Federal, state, and local tax codes are important but underused tools that can create a more climate-resilient, less carbon-emitting America. A modernized tax code would stop subsidizing emissions and instead encourage lower-carbon design. Because cars and trucks produce roughly one-fourth of US greenhouse gas emissions, transportation taxation is a great starting point.
Amy Hanauer
Amy Hanauer joined ITEP in 2020, bringing nearly 30 years of experience working to create economic policy that advances social justice. As executive director of both ITEP and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), Amy provides vision and leadership to promote fair and equitable state and national tax policy.
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blog November 12, 2024 Taxing Transportation Is One Great Way to Reduce Carbon Emissions
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blog November 8, 2024 Tax Justice in the Crosshairs
Billionaires and businesses have too much power in Washington. Tax revenue is needed to pay for things we all need. If we want economic justice, racial justice and climate justice, we must have tax justice.
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media mention October 17, 2024 Audio: ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Talks Presidential Tax Plans on NerdWallet Podcast
Paycheck Politics: What Presidential Tax Plans May Mean for Your Wallet. Listen here. -
media mention October 1, 2024 NerdWallet: What Trump and Harris Have in Store for Your Taxes
As far as how the candidates are tackling all aspects of tax code, Amy Hanauer, executive director of the left-leaning think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says, “The big picture is the Harris approach raises more revenue; it raises it primarily from the wealthiest and corporations. The Trump approach puts us deeper in debt and gives a lot more away to wealthy people and corporations. Both of them, I think, have some proposals that would help middle class families on the tax side. But the Harris approach gives us more revenue to pay for things that middle class families might want.”
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blog July 1, 2024 Tax the Wealthy and Reject Austerity for a More Just and Thriving Democracy
Two of the last five presidents won office over the objection of the majority of the people; California, with 65 times more people, has the same voting power in the U.S Senate as Wyoming; and the U.S. Supreme Court just permitted South Carolina lawmakers to dilute Black votes in drawing districts. These obvious flaws undermine our claim to be a strong democracy. One less appreciated but similarly undemocratic trend is our extreme inequality that supercharges the power and wealth of corporations and the uber-rich, weakens what the public sector can deliver, and often feeds on itself.
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media mention June 21, 2024 New York Times: Democrats’ Dream of a Wealth Tax Is Alive. For Now.
For years, liberal Democrats have agitated for the United States to tax wealth, not just income, as a way to ensure that rich Americans who derive wealth from real estate, stocks, bonds and other assets were paying more in taxes. On Thursday, that dream survived a Supreme Court scare, but just barely.
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blog April 22, 2024 TurboTax Maker Puts a Pink Spin on Exploitative Financial Products
This op-ed originally appeared in MSNBC Tax preparation behemoth Intuit (maker of TurboTax) recently unveiled a new campaign branding itself as a feminist company. “When it comes to the complexities of… -
blog March 26, 2024 The Estate Tax Should Help to Level the Playing Field. Instead it’s Letting the Rich Get Richer.
The federal estate tax should ensure that family dynasties who’ve amassed enormous fortunes pay their fair share in taxes. But because policymakers have repeatedly doubled and tripled the immense sums that can be passed on before the tax kicks in, the estate tax today affects almost no one.
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media mention March 13, 2024 The Nation: Biden Should Channel His Inner FDR and Soak the Rich
There’s no risk and everything to gain politically. According to a Navigator Research poll from last month, 79 percent of registered voters favor higher taxes on billionaires and corporations. Only 16 percent are opposed. Democrats favor wealth taxes on billionaires by a 94-2 margin, independents by a 78-15 margin, Republicans by a 63-30 margin.
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blog November 9, 2023 Abortion-Restricting States Skimp on Funding for Children
States differ dramatically in how much they allow families to make choices about whether and when to have children and how much support they provide when families do. But there is a clear pattern: the states that compel childbirth spend less to help children once they are born.
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media mention September 14, 2023 Video: ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Talks Poverty and the Child Tax Credit on the Rick Smith Show
This week the Census Bureau released new numbers showing that in 2022 the U.S. lost the dramatic gains made against child poverty in 2021, in large part due to the lapsed Child Tax Credit expansion.
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blog September 7, 2023 How to Better Tax the Rich Men North (and South) of Richmond
When you examine tax policy through the lens of how much working (and poor) people are taxed compared to rich men north (and south) of Richmond, it’s hard not to take Oliver Anthony’s runaway hit as a jumping off point to amplify some important facts.
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media mention July 17, 2023 Video: ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer Featured on The Young Turks Segment on Social Security
This Young Turks segment on Senator Ron Johnson’s comments on Social Security features his exchange with ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer as well as ITEP data.
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blog July 12, 2023 Testimony: Tax Policy to Strengthen Social Security
We can make modest reforms to better tax those who are taking a larger share of our wealth and income in order to reinforce a major pillar of our promise to Americans.
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media mention June 19, 2023 Insider: The IRS Could Recover $12 for Every $1 Spent on Scrutinizing the Ultra-Wealthy’s Taxes
It turns out that scrutinizing the rich’s taxes pays off. A new paper from economists at the Department of Treasury, Harvard University, and the University of Sydney looks at the return on… -
media mention June 15, 2023 Video: ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Talks Proposed GOP Tax Cuts on Scripps New Live
ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer joined Scripps News Live to talk about the trio of tax bills that House Republicans are moving through committee this week, and explain how they would disproportionately help the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors.
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media mention June 9, 2023 Forbes: House Proposal Would Restore Expanded And Improved Monthly Child Tax Credits
A group of U.S. Representatives has introduced the American Family Act, legislation that would make the previously expanded and improved monthly child tax credit permanent. Read more. -
media mention June 6, 2023 Deseret News: Working Class Voters Want Politicians Who Will Focus on the Economy
The most important issue facing the U.S. today is still inflation, according to a new national poll, and this sentiment is being driven by Americans who identify as working and… -
media mention May 30, 2023 KALW’s Your Call: Debt Ceiling Agreement Targets the Poor While Protecting the Wealthy
ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer appeared on “Your Call” discussing the debt ceiling agreement. Listen here. -
ITEP Work in Action May 3, 2023 Testimony of ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Before the D.C. Tax Revision Commission
The written testimony of ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer is below the embedded video of the hearing. Dear D.C. Tax Revision Commission, Thank you for inviting me to testify last… -
blog May 1, 2023 Taxes Save Babies’ Lives
A compelling new examination over multiple years and multiple states found that infants are more likely to survive to age one in states that raise more revenue and raise it from those most able to pay. Generating taxes from rich people and corporations can help babies make it to their first birthday.
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blog April 24, 2023 Racial Justice Requires Tax Justice: Our Analysis Helps Deliver Both
ITEP’s analytical approach, our comprehensive microsimulation model, and our unique state-level capacities enable us to do pioneering analyses that enrich the debate on racial justice in tax policy that no other entity can do.
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blog April 14, 2023 We Can Create a Fair, Feminist Tax Code
Everything! Taxing wealthy people and corporations and using the revenue for paid leave, child care, education, health care and college would transform America for girls and women of every race and family type, in every corner of this country.
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blog March 14, 2023 Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich
As one of the most prosperous countries in human history, we have enough resources for our collective needs. By better taxing corporations and the wealthiest, we can generate revenue to improve family security, strengthen our communities, and reduce the debt too.
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media mention March 10, 2023 Vox: Biden’s Plan to Tax the Rich, Explained
Billionaires in the US pay a tiny proportion of the wealth they accrue in taxes compared to the cut ordinary Americans pay from their wages. Now, President Joe Biden wants that to…