ITEP – Page 129 – Informing tax policy debate nationwide

blog July 31, 2017
The Problems with the Multi-Million-Dollar Effort to Secure Millionaire and Corporate Tax Cuts

Until GOP leaders put forth a detailed tax proposal, we will not know for certain whether the plan will focus on the middle-class and create jobs. But what we do know is that unless the plan is a radical departure from the principles outlined by President Trump earlier this year or laid out by Paul Ryan last year in his “Better Way,” plan, GOP-led tax “reform” efforts will be a tax break bonanza for the wealthiest Americans while delivering a pittance to working people.
blog July 28, 2017
Art Laffer and Stephen Moore’s Misleading Case for the Trump Tax Cuts

Art Laffer and Stephen Moore recently penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which they called on state and local policymakers to support the Trump tax cuts. They claimed that the Trump plan would provide a significant boost to state and local tax revenues, thereby allowing states with large budget deficits to “regain fiscal health.”

State and local lawmakers should not be fooled by these claims. The reality is that Trump’s tax cuts are more likely to worsen state and local fiscal health than improve it.
blog July 27, 2017
State Rundown 7/27: State Legislative Debates Winding Down but Tax Talk Continues

While only a few states still remain mired in overtime budget debates, there is plenty of budget and tax news from around the country this week. Efforts are underway to repeal gas tax increases in California and challenge a local income tax in Seattle, Washington. And New Jersey legislators’ law to modernize its tax code to tax Airbnb rentals has been vetoed for now.
blog July 27, 2017
GOP Leaders in Congress and the White House Set Out Goals for Tax Reform that Their Plans Fail to Meet

Today Republican leaders in Congress and officials from the White House released a joint statement on tax reform, claiming that “the single most important action we can take to grow our economy and help the middle class get ahead is to fix our broken tax code for families, small business, and American job creators competing at home and around the globe.”

Unfortunately, the proposals they have put forward so far do not address any such goals.
blog July 27, 2017
Reviving U.S. Manufacturing, One Cheesecake Factory at a Time

In the latest example of how the tax code has been abused and distorted, the Cheesecake Factory is claiming the manufacturing tax deduction, apparently for manufacturing cheesecakes, burgers, and other treats.
blog July 26, 2017
Trump Touts Tax Cuts for the Wealthy as a Plan for Working People

Unless the administration takes a radically different direction on tax reform from what it has already proposed, its tax plan would be a monumental giveaway to the top 1 percent. The wealthiest one percent of households would receive 61 percent of all the Trump tax breaks, and would receive an average of $145,400 in 2018 alone.
blog July 24, 2017
Sound Tax Policy Made a Comeback in 2017
2017 marked a sea change in state tax policy and a stark departure from the current federal tax debate as dubious supply-side economic theories began…
brief July 21, 2017
Rewarding Work Through State Earned Income Tax Credits

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a policy designed to bolster the earnings of low-wage workers and offset some of the taxes they pay, providing the opportunity for struggling families to step up and out of poverty toward meaningful economic security. The federal EITC has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since its enactment in the mid-1970s. Over the past several decades, the effectiveness of the EITC has been magnified as many states have enacted and later expanded their own credits.
blog July 21, 2017
Tax Avoidance: Nike “Just Did It” Again, Moving $1.5 Billion Offshore Last Year

The Nike Corporation’s annual financial disclosure of income tax payments is always notable for two recurring trends: the Oregon-based company’s steady shifting of profits into offshore tax havens, and Nike’s apparent effort to conceal how it’s achieving this tax avoidance. This year’s report, released earlier this week, is no exception.
blog July 21, 2017
States May Be Finally Learning Their Lesson on Back-To-School Sales Tax Holidays

State lawmakers face a dilemma when it comes to sales tax holidays, an attractive and popular policy that nonetheless proves to be a poor choice compared to developing thoughtful, targeted tax policies or investing in well-executed public services. Luckily, word seems to be getting out that the costs associated with these holidays far outweigh their purported benefits.