Recent Work by ITEP

Tax Justice Digest: New Eight-Year Data Reveals Corporations Aren’t Paying Their Fair Share

March 9, 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.  New Study Explores the 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth A comprehensive, eight-year study of profitable Fortune 500 corporations […]

The 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth

March 9, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner, Richard Phillips

Profitable corporations are subject to a 35 percent federal income tax rate on their U.S. profits. But many corporations pay far less, or nothing at all, because of the many tax loopholes and special breaks they enjoy. This report documents just how successful many Fortune 500 corporations have been at using loopholes and special breaks over the past eight years. As lawmakers look to reform the corporate tax code, this report shows that the focus of any overhaul should be on closing loopholes rather than on cutting tax rates.

State Rundown 3/8: Much Ado About Consumption Taxes

March 8, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week brings more news of states considering reforms to their consumption taxes, on everything from gasoline in South Carolina and Tennessee, to marijuana in Pennsylvania, to groceries in Idaho and Utah, and to practically everything in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the fiscal fallout of Kansas’s failed ‘tax experiment’ has new consequences as the state’s Supreme […]

A Tax Perspective on International Women’s Day

March 8, 2017 • By Misha Hill

Thursday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. The day draws attention to the progress that has been made and the work that still needs to be done in advancing gender equality. Many campaigns on issues like equal pay or paid family leave acknowledge that economic policies impact women and men differently. But we often overlook […]

GOP Obamacare Repeal Would Slash Taxes on the Wealthy At the Expense of Middle- and Low-Income Families

March 7, 2017 • By Richard Phillips

On Monday, House Republicans released legislation that would repeal or modify many of the most significant portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A central theme of the GOP plan is that it would significantly cut funding for low- and middle-income families’ health care, while eliminating the ACA’s expansion of Medicare taxes on the wealthiest […]

Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes

March 2, 2017 • By Misha Hill

A newly updated ITEP report released today provides data that helps dispute the erroneous idea espoused during President Trump’s address to Congress that undocumented immigrants aren’t paying their fair share. In fact, like all others living and working in the United States, undocumented immigrants are taxpayers. They collectively contribute an estimated $11.74 billion to state […]

Tax Justice Digest: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes and Fact-Checking President Trump

March 2, 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.  Undocumented Immigrants’ Tax Contributions ITEP today released updated numbers on undocumented immigrants’ tax contributions. Collectively, they contribute $11.74 […]

Fact-Checking Tax Policy Points in President Trump’s Address to Congress

March 1, 2017 • By Richard Phillips

Despite some expectations that President Donald Trump would use his address to a joint session of Congress to lay out more details of his plan for tax legislation, the speech was extremely light on details. The few details mentioned were largely misleading or outright erroneous. Below we break down four tax-related statements from President Trump’s […]

State Rundown 3/1: Will Tax Cut Proposals Be “In Like a Lion, Out Like A Lamb”?

March 1, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

Tax cuts have been proposed in many states already this year, but amid so much uncertainty, it remains to be seen how successful those efforts will be. This week saw one dangerous, largely regressive tax cut proposal move in Georgia, new budget proposals in Louisiana and New Jersey, a new plan to close West Virginia‘s […]

Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions

March 1, 2017 • By Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe, Misha Hill

Public debates over federal immigration reform, specifically around undocumented immigrants, often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants, particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United States paybillions of dollars each year in state and local taxes. Further, these tax contributions would increase significantly if all undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States were granted a pathway to citizenship as part of comprehensive immigration reform. Or put in the reverse, if undocumented immigrants are deported in high numbers, state and local revenues could take a substantial…