Recent Work by ITEP

Some Helpful Facts for Tax Day 2019

April 15, 2019 • By Alan Essig

For Tax Day, ITEP has released several new reports that tell a broad story about our nation’s federal, state and local tax systems, providing important details about taxes we all pay and research on the tax-paying habits of Fortune 500 corporations. And of course, we have a trove of other tax policy resources.

$4.3 Billion in Rebates, Zero-Tax Bill for 60 Profitable Corps Directly Related to Loopholes

April 12, 2019 • By Matthew Gardner

Meet the new corporate tax system, same as the old corporate tax system. That’s the inescapable conclusion of a new ITEP report assessing the taxpaying behavior of America’s most profitable corporations. The report, Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Law, released earlier this week, finds that 60 Fortune 500 corporations disclose paying zero in federal income taxes in 2018 despite enjoying large profits.

The Case For Progressive Revenue Policies

April 12, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Income inequality is a national challenge. And inadequate federal revenue is a challenge that the nation will eventually have to reckon with. This chart book makes a strong case for why federal lawmakers should seriously consider progressive revenue-raising options.

The IRS Could Calculate Taxes for the Vast Majority of Taxpayers—But a Bipartisan Measure Would Ban It

April 12, 2019 • By Jessica Schieder

A proposal re-introduced this week by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), The Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2019, goes a long way toward making tax filing a much more straight-forward process by broadening the IRS’s mandate.

You Can’t Tax Stolen Land

April 12, 2019 • By Misha Hill

The Montana Senate this week stopped a bill to restructure the state's temporary tribal tax exemption program, making tribal governments the only sovereignties on which Montana levies a tax and making it more difficult for leaders to buy back illegally seized land. Still, the success of the bill in the House is troubling.

Who Pays Taxes in America in 2019?

April 11, 2019 • By Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

For years, Americans have been told that the rich are paying a highly disproportionate share of the nation’s taxes. Claims to that effect often focus on just one tax, the federal personal income tax, which is indeed progressive overall. But when the nation’s tax system is viewed in its entirety, it becomes clear that the reality is very different. Despite their enormous incomes and wealth, the nation’s richest taxpayers are paying a share of overall taxes that slightly exceeds their share of income.

State Rundown 4/11: An Estate Tax Win, Opioid Progress, and Teacher Uprising Updates

April 11, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Hawaii made progress in pushing back against the increasing concentration of wealth and power by beefing up its estate tax. Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all took steps toward taxing opioid producers to raise funds to address the ongoing opioid crisis. Oregon lawmakers continue to try to address their chronic school underfunding with a $2 billion annual investment, in contrast to some of their counterparts in North Carolina who are responding to similar issues with the opposite approach, proposing to slash taxes in the face of their school funding issues – just as research highlighted in our What We’re…

Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Tax Law

April 11, 2019 • By Lorena Roque, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

For decades, profitable Fortune 500 companies have been able to manipulate the tax system to avoid paying even a dime in tax on billions of dollars in U.S. profits. This ITEP report provides the first comprehensive look at how the new corporate tax laws that took effect after the passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects the scale of corporate tax avoidance.

The Working Families Tax Relief Act Would Boost Incomes and Economic Security for Workers and Children

April 10, 2019 • By Steve Wamhoff

Sens. Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden (along with the backing of most of the Democratic caucus in the Senate) today rolled out a new proposal to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Called the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA), the proposal would provide a substantial benefit, especially to low-income working families.

State Rundown 4/4: Ohio Gas Tax and Maryland Minimum Wage Get Needed Updates

April 4, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Transportation funding was a hot topic this week, as OHIO lawmakers responsibly voted to update their gas tax and offset some of its impact on lower-income families with an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) boost, while NEW YORK enacted the nation’s first “congestion pricing” charge, and LOUISIANA and VIRGINIA leaders looked at gas tax updates as well—a trend ITEP’s Carl Davis explored in depth today here. Broad tax packages are also being hashed out in LOUISIANA, NEBRASKA, OREGON, and TEXAS. And MARYLAND became the sixth state with a $15 minimum wage on the horizon.