Countries that once looked to the U.S. for direction on tax policy have concluded they need to form alliances without us. If so, it will often be to the benefit of other people around the globe and to the deficit of U.S. communities.
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 May 5, 2025 America Has Left the Building: U.S. Loses from Our Global Tax Policy Choices, Others Could Gain
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ITEP Work in Action April 25, 2025 Video: ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Discusses Billionaires, Taxes, and More at FP Solutions Summit
On April 24, 2025 ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer spoke on the panel “The Billionaire Tax Debate: Rethinking Fiscal Responsibility Around the World,” at the FP Solutions Summit. Video is… -
blog April 15, 2025 It’s Tax Day. You’ve Paid Your Share, but the Billionaires Haven’t.
You likely had most of your federal taxes deducted from your paychecks throughout the year. This is not true, however, for mega-millionaires and billionaires, some of whom are practically running our government right now.
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blog March 5, 2025 Trump’s Address to Congress Obscures His Actual Tax Agenda
In last night’s address to Congress, President Trump spent more time insulting Americans, lying, and bragging than he did talking about taxes. But regardless of what President Trump and Elon… -
blog November 12, 2024 Taxing Transportation Is One Great Way to Reduce Carbon Emissions
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.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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blog February 9, 2023 Why the States Have a Major Role to Play If We Want Tax Justice
With fears of gridlock in a divided Washington, tax justice champions are building momentum in other places where there’s dire need for better tax policy: the states. We can upgrade communities across the country by making 2023 a year to win tax improvements in statehouses.
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blog February 7, 2023 State of the Union Likely to Continue Progress on Tax Justice
After decades of Presidents who ran away from taxes, it’s a sea change to have a chief executive who understands that the rich should pay their fair share, extremely profitable corporations should pay their fair share, and the public sector should have revenue to invest in problems – like climate change and healthcare – that will only be solved with pathbreaking public action.
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blog January 4, 2023 Trump’s Tax Shenanigans Show Need for Real Reforms
Congress should unite around a basic principle that Republican, Democratic, and independent voters support: the wealthiest, whether they are presidents, CEOs, or just rich heirs, should pay their fair share. Using Trump’s tax maneuvering as a guidebook could make the tax code much fairer for all of us.
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blog August 22, 2022 Putting Cleveland and the Nation on a Path Toward Tax and Climate Justice
Editor’s note: This originally ran as an opinion piece in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. When I left Cleveland to work on federal tax policy after 20 years running Policy Matters… -
news release August 12, 2022 ITEP: Inflation Reduction Act is Biggest Corporate Tax Reform in Decades
Amy Hanauer, Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, issued the following statement on “The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022,” the reconciliation bill passed today by… -
news release August 7, 2022 Inflation Reduction Act Will Increase Tax Fairness, Reduce Inequality
Amy Hanauer, Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, issued the following statement on “The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022,” the reconciliation bill passed today by… -
news release July 28, 2022 ITEP: Reconciliation Deal Represents “Transformational Change” for U.S. Tax Policy
Amy Hanauer, Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, issued the following statement on “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” the reconciliation bill announced yesterday by Senate… -
news release July 15, 2022 ITEP: Tax and Climate Provisions Are What Americans Want and Need
In response to conflicting reports on negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on tax increases and climate provisions, Amy Hanauer, ITEP Executive Director, released the following statement: Sen. Joe…