Select Media Mentions
New York Times: As Amazon Steps Up Tax Collections, Some Cities Are Left Out
March 27, 2018
When Amazon agreed last year to begin collecting sales tax in New Mexico, state officials celebrated what they said could be tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue. But they aren’t cheering in Albuquerque City Hall. A year after that announcement, New Mexico’s largest city hasn’t seen a dime from Amazon. That’s because […]
Albuquerque Journal: NM cities miss out on Amazon tax payments
March 27, 2018
New Mexico is one of seven states in which Amazon is not collecting local sales taxes, even though the retail giant agreed last year to pay taxes to the state, according to a report released Monday. That’s because New Mexico has tax laws that prevent local collections, said the report by the Institute on Taxation […]
Seattle Times: As Amazon steps up tax collections, some cities are left out
March 27, 2018
Thanks in part to a series of deals with state governments in recent years, Amazon is collecting sales tax in every state that has one. But those deals do not always extend to taxes assessed by local governments. The company still is not collecting sales taxes in dozens of cities, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Cedar […]
Bloomberg BNA: Tax Breaks Plentiful for Second Amazon HQ Even Without Bids
March 27, 2018
Amazon also benefits at the state and local level when it comes to sales tax, according to a report released March 26 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy based in Washington, D.C. In seven states—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania—Amazon is either not collecting local taxes or charging a lower […]
Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly’s proposed property-tax increase to fund schools is actually bad for city kids
March 22, 2018
Already throughout Pennsylvania, those making less than $20,000 are paying a much greater share in taxes (at 12 percent) than those making more than $426,000 (at just 4.2 percent), according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. City officials’ proposing to drive up property taxes as a way to finance new city largesse — […]
Bloomberg Law: Arkansas Tax Reform Body Unveils List of Sales Taxes for Scrutiny
March 22, 2018
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) Feb. 12 told lawmakers that he would seek a cut to the state’s top marginal tax rate, which effectively jump started the task force’s search for revenue to pay for the cuts, estimated to cost $180 million in annual revenue, Boch said. Outside groups, including the Heritage Foundation’s Institute on […]
Bangor Daily News: Wealth Hasn’t Trickled Down, It’s Surged Upward
March 17, 2018
Along the same lines, Republicans claim that reductions in the corporate tax rate will lead to higher wages for workers. Evidence suggests this isn’t true, either. After Reagan signed a tax overhaul in 1986 that reduced the country’s corporate tax rate from 46 percent to 34 percent, wages fell for four years. Despite this data, […]
Christian Science Monitor: In Blue States, ‘Tax the Rich’ Isn’t So Simple Anymore
March 16, 2018
The upset that governors like Cuomo and others are voicing is understandable, says Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning research group. These states see they’re getting the short end of the stick from the federal law, and they suspect that Republican motives were at least partly political. […]
Fiscal Times: Liberals and Conservative Agree Sneaky Tax Breaks Have to Go
March 16, 2018
There was rare agreement across the political spectrum at the House Ways and Means Tax Policy subcommittee hearing this week, with policy experts from Heritage Foundation, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Center for American Progress, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget supporting the elimination of “tax […]
Boston Globe: The Tax Act Will Make It Tougher for Cities to Pay Their Bills
March 11, 2018
Roughly 80 percent of Massachusetts residents will see their tax bills shrink next year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more
CNN.com: Washington, Save Partisan Fighting for Actual Partisan Issues
March 10, 2018
DACA-eligible immigrants pay $2 billion each year in state and local taxes, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. One study indicates that 97% of DACA recipients are in school or employed. Read more
The Fiscal Times: How States Are Responding to the GOP Tax Overhaul
March 6, 2018
Concerned about the effects of the Republican tax overhaul on their local economies, some state legislatures are considering revamping their own tax systems to address everything from lost tax deductions to growing income inequality. Here’s a rundown some of those efforts, based on an analysis by the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: Read […]
Atlanta Business Chronicle: General Assembly in Tax Cutting State of Mind
March 1, 2018
