Recent Work by ITEP

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.

It’s Time to Change the Tax Laws to Make Donald Trump and Corporate Giants Pay Up

September 29, 2020 • By Amy Hanauer

It’s time for a new approach. Trump’s egregious tax avoidance further exposes a system that preserves an enormous and growing economic divide. Congress has gutted IRS funding so that we don’t have the resources to audit wealthy tax avoiders. And lobbyists continue to secure giveaways for corporate clients that do nothing for our communities.

It’s No Secret—To Save State Budgets End Preferential Treatment of Capital Gains

September 25, 2020 • By Marco Guzman

In an updated policy brief, ITEP explores the flaws in state capital gains tax breaks and highlights how ending special tax breaks provides one of the simplest ways to raise additional revenue and increase equity in the tax system.