Recent Work by ITEP
Congressional Budget Office: New Tax Law Helps Foreign Investors Even More than You Thought
April 19, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff
President Trump and his allies in Congress have made many wild claims about economic growth that would result from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. And the Congressional Budget Office just released a report revealing the TCJA will, in fact, create economic growth — for foreign investors.
Key Takeaways from John Oliver’s Segment on Corporate Tax Avoidance
April 16, 2018 • By Richard Phillips
The HBO television show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has become known for its longer segments that examine important issues facing the country. In its latest segment on Sunday, the show took a deep dive into corporate taxes and how many companies manage to avoid paying their fair share. Between its hilarious interludes, the segment painted a striking portrait of problems in our corporate tax code and how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) failed to address them.
State Rundown 4/13: Teacher Strikes, Special Sessions, Federal Cuts Haunting States
April 13, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
This Friday the 13th is a spooky one for many state lawmakers, as past bad fiscal decisions have been coming back to haunt them in the form of teacher strikes and walk-outs in Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, policymakers in Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, and Utah all attempted to exorcise negative consequences of the federal tax-cut bill from their tax codes. And our What We're Reading section includes yet another stake to the heart of the millionaire tax-flight myth and other good reads.
Everyone pays taxes, including those who earn the least. Our collective federal, state, and local tax system includes income taxes, payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare), property taxes, sales and other excise taxes. The total share of taxes (federal, state, and local) that Americans across the economic spectrum will pay in 2018 is roughly equal to their total share of income.
Many Large Corporations Reporting Tax Cut-Inspired Employee Bonuses Were Paying Low Tax Rates to Begin With
April 12, 2018 • By Matthew Gardner
Since the corporate tax cut took effect at the beginning of 2018, a number of large corporations have announced plans to give bonuses or pay raises to some of their employees. Some of these companies have explicitly said that the new tax law, which sharply reduced the federal corporate income tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, made these moves possible. But an examination of the tax-paying habits of these corporations found that many of them used various tax breaks and accounting maneuvers to reduce their tax rates to below 21 percent year after year before the new tax law…
Trump Tax Cuts Likely Make U.S. Corporate Tax Level Lowest Among Developed Countries
April 11, 2018 • By Richard Phillips
U.S. corporate tax collection was equal to 2.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, significantly less than the average 2.9 percent collected by the other 34 other OECD countries for which data were available.
The most recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that the United States is one of the least taxed of the developed nations.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to consider a case next week (South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.) that has the potential to significantly improve states and localities’ ability to enforce their sales tax laws on Internet purchases.
What to Expect if the Supreme Court Allows for Online Sales Tax Collection
April 11, 2018 • By Carl Davis
Online shopping is hardly a new phenomenon. And yet states and localities still lack the authority to require many Internet retailers to collect the sales taxes that their locally based, brick and mortar competitors have been collecting for decades.
A Paul Ryan Retrospective: A Decade of Regressive Budget and Tax Plans
April 11, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
As Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan pushed through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that will cost at least $1.5 trillion and provide around half of its benefits to the richest five percent of households. He then announced that Congress needs to cut entitlements to get the budget deficit under control. Before becoming Speaker, Ryan spent several years running the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, where he issued budget and tax plans each year to carry out his goals (lower taxes for the rich and cuts in entitlement spending), which are described in the reports…
ITEP in the News
CNBC: Why Trump Tax Deductions – For Tips, Car Loans and More – May Not Carry Large Benefits for Low Earners
Houston Chronicle: The Biggest Winners in Texas from Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
Newsweek: Did Republicans Just Kill the Filibuster?
AP News: Ohio Budget Bill With Browns Stadium Funding, LGBTQ+ Restrictions Heads to Gov. Mike DeWine
CNBC: How the Republican Megabill Targets Immigrant Finances
ITEP Work in Action
More Perfect Union: The One Big Beautiful Bill Is a Big Corporate Cash Grab
Center for Law and Social Policy: Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill Sacrifices the Well-Being of Working Families to Give Tax Breaks to Billionaires
CBPP: Missouri Poised to Enact Appalling Giveaway to its Richest Residents
NC Budget & Tax Center: It’s Time for a Millionaire’s Tax in North Carolina
Nebraska Legislature: Poverty Elimination Action Plan
Institute on Taxation
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ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
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