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/03/01/general-assembly-in-tax-cutting-state-of-mind.html?ana=bbg
New Republic: Has Amazon Become Too Big to Tax
March 1, 2018
Earlier this week, Matthew Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that Amazon, which recorded $5.6 billion in profits in 2017, paid zero in federal taxes, thanks to “various tax credits and tax breaks for executive stock options.” That’s remarkable in isolation, but especially remarkable when you consider that Donald Trump’s corporate tax bill […]
Fiscal Times: New Tax Bill Takes Aim at US Companies Moving Overseas
February 28, 2018
Critics of the GOP tax overhaul say it rewards U.S. companies for moving jobs and profits offshore and may actually encourage outsourcing compared to the old rules. The liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the new international provisions will cost the Treasury an additional $14 billion in lost revenue over the next […]
Politico Morning Tax: Amazon/taxes
February 28, 2018
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s finding that Amazon won’t pay any federal taxes for 2017 gets picked up back in Seattle. Read more
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Amazon Paid No U.S. Income Tax
February 27, 2018
Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote about Amazon’s tax bill that won’t come due in a Feb. 13 blog post. Without being privy to the company’s tax return, no one can say exactly how CEO Jeff Bezos and Co. avoided what could have been more than $1.3 billion […]
Associated Press: GOP Tax Law Boosts Income Taxes, Budgets in Some States
February 26, 2018
The Republican tax overhaul is giving most Americans a break on their federal income taxes. But fallout from the same law means many people could actually see their state income taxes rise. For some state governments, the prospect of getting more revenue without actively raising taxes is almost too good to be true, but it also […]
The Economist: The Spoils from American Corporate Tax Reform Are Unevenly Spread
February 23, 2018
Most are bonuses that amount to a small part of the total gains, leading sceptics to attribute the announcements to clever public relations. A few firms have gone further, announcing permanent wage increases or new investment projects. But these were probably in the pipeline anyway, given improving demand, says Matt Gardner, from the Institute on […]
Business Insider: Facebook Co-Founder Wants the Richest Americans to Fund a Basic Income for 90 Million People
February 22, 2018
“We know that when people get modest amounts of cash, they use it smartly, their kids stay in school longer, health outcomes improve, and they’re happier,” Hughes said on Reddit. “We have the power to rebalance our economic system and provide more opportunity to all — we just have to develop the political will to […]
Bloomberg: Why Gas Taxes Aren’t Paying the Bills Anymore
February 20, 2018
A big part of the ups and downs in the above chart has to do with ups and downs in the price of gas, and this volatility is one reason why gas taxes generally aren’t levied as a percentage of the price. Many states switched to percentage taxes during the oil crises of the 1970s and early […]
New York Times: When Calling an Uber Can Pay off for Cities and States
February 20, 2018
The new fees and taxes are often part of broader regulatory measures as states and localities scramble to update tax codes and laws that have not kept up with the proliferation of app-based ride services. For instance, a Georgia state tax applies to rides in taxis but not ride-hailing cars even though they essentially do […]
Politico: EU Mulls Retaliation over Trump Tax Overhaul
February 20, 2018
European countries may fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul by arguing that it breaches World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, finance ministers said Tuesday. Their tough rhetoric came after the ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss a response to the U.S. reform, which many Europeans say unfairly favors American trade interests over their […]
Concord Monitor: NH School Choice Bill Could Create a Tax Shelter for the Rich
February 18, 2018
Carl Davis, the research director at the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, has written extensively about ETCs as tax shelters. Nationwide, about $1 billion in potential tax dollars is diverted each year into these scholarship organizations, according to a 2016 ITEP report by Davis. What kinds of tax credits states allow under ETC […]
Houston Chronicle: U.S. Economy Needs Immigrants to Grow
February 16, 2018
Half of unauthorized workers even file tax returns, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Many believe it will help them qualify some day for amnesty and legal residency, which is how DACA worked for the Dreamers. Even with 8 million unauthorized workers already here, more than half of American employers say they […]
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