Carl Davis
Carl Davis is the research director at ITEP, where he has worked since 2008. Carl works on a wide range of issues related to both state and federal tax policy. He has advised policymakers, researchers, and advocates on tax policy issues in nearly every state. Much of his work relates to the link between taxes and economic growth, and the shortcomings of dynamic scoring and supply-side economic theories.
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media mention March 30, 2018 New York Times: The Facts Behind Trump’s Tweet on Amazon, Taxes and the Postal Service
Mr. Trump has made similar claims before about Amazon’s tax payments, both as president and a private citizen. After he mentioned it in August 2017, The New York Times reported:… -
media mention March 30, 2018 ABC News: President Trump Attacks Amazon in New Tweet
Earlier this week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan organization, released a report saying that Amazon has an advantage over brick-and-mortar businesses because Amazon does not collect… -
media mention March 30, 2018 Bloomberg Law: Trump’s Amazon Tweet Comes at Eventful Time for State-Local Taxes
Meanwhile, Amazon may not be paying its share of local sales taxes. A report released March 26 by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said Amazon either doesn’t… -
media mention March 30, 2018 Dallas Morning News: Texas Was Tougher Than Other States in Dealing with Amazon on Sales Taxes
When a Dallas resident or shopper in College Station or Lubbock makes a purchase from Amazon or any other online retailer with a physical presence in Texas such as Wayfair… -
media mention March 28, 2018 Bond Buyer: Why Cities in Some States Aren’t Getting E-Commerce Taxes from Amazon
Local governments in seven states are not getting a share of the sales taxes Amazon is collecting for e-commerce transactions because of gaps in state and local laws, according to… -
media mention March 27, 2018 New York Times: As Amazon Steps Up Tax Collections, Some Cities Are Left Out
When Amazon agreed last year to begin collecting sales tax in New Mexico, state officials celebrated what they said could be tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.… -
media mention March 27, 2018 Seattle Times: As Amazon steps up tax collections, some cities are left out
Thanks in part to a series of deals with state governments in recent years, Amazon is collecting sales tax in every state that has one. But those deals do not… -
media mention March 27, 2018 Bloomberg BNA: Tax Breaks Plentiful for Second Amazon HQ Even Without Bids
Amazon also benefits at the state and local level when it comes to sales tax, according to a report released March 26 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy… -
blog March 26, 2018 Amazon and Other E-Retailers Get a Free Pass from Some Local-Level Sales Taxes
A new ITEP analysis reveals that in seven states (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania), the nation’s largest e-retailer, Amazon.com, is either not collecting local-level sales taxes or is charging a lower tax rate than local retailers. In other states, such as Colorado and Illinois, Amazon is collecting local tax because it has an in-state presence, but localities cannot collect taxes from other e-retailers based outside the state.
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brief March 26, 2018 Many Localities Are Unprepared to Collect Taxes on Online Purchases: Amazon.com and other E-Retailers Receive Tax Advantage Over Local Businesses
Online retailer Amazon.com made headlines last year when it began collecting every state-level sales tax on its direct sales. Savvy observers quickly noted that this change did not affect the company’s large and growing “marketplace” business, where it conducts sales in partnership with third-parties and rarely collects tax. But far fewer have noticed that even on its direct sales, Amazon is still not collecting some local-level taxes.
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media mention February 20, 2018 New York Times: When Calling an Uber Can Pay off for Cities and States
The new fees and taxes are often part of broader regulatory measures as states and localities scramble to update tax codes and laws that have not kept up with the… -
media mention February 18, 2018 Concord Monitor: NH School Choice Bill Could Create a Tax Shelter for the Rich
Carl Davis, the research director at the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, has written extensively about ETCs as tax shelters. Nationwide, about $1 billion in potential tax dollars… -
media mention January 18, 2018 NPR’s All Things Considered: More States Turning To Toll Roads To Raise Cash For Infrastructure
“I think the states over time have lost hope in the federal government enacting a real, long-term infrastructure package” says Carl Davis, research director for the non-partisan Institute on Taxation… -
media mention January 14, 2018 Charleston Post-Courier: An Abuse of Charitable Giving?
Under the new law, some wealthy South Carolinians may actually make a 37 percent profit, risk-free, by making charitable contributions to Exceptional SC, a nonprofit fund created by the state Legislature to… -
media mention January 12, 2018 New York Magazine: California, New Jersey, and New York Designing Workarounds to Blunt GOP Tax Bill Impact
In a memo released in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service gave its blessing for taxpayers to claim federal deductions on those gifts. The combination of a 100 percent state-tax credit… -
media mention January 9, 2018 The Fiscal Times: More States Are Turning to Toll Roads
Nineteen states have waited a decade or more since last increasing their gas tax rates. Another 13 states have gone at least two decades, and three states — Alaska, Oklahoma and… -
media mention December 29, 2017 NPR: This Tax Loophole for Wealthy Donors Just Got Bigger
One of the changes, according to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, which advocates for a “fair and sustainable” tax system, allows far more wealthy donors in 10 states… -
media mention December 22, 2017 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Tax Changes Could Help Parochial Schools
As a result, a preferred private school gets funding, which it must use to offset tuition for low-income students. The donor loses almost nothing. There are certain tax situations in… -
blog December 14, 2017 Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill
For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.
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report December 14, 2017 Tax Bill Would Increase Abuse of Charitable Giving Deduction, with Private K-12 Schools as the Biggest Winners
In its rush to pass a major rewrite of the tax code before year’s end, Congress appears likely to enact a “tax reform” that creates, or expands, a significant number of tax loopholes.[1] One such loophole would reward some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals with a strategy for padding their own bank accounts by “donating” to support private K-12 schools. While a similar loophole exists under current law, its size and scope would be dramatically expanded by the legislation working its way through Congress.[2]
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media mention December 8, 2017 New Republic: Tax Reform to Own the Libs
According to analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and California would pay $17 billion more in taxes by 2027, while Texas and… -
media mention December 8, 2017 Reuters: Millions Would Stop Bothering with Mortgage, Charity and Property Tax Deductions
Millions of households would no longer benefit from federal tax deductions for charity donations, mortgage interest payments and property tax under Republican tax plans being debated in the U.S. Congress,… -
blog December 7, 2017 Charitable, Property Tax, and Mortgage Interest Deductions Would Be Wiped Out for Two-Thirds of Current Claimants Under Congressional Tax Plans
In the ongoing debate over major federal tax legislation, there is significant focus on how House and Senate bills would eliminate the deduction for state income tax payments and cap the deduction for property taxes at $10,000 per year. At the same time, tax writers have retained deductions for charitable gifts and mortgage interest with what appear to be comparatively minor changes, at least at first glance.
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blog December 1, 2017 Senate “Pass-Through” Deduction Threatens to Undermine State Tax Systems
The U.S. Senate will soon be voting on a bill that would, among other things, allow so-called “pass-through” businesses to pay significantly lower taxes than their employees…If the Senate “pass-through” deduction is enacted into law, dozens of states will be forced to confront the possibility of reduced revenue collections, more regressive tax codes, and increased tax avoidance.
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blog December 1, 2017 Senator Collins Pushes Hard for a Property Tax Deduction that Very Few of Her Constituents Will Be Able to Claim
Adding a property tax deduction back into the Senate bill may sound like a compromise, but a new analysis performed using the ITEP Microsimulation Tax Model reveals that the amount of state and local taxes deducted by Maine residents would plummet by 90 percent under this change, from $2.58 billion to just $262 million in 2019. In short, this change is much more symbolic than substantive.