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report
May 2, 2017
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA): A Critical Anti-Tax Evasion Tool
For years, a subset of the well-to-do and well-connected have been able to exploit the intricacies of our global financial system to shelter their income and investments from taxation. The U.S. government took a stand against this type of willful tax evasion with the passage of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – or FATCA – enacted as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010.
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blog
May 1, 2017
Time to Repeal State Deductions for Federal Income Taxes
Three of the biggest needs facing state policymakers right now are new revenues to fund their priorities in the face of budget shortfalls and federal… -
brief
May 1, 2017
Why States That Offer the Deduction for Federal Income Taxes Paid Get It Wrong
With many states currently facing budget shortfalls—whether due to weak economic recovery after the Great Recession, struggling commodity prices, or self-inflicted tax cuts—and all states bracing for possible federal budget cuts in areas from education to health care to infrastructure, states are unlikely to be able to continue providing high-quality services to their residents without raising new revenue. In this context, states must find ways to generate additional revenue without increasing taxes on individuals and families who are already struggling to make ends meet and may bear the biggest brunt of federal funding cuts.
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report
April 27, 2017
What Real Tax Reform Should Look Like
If lawmakers truly want to create an environment in which economic mobility is possible for more working people, budget-busting tax cuts are the wrong way to achieve this goal. Dramatic tax giveaways would force cuts to programs that provide early education, health care, job training, affordable housing, nutrition assistance, and other vital services that promote economic mobility. Further, current tax proposals from Congress and the Trump Administration defy what most Americans would consider true reform and, instead, embrace supply-side economic theories. This policy brief outlines two sensible, broad objectives for meaningful federal tax reform and discusses six tax policies that can help achieve these objectives.
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report
April 27, 2017
3 Percent and Dropping: State Corporate Tax Avoidance in the Fortune 500, 2008 to 2015
The trend is clear: states are experiencing a rapid decline in state corporate income tax revenue. Despite rebounding and even booming bottom lines for many corporations, this downward trend has become increasingly apparent in recent years. Since our last analysis of these data, in 2014, the state effective corporate tax rate paid by profitable Fortune 500 corporations has declined, dropping from 3.1 percent to 2.9 percent of their U.S. profits. A number of factors are driving this decline, including: a race to the bottom by states providing significant “incentives” for specific companies to relocate or stay put; blatant manipulation of loopholes in state tax systems by corporate accountants; significant cuts in state corporate tax rates; and the erosion of state corporate tax bases, largely due to ill-advised state-level linkages to the federal system.
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blog
April 27, 2017
President Trump's Corporate Tax Outline: At Least He Didn't Use a Napkin
The most complimentary thing that can be said about the corporate tax changes outlined by President Trump earlier this week is that they weren’t scribbled… -
blog
April 27, 2017
New State Corporate Study: 3 Percent and Dropping
States are experiencing a rapid decline in state corporate income tax revenue, and the downward trend has become increasingly pronounced in recent years. Despite rebounding… -
blog
April 27, 2017
Undocumented Immigrants' Tax Contributions in California: County-by-County Analysis
Guest Blogger; Josue Chavarin, Program Associate at the California Endowment California’s counties gain hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues from undocumented residents— collectively… -
blog
April 27, 2017
State Rundown 4/27: States Finally Reaching Resolution on Gas Taxes
This week, transportation funding debates finally concluded with gas tax updates in Indiana, Montana, and Tennessee, and appear to be nearing an end in South Carolina. Meanwhile, Louisiana and Oregon lawmakers debated new Gross… -
blog
April 27, 2017
Tax Justice Digest: Trickle-down revived, corps aren't paying state taxes, young immigrants and taxes, etc.
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and…