Recent Work by ITEP

Voters Have the Chance in 2020 to Increase Tax Equity in Arizona, Illinois, and California, And They Should

October 22, 2020 • By Marco Guzman

There’s a lot at stake in this election cycle: the nation and our economy are reeling from the effects brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and states remain in limbo as they weigh deep budget cuts and rush to address projected revenue shortfalls.

State Rundown 10/21: States Preparing Ingredients for 2021 Fiscal Debates

October 21, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

State lawmakers around the nation are already looking well past the upcoming election to the legislative debates they’ll be cooking up in 2021. In Iowa and Nebraska, anti-tax groups are thawing out regressive tax shift ideas they had put on ice earlier in the pandemic. In Delaware, a lawsuit and recent settlement have put educational and property tax inequities on the menu for the upcoming session. Meanwhile New Jersey and New York are both looking to add stock to their revenue mixes with progressive taxes on stock trades.

A Conservative Supermajority on the Supreme Court Could Be a Boon to Wealthy Tax Cheats

October 14, 2020 • By Carl Davis

By early next year, the Supreme Court could be operating under a 6-3 conservative supermajority that may unwind hard-fought progressive reforms across every area imaginable. While reproductive rights and health care are at the forefront of public discourse, the Court’s impact will extend far beyond these two areas. Voting rights, the battle against climate change, anti-discrimination laws, the separation of church and state and yes, even progressive taxation, are all at risk.

Supreme Court Would Provide Massive Tax Cut for the Rich if It Strikes Down Affordable Care Act 

October 13, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff

If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as argued for by the Trump administration and the president’s nominee to the court, Amy Coney Barrett, one under-appreciated result will be a tax break of roughly $40 billion annually for about 3 percent of Americans, who all have incomes of more than $200,000.

Putting California Proposition 15 in Context

October 8, 2020 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

Californians are voting now on Proposition 15, which would require commercial and industrial property worth $3 million or more to be taxed based on an up-to-date assessment of full market value. Proposition 15 is sound tax policy that would raise much needed revenue and help to advance racial and economic justice.

State Rundown 10/7: States Looking Inward for Needed Revenue

October 7, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

The biggest news for state and local fiscal debates this week was that federal fiscal relief to help with their pandemic-induced revenue crises is effectively off the table for at least another month. But if there is a silver lining to this federal inaction, it may be that it coincides with New Jersey’s success filling part of its own revenue shortfall through a millionaires tax, as well as with prominent wealth managers admitting that their rich clients don’t flee to other states in response to such taxes (see “What We’re Reading”). Combined, these three developments could encourage state leaders elsewhere…

New ITEP Report Shows Few Taxpayers in Each State Paying More Under Biden’s Tax Plan

October 7, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff

An ITEP report finds that taxes that people pay directly would stay the same or go down in 2022 for 98.1 percent of Americans under President-elect Joe Biden’s tax plan.

Donald Trump and Taxes: Fast and Loose with Loopholes or Fraud?

September 30, 2020 • By Matthew Gardner

The president’s apparent abuse of everything from hair-care deductions to consulting fees for family members raises questions about whether Trump was fast and loose with tax loopholes or whether the IRS simply wasn’t enforcing the law. Either way, Trump successfully flouting or pushing the limits of the law shouldn’t come as a surprise: Congress has cut IRS funding, in real terms in each of the last 10 years.

A 2017 Tax Provision Could Have Restrained Trump’s Tax Dodging, But Congress Just Weakened It

September 29, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff

President Trump and Republicans in Congress passed up almost every opportunity to shut down special tax breaks and loopholes for real estate investors when they enacted their 2017 tax law. They did, however, include some welcome provisions to limit how business owners use losses to avoid taxes, and these provisions could potentially limit the sort of tax dodging perfected by Trump. Unfortunately, Congress temporarily reversed these limits with some provisions tucked into the CARES Act that was enacted in March, and this may help Trump and others like him to continue avoiding taxes.

Real Tax Reform Never Had a Chance Under Trump

September 29, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff

Congress is certainly to blame both for providing a ridiculously lenient tax code for the super-wealthy and for preventing the IRS from enforcing even the existing weak limits in the law on tax avoidance. But make no mistake, one person is primarily responsible for the farce that is Donald Trump’s tax dodging, and that is Donald Trump. For years, he has actively and loudly supported special tax breaks and tax shelters, making him anything but a passive bystander to their creation.