The Washington Post: Health Care Is Shockingly Expensive. Why Can’t You Deduct It?

April 10, 2019

My proposal won’t add much to the $22 trillion national debt, relatively speaking. According to an AARP fact sheet, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that lowering the threshold from 10 percent to 7.5 percent would cost $1.2 billion in 2019. It will unquestionably cost more than that to eliminate the threshold for […]

Crosscut: I’m Rich, I Should Pay More Taxes in Washington

April 10, 2019

But if you’re a working family, Washington is a different story. That’s because in Washington, our lowest-income families pay taxes that amount to a six times greater share of their income than what the wealthiest households pay. We have the most upside-down tax code in the country, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

The DC Line: By offsetting federal tax cuts locally, we can improve the quality of life for all DC residents

April 9, 2019

Misha Hill of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has estimated that the top 20 percent income bracket of DC residents will receive almost $700 million in federal tax cuts this year, with most ($541 million) going to the top 5 percent (with incomes above $319,000 per year). The same study finds that […]

Fast Company: Soak the Rich but How?

April 9, 2019

“Right now, the personal income tax has all kinds of special breaks,” says Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who supports raising the marginal tax rates. “So at some level it doesn’t really matter where you set the top rate if rich people are not […]

Crain’s Detroit: Legal Pot v. Black Market

April 6, 2019

“When you have so many communities opting out, you could have less quantity being sold in the legal market,” said Carl Davis, research director for Washington D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “They either have to drive a long way to buy legal or turn to the illicit market, which in turn hurts the […]

CNBC: Why Amazon Paid No Federal Income Tax

April 4, 2019

In this CNBC video, Matthew Gardner, ITEP senior fellow, outlines how Amazon got away with paying no federal taxes for the last two years. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/03/why-amazon-paid-no-federal-income-tax.html

New York Times: A Man with a Plan for Inequality

April 3, 2019

Their largest holdings often include stocks. Which means that the lower tax rate on capital gains, combined with the deferral of taxing them, has enormous financial consequences, as Steve Wamhoff, of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, explains on JustTaxes.org. “Wealthy households, who already own the most in assets, can defer paying tax and […]

CNBC: What the Wyden-Proposed Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains Might mean for You

April 3, 2019

Marking an asset to market means that you’re treating it as if you’ve sold it for fair market value at the end of the year, accounting for the gain or loss incurred. “It won’t help the wealthy to hold the asset for a longer time; that ability to defer the tax would be taken away,” […]

Bloomberg: Tax-the-Rich Fervor Builds in Statehouses After Trump’s Big Cut

April 2, 2019

The tax-the-rich proposals pending in states are “a reflection of a broader national trend towards recognizing what voters have felt for a long time — that high income individuals and corporations are paying too little,” said Carl Davis, research director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

Bloomberg: Key Democrat Revives Plan to Make Capital Gains Tax Due Annually

April 2, 2019

And Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the bill “would certainly slow down the ability of billionaires to accumulate massive fortunes very rapidly.” Capital gains represent a significant portion of the money earned by the wealthiest households, compared to lower-income taxpayers. Sales of […]

The Columbian: Do We Care that the Tax System Is Unfair?

April 1, 2019

While our state is a bastion of progressive politics and liberal activism (for better or worse), it also has the most regressive tax system in the country. In other words, poor people in Washington pay a disproportionate amount of taxes. Last year, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy determined that the […]

The Daily Mail: The States Where Poor Pay Higher Taxes than the Rich

March 28, 2019

Poor Americans pay out a higher share of their income toward taxes than their wealthy counterparts in 45 states, according to a new report. However, rich Americans typically pay a higher dollar amount in taxes compared to their low-income counterparts. Tax season is here – and the state where you live could determine whether you […]

Yahoo! Finance: What Are the World’s Best Tax Havens

March 26, 2019

Media reports on the Paradise Papers have subsided, but no one has forgotten the collection of 13.4 million leaked financial files taken from a combination of offshore service providers and company registries, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The investigation reveals the offshore interests of wealthy and powerful individuals and examines how multinational […]

NBC News: Factory Workers at GM See Layoffs, not Benefits, after Tax Cuts

March 22, 2019

Matt Gardner, a senior fellow with the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan, liberal think tank, said GM’s announcement confirmed economists’ arguments regarding the tax cuts. “Corporations will always base their investment and job-creation decisions on market fundamentals and consumer demand, not on incremental tax giveaways,” Gardner wrote on his blog. “No amount […]

The American Prospect: New Legislation Would Rein in Corporate Offshoring

March 18, 2019

One clue, at least on the international side, might be found in a report issued last year by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). In “Understanding and Fixing the New International Corporate Tax System,” ITEP laid out priorities for a new international tax system that include eliminating the ability for companies to reincorporate […]

GQ: Local and State Taxes Are Making the Wealthy More Rich Now Too

March 12, 2019

According to a new report by the progressive think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), as relayed in the Washington Post, state and local governments that are heavily reliant on sales and excise taxes, rather than income taxes, shift the economic burden onto low- and moderate-income taxpayers. At every level, those who work […]

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].