Recent Work by ITEP
The Child Tax Credit in Practice: What We Know About the Payoffs of Payments (Webinar)
July 7, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
Join us for a discussion on why tax credits like the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion are good economic policy. You’ll hear from anti-poverty experts on why Congress should extend the policy beyond 2021 and what we can learn from an initiative providing low-income mothers in Jackson, Miss., $1,000 cash on a monthly basis, no strings attached. From theory to practice and what it means for American families, this CTC webinar will provide a unique angle through which to view this transformative policy.
President Joe Biden's American Families and Jobs plans intend to “build back better” and create a more inclusive economy. To fully live up to this ideal, the final plan must include undocumented people and their families.
State Rundown 6/30: Resolutions Are in Order for the New Fiscal Year
June 30, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
Today is the last day of the fiscal year in many states, and some lawmakers might want to take the opportunity to make some new fiscal year resolutions. Legislators in Arizona, New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, for example, should really cut back on the trickle-down tax-cut Kool-Aid, which may make parties with rich donors more fun but tends to be both harmful and habit-forming...
A growing group of state lawmakers are recognizing the extent to which low- and middle-income Americans are struggling and the ways in which their state and local tax systems can do more to ensure the economic security of their residents over the long run. To that end, lawmakers across the country have made strides in enacting, increasing, or expanding tax credits that benefit low- and middle-income families. Here is a summary of those changes and a celebration of those successes.
When Tax Breaks for Retirement Savings Enrich the Already Rich
June 25, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
Members of Congress frequently claim they want to make it easier for working people to scrape together enough savings to have some financial security in retirement. But lawmakers’ preferred method to (ostensibly) achieve this goal is through tax breaks that have allowed the tech mogul Peter Thiel to avoid taxes on $5 billion. This is just one of the eye-popping revelations in the latest expose from ProPublica.
State Rundown 6/24: Late June State Fiscal Debates Unusually Active
June 24, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
Delayed legislative sessions and protracted federal aid debates have made for a busier June than normal for state fiscal debates. Arizona, New Hampshire, and North Carolina legislators, for example, are still pushing for expensive and regressive tax cuts in their states while they remain in session...
On July 15, the U.S. Treasury will begin mailing monthly checks to families with children who are eligible for the Child Tax Credit. Previously, the maximum credit was $2,000 per child, but for 2021, President Biden’s American Rescue Plan broadened the credit to $3,600 for each child under six and $3,000 for children over six. The expansion also made eligible children whose parents' incomes were too low to qualify for the previous credit, both addressing a fundamental policy flaw and taking a significant step to reduce child poverty. This is the first time that the federal government is sending advanced…
ITIN Filer Data Gap: How Changing Laws, Lack of Data Disaggregation Limit Inclusive Tax Policy
June 17, 2021 • By Emma Sifre
Like U.S. citizens, noncitizens who live, work, or invest in the United States must file local, state and federal taxes. But in order to file personal income taxes, they must first be issued a processing number called an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) by the IRS. These numbers are issued to both legal permanent residents and nonresidents who are not eligible for Social Security numbers. ITINs do not imply immigration status, nor can they be used for immigration enforcement purposes, but they can be used to create burdensome barriers that make it difficult for ITIN holders to file taxes and…
Taxing rich households and large corporations to fund vital investments in education and other shared priorities has long been a winner in the eyes of the American public, and more recently has also enjoyed a string of victories in state legislatures and at the ballot box. That win streak continued this week as Arizona’s voter-approved tax surcharge on the rich and Seattle, Washington’s payroll tax on high-profit, high-salary businesses both survived court challenges, and Massachusetts leaders approved a millionaires tax to go before voters next year.
Child Tax Credit Is a Critical Component of Biden Administration’s Recovery Package
June 11, 2021 • By Aidan Davis
Nearly one in seven children in the United States live in poverty and about 6 percent of all children live in deep poverty. President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan would tackle child poverty in an immediate, meaningful way. It is expected to extend the one-year Child Tax Credit (CTC) enhancements included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) through 2025. Next year alone, this would provide around a $110 billion collective income boost to roughly 88 percent of children in the United States.
ITEP in the News
Newsweek: White House Press Secretary Sparks Debate Over Immigrant Health Care Costs
Axios Detroit: Experts Offer Insight on Tackling Local Poverty
San Francisco Chronicle: New SALT cap means savings for California homeowners. Here’s how much
Governing: Free Child Care for All is Impossible? Don’t Tell New Mexico.
Stateline: Red States Pushed Child Tax Credits This Year, but the Broadest Plans Fizzled
ITEP Work in Action
JAMA Research Letter: Emergency Medicaid Spending for Undocumented Immigrants in the US
Florida Policy Institute: Challenges Ahead: What Census Data Reveals about the Wealth Gap and Uninsured Rate as Florida Braces for H.R. 1
Testimony: ITEP's Eli Byerly-Duke Discusses Oklahoma's Child Tax Credit in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee Hearing
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Letter to Joint Committee on Taxation on Bonus Depreciation
Rep. Steve Cohen: Congressmen Cohen and Beyer and Senator Wyden Introduce the Billionaire Income Tax Act
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