Matthew Gardner
Matt Gardner is a senior fellow at ITEP where he has worked since 1998. He previously served as ITEP’s executive director from 2006 to 2016. Matt’s work focuses on federal, state and local tax systems, with a particular emphasis on the impact of tax policies on low- and moderate-income taxpayers. He uses ITEP’s microsimulation model to produce economic projections and analyses on the effects of current and proposed federal and state tax and budget policies.
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media mention April 15, 2022 MarketPlace: Millions of college students are eligible for tax credits. But they have to file for them
“They’re sensibly designed to make college more attainable, to make it so that students don’t have to live in poverty just to pay for their college expenses,” said Matthew Gardner,… -
media mention April 14, 2022 CNBC: How companies like Amazon, Nike and FedEx avoid paying federal taxes
The current United States tax code allows some of the biggest company names in the country to not pay any federal corporate income tax. In fact, at least 55 of… -
media mention April 12, 2022 CSPAN Washington Journal: Biden Tax Proposals
ITEP Senior Fellow Matthew Gardner appeared on CSpan’s Washington Journal on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, to discuss President Biden’s tax proposals. -
media mention March 14, 2022 Washington Post: Congress urges DOJ, Treasury to examine drug companies aiming to turn opioid settlements into tax breaks
There is uncertainty in the law about these types of tax breaks, said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Though recent changes… -
media mention March 2, 2022 CNN: Fact-checking Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address
Facts First: This needs context. Biden left out a significant word from the prepared text of his speech. The prepared text, which the White House emailed to journalists just before… -
media mention February 25, 2022 The Guardian: ‘A really bad deal’: Michigan awards GM $1bn in incentives for new electric cars
Meanwhile, GM has recorded $70bn in profits since 2010 while taking $8bn in subsidies in recent decades – more than all but one company nationwide. The idea that it needed incentives to… -
media mention September 24, 2021 Wall Street Journal: Zero-tax companies could remain
Mr. Biden’s often-cited list of 55 companies comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, a progressive group that publishes a regular report on the zero-tax-company phenomenon.… -
media mention July 29, 2021 Common Dreams: 73 Major Corporations Paid Just 5.3% Federal Tax Rate Between 2018 and 2020: Report
Thirty-nine U.S. corporations reaping over $120 billion in profits between 2018 and 2020—the first three years of the so-called “GOP tax scam”—paid no net federal income tax, or claimed refunds… -
media mention July 14, 2021 Washington Post: As IRS audits waned, big businesses racked up unapproved tax breaks
One challenge for the IRS is that each company tends to interpret tax laws differently, says Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a… -
media mention July 8, 2021 Napa Valley Register: California’s progressive tax system proved its worth during the pandemic
In fact, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that California’s tax system does the most of any state to alleviate inequality — while taxes in most states serve… -
media mention July 8, 2021 Politico: As Bezos called for tax hikes, Amazon lobbied to keep its tax bill low
“It’s very likely they’re getting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in R&D tax credits,” said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,… -
media mention July 8, 2021 New York Post: Jeff Bezos openly embraces tax hikes, but Amazon lobbied against them
Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who’s studied the tax habits of Amazon and other big companies, told Politico that Amazon is likely… -
media mention June 4, 2021 Talking Points Memo: If Biden’s Corporate Tax Offer Isn’t A Feint, Then It’s A Massive Concession
Their specific opposition to the corporate tax hike, Matt Gardner, corporate tax expert at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told TPM, is part of their “hidebound refusal… -
media mention May 28, 2021 Vox: You should be suspicious of benevolent big business
Amazon, like a lot of big companies, is good at keeping its tax bill low. In some recent years, it’s paid zero federal income tax; it’s managed to pay very… -
media mention May 4, 2021 New York Times: Amazon Had a Big Year, but Paid No Tax to Luxembourg
Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning research group in Washington, said Amazon’s Luxembourg filing showed why there was such urgency, not… -
media mention April 30, 2021 Associated Press: Biden’s corporate tax plan takes aim at income inequality
“It’s a terrific plan,” said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “We cannot have a sustainable corporate tax system until we solve this… -
media mention April 29, 2021 USA TODAY: Biden cites left-leaning study that 55 of top U.S. companies paid no federal income taxes
The ITEP report was based on a review of annual financial records by the nation’s largest publicly traded companies for their most recent fiscal year. Wamhoff noted that Biden on… -
media mention April 28, 2021 89.3 WFPL: LG&E’s Parent Company Paid No Federal Taxes Last Year (Kentucky)
In a year when Kentuckians struggled to pay their utilities bills because of a global pandemic, Louisville Gas and Electric’s parent company paid nothing in federal taxes. PPL reported around… -
media mention April 26, 2021 Morning Call: PPL Corp. and other companies with Lehigh Valley ties paid zero U.S. taxes in 2020
Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and co-author of the organization’s report, said PPL documents show the company made pre-tax U.S. income of… -
media mention April 23, 2021 Bloomberg: Firms Shuffle Intangible Assets Abroad Despite U.S. Tax Break
President Joe Biden and other Democrats have said FDII has been ineffective and should be replaced or revamped. While the concerns they’ve voiced about FDII aren’t directly related to the… -
media mention April 15, 2021 Washington Post: Biden proposals may not guarantee all Fortune 500 corporations pay federal income taxes, experts say
Of the 55 corporations that did not pay federal income taxes in 2020, only five had more than $2 billion in net income, according to the report by the Institute… -
media mention April 14, 2021 Common Dreams: Jayapal Calls for Crackdown on Wealthiest After IRS Chief Says Tax Evasion Costs US $1 Trillion a Year
Furthermore, another recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) showed that 55 U.S. corporate giants paid $0 in federal income taxes last year, and 26 of… -
media mention April 14, 2021 Willamette Week: Nike’s Tax Bill in Oregon Is a Secret. We Asked Three Analysts to Make an Estimate.
The breakdown of that percentage among states is impossible to know, [Matthew Gardner, ITEP Senior Fellow] says, especially considering not every state has the same single-factor corporate tax structure that… -
media mention April 10, 2021 CNN: Jeff Bezos endorsed higher corporate tax rates. But it won’t cost him much
Amazon (AMZN) isn’t doing anything illegal or improper — or unusual. Few corporations pay 21% of their reported pre-tax earnings in corporate income tax. That’s because there are many ways… -
media mention April 8, 2021 AlJazeera: Pros, cons and pragmatism: Biden’s plan to fund infrastructure
Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, agrees. “The low cost of borrowing and the pressing spending needs we face right now make deficit…