Recent Work by ITEP

We Crunched Some Numbers to Show What Tax Reform for Working People Really Looks Like

September 12, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

Throughout President’s Trump’s presidential campaign and from his first day in office until now, his administration has favored and promoted policies that benefit the wealthy and corporations even as it claims to be the working people’s champion. If more recent economic data are a reflection of what we’ll see in the long-term due to the Trump Administration’s recent tax cuts, wealth will continue to accrue at the top while income remains stagnant or barely budges for low- and moderate-income families. Policy can make a difference: ITEP Staff shows how the Grow American Incomes Now (GAIN) Act would help millions of…

Repealing the Federal Tax Law’s Cap on State and Local Tax (SALT) Deductions Is No Improvement

September 11, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff

National and State-by-State Data Available for Download Nearly Two-Thirds of Benefits from Repealing the SALT Cap Would Go to the Richest 1 Percent Lawmakers who opposed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the federal tax law enacted by President Trump and his allies in Congress last December, rightfully pointed out that the law benefits […]

Latest GOP Tax Package Is Also Skewed Toward the Rich

September 10, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff

ITEP's analysis found that when all the major provisions of TCJA are in effect, the richest fifth of households will receive 71 percent of the law’s benefits. It also found that if the temporary provisions are extended at through 2026, the richest fifth of households will receive 65 percent of the benefits of that extension that year.

New Study Confirms Offshore Earnings are Flowing into Stock Buybacks, Not Jobs and Investments

September 7, 2018 • By Richard Phillips

A new study by the Federal Reserve found that the evidence so far suggests that the new repatriation tax break has resulted in a surge in stock buybacks and little discernable impact in investment by its biggest beneficiaries, just as critics predicted.

ITEP Testimony “Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force”

August 23, 2018 • By Lisa Christensen Gee

Read the testimony in PDF WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO: THE ARKANSAS TAX REFORM AND RELIEF TASK FORCE Lisa Christensen Gree, Senior State Tax Policy Analyst Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force August 22, 2018 Thank you for the opportunity to submit these […]

State Rundown 8/22: Wayfair Fallout Could Hit the Pavement Soon

August 22, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

Arizona voters learned this week that they will have an opportunity this fall to restore school funding through a progressive tax measure. The effects of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision could soon be seen on Michigan and Mississippi roads, as leaders in both states have proposed devoting new online sales tax revenues to infrastructure needs. And new research highlighted in our “What We’re Reading” section discredits one-size-fits-all prescriptions for state economic growth such as supply-side tax-cut orthodoxy, advocating instead for more nuanced and state-specific policymaking.

State Rundown 8/16: November Ballots and 2019 Debates Coming into Focus

August 16, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

Even as the haze from western wildfires reduced visibility across the nation this week, voters got more clarity on what to expect to see on their ballots this fall, particularly in California (commercial property taxes and corporate surcharges), Colorado (income taxes for education), Missouri (gas tax update), and North Dakota (recreational cannabis). Meanwhile, although Virginia lawmakers won’t return until 2019, they got a preview of a clear-headed federal conformity plan they should strongly consider. And look to our “What We’re Reading“ section for further enlightenment from researchers on the [in]effectiveness of charitable contribution credits, the [lack of] wage growth for…

1964: Unconditional War on Poverty; 2018: Unconditional War on the Poor

August 15, 2018 • By Misha Hill

During his first State of the Union address in January 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson declared a War on Poverty in response to a national poverty rate of more than 19 percent. The legislative result of this war was an early education program, expanded funding for secondary education, job training and work opportunity programs and the […]

How Opportunity Zones Benefit Investors and Promote Displacement

August 10, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

The idea behind the new tax break is to provide an incentive for wealthy individuals to invest in the economies of struggling communities. Despite alleged intentions, it appears opportunity zones are turning into yet another windfall for wealthy investors and may encourage displacement of people in low-income areas, working against the provision’s intended goal.

Insult to Injury: Why Tax Cuts 2.0 Makes No Sense

August 9, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

In this illustrated breakdown of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and Tax Cuts 2.0, ITEP staff examine TCJA's role in growing income inequality, broken promises from corporations pledging to invest tax savings into workers and wages, and the embarrassment of riches flowing to the wealthiest Americans as a result of these “middle-class tax cuts.”