Recent Work by ITEP

Testimony before the Alaska House Labor & Commerce Committee On House Bill 36

April 4, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the changes House Bill 36 would make to Alaska's tax treatment of pass-through income. The taxation of pass-through business entities has been a focal point of state and federal tax reform debates for over a quarter century, with a dual focus on minimizing the role of tax laws in determining the choice of business entity and on ensuring that the income of all business entities is subject to at least a minimal tax. My testimony makes two main points: 1. Alaska is one of a small number of states that do not…

All Is Peachy in Georgia, for Now

March 31, 2017 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

Georgia lawmakers ended their legislative session Thursday by enacting a few tax credits and smartly choosing not to pass a major income tax cut that had been working its way through the legislature. Policymakers in other states should take note and follow Georgia’s lead by rejecting costly and inequitable flat-tax and other high-income tax cut […]

Tax Justice Digest: Offshore Cash, Gas Tax and BAT

March 31, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

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 Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. Corporations Offshore Cash Hoard Grows to $2.6 Trillion U.S. corporations now hold a record $2.6 trillion offshore, a […]

A Comparative Analysis: Tax Rates Paid by Companies for and Against the Border Adjustment Tax

March 30, 2017 • By Richard Phillips

It’s often noted that corporate tax reform is difficult, in part, because it creates so many winners and losers. As Congress turns its attention to federal corporate tax reform, the House GOP’s proposed border adjustment tax, which is intended to raise enough revenue to justify cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent, […]

Seeking the Right Balance in Alaska

March 29, 2017 • By Carl Davis

It’s been a little over a year since Alaska Gov. Bill Walker proposed implementing a state personal income tax for the first time in 35 years, and the idea is now receiving close attention in the Alaska House of Representatives. Alaska is the only state to repeal a personal income tax, having done so after it […]

The April Fool’s Joke Is on Consumers: April 1 Marks Record-Breaking Procrastination on Federal Gas Tax Policy

March 29, 2017 • By Carl Davis

It’s only appropriate that April 1 will mark a new milestone in foolish federal transportation infrastructure policy. On Saturday, the nation’s federal gasoline tax rate will have been stuck at 18.3 cents per gallon for 8,584 days in a row—or more than 23.5 years. This surpasses the previous record of 8,583 days without an update […]

State Rundown 3/29: More States Looking to Raise or Protect Revenues Amid Fiscal and Federal Uncertainty

March 29, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week we see West Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota, and Nebraska continue to deliberate regressive tax cut proposals, as the District of Columbia considers cancelling tax cut triggers it put in place in prior years, and lawmakers in Hawaii, Washington, Kansas, and Delaware ponder raising revenues to shore up their budgets. Meanwhile, gas tax debates continue […]

The $767 Billion Money Pot Driving Tax Reform

March 28, 2017 • By Richard Phillips

With the failure of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration and Republicans lawmakers are moving on to corporate tax reform. At the heart of this debate is the problem of corporations shifting their profits to foreign tax havens to avoid U.S. income taxes. A new report by the Institute on Taxation […]

Assessing the Distributional Consequences of Alaska’s House Bill 115 (Version L)

March 28, 2017 • By Carl Davis

This report contains ITEP's analysis of the distributional and revenue consequences of the revised version of House Bill 115 (Version L) as proposed on March 23, 2017. This proposal would reduce Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) payout and implement a personal income tax based on a modified version of Federal Adjusted Gross Income, with rates ranging from 0 to 7 percent. The analysis was produced using ITEP's Microsimulation Tax Model.

Fortune 500 Companies Hold a Record $2.6 Trillion Offshore

March 28, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner

All told, Fortune 500 corporations are avoiding up to $767 billion in U.S. federal income taxes by holding more than $2.6 trillion of "permanently reinvested" profits offshore. In their latest annual financial reports, 29 of these corporations reveal that they have paid an income tax rate of 10 percent or less in countries where these profits are officially held, indicating that most of these profits are likely in offshore tax havens.