At least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the United States. This continues a decades-long trend of corporate tax avoidance by the biggest U.S. corporations, and it appears to be the product of long-standing tax breaks preserved or expanded by the 2017 tax law as well as the CARES Act tax breaks enacted in the spring of 2020.
Steve Wamhoff
Steve Wamhoff is ITEP’s director of federal tax policy. In this role, he is responsible for setting the organization’s federal research and policy agenda. He is the author of numerous reports and analyses of federal tax policies as well as in-depth policy briefs that outline how the federal income tax and corporate tax code can be overhauled to improve tax fairness.
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report April 2, 2021 55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits
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blog April 1, 2021 Biden’s Corporate Tax Revolution
The corporate tax plan put forth on Wednesday by President Joe Biden to offset the cost of his infrastructure priorities would be the most significant corporate tax reform in a generation if enacted.
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media mention March 18, 2021 The Hill: A Straightforward Way to Pay for Biden’s Recovery Plan (Opinion)
Now that President Biden and Congress have enacted a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure, the president will soon provide details for the second item on his agenda, a major recovery plan. The package could include some of the tax increases on which he campaigned to pay for new spending.
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media mention March 16, 2021 Fortune: Biden Plots Tax Hikes on Corporations and High-earners to Fund Ambitious Infrastructure Plan
Should the President get the rest of the Democratic caucus on board with his vision of a massive infrastructure bill funded by higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals, Biden… -
media mention March 12, 2021 Fortune: The COVID Relief Bill Doesn’t Raise Taxes on Gig Workers
The new tax revenue is money that should’ve been collected all along, but many workers didn’t have the documentation that serves as a reminder and guide to reporting the incomes… -
media mention March 12, 2021 CNBC: New $1,400 Stimulus Checks Are on the Way. Here’s Who Qualifies for the Money
“If you got a full payment last time, you will get the full payment this time,” provided your income has not substantially changed, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax… -
media mention March 12, 2021 Associated Press: COVID Relief Bill Could Permanently Alter Social Safety Net
“The question will be, do they want child poverty to go back up again” by letting that credit expire, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy for the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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blog March 11, 2021 Rep. Doggett and Sen. Whitehouse Introduce Bill to Crack Down on Offshore Corporate Tax-Dodging
The 2017 tax law simply replaced one set of loophole-ridden rules that favored offshore profits over domestic profits with a new set of loophole-ridden rules doing the same thing. A bill introduced today by Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse would finally fix this to follow a simple principle: we should tax the offshore profits and domestic profits of our corporations the same way.
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media mention March 11, 2021 Bloomberg: Millions of Americans Miss Out on Stimulus ‘Survival’ Checks
The think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 280 million people would receive a full or partial payment under the new criteria, compared with 288 million who… -
media mention March 10, 2021 Reuters: Analysis: Despite Republican Opposition, Red States Fare Well in Biden’s COVID-19 Bill
The Biden bill also expands tax breaks for children and low-income workers to encompass poor households that did not qualify before. Experts say the expanded child tax credit alone could… -
media mention March 10, 2021 CNBC: Stimulus Checks and Expanded Tax Credits
Between stimulus checks and expanded tax credits in the latest Covid-relief package, most U.S. households are poised to get some extra cash. The amount? An average of $3,450 for the… -
media mention March 8, 2021 Washington Post: Biden stimulus showers money on Americans, sharply cutting poverty and favoring individuals over businesses
These tax changes, along with another round of cash payments, will boost incomes of the bottom 20 percent of Americans by 33 percent, according to Steve Wamhoff, a tax expert… -
report March 7, 2021 Estimates of Cash Payment and Tax Credit Provisions in American Rescue Plan
Update: On March 10, the House passed the Senate version of the COVID relief bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, and sent it to President Biden for his signature. This means that the Senate version of the bill described herein is the final legislation enacted into law.
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media mention March 5, 2021 Marketwatch: ‘This is pure politics’: Fewer Americans will get a stimulus check this time around — here’s how many people will get one
The previous House version would have covered 91% of adults — 212.1 million Americans — and 90% of children — another 84.7 million people, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal… -
media mention March 4, 2021 The Hill: Analysis: Senate stimulus check changes would reduce recipients by up to 16 million
The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that 11.8 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer children would be eligible for the direct payments. Steve Wamhoff, the group’s… -
media mention March 4, 2021 New York Post: Nearly 12 million Americans could lose COVID stimulus checks under Biden’s new cap
About 200 million adults would receive stimulus checks under the new Senate plan, roughly 11.8 million fewer than under the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill the House of Representatives passed… -
media mention March 4, 2021 Yahoo! Finance: New stimulus check thresholds would leave 12 million adults without payments
Narrower income requirements for the next round of stimulus checks would mean 11.8 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer children would get payments compared with an earlier version of… -
media mention March 4, 2021 Reuters: Millions of U.S. households would not get COVID-19 payments under new Biden plan
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy calculated that those payments now would help 11.8 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer children than the more generous version that passed… -
media mention March 4, 2021 CNBC: About 12 million adults may not receive those $1,400 stimulus checks. Here’s why
Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy, said the numbers are “pretty close” to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s estimates. “For most people, it doesn’t make a difference,” Wamhoff said.… -
media mention March 4, 2021 Today.com: Senate bill will narrow who can receive $1,400 stimulus checks
According to CNBC, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that that would affect about 12 million adults and 4.6 million children in the country. “That being said, it… -
media mention March 4, 2021 CNBC: Senate Democrats’ plan to curb eligibility for third stimulus check cuts off 12 million adults
The new income caps would mean that 11.8 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer kids would receive a third stimulus payment, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy calculates.… -
blog March 3, 2021 New Estimates on Senate’s Slightly Revised Cash Payment
As the Senate takes up the COVID relief bill passed by the House last week, Senate Democrats have proposed to lower the income level at which the $1,400 cash payments would be phased out. New estimates from ITEP demonstrate that, for most people, the change would make no difference.
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blog March 1, 2021 Senator Warren Introduces Federal Wealth Tax Legislation
With the onslaught of news about billionaire wealth soaring while low- and moderate-income families have trouble making ends meet, a federal wealth tax makes good economic and fiscal sense—and the public supports it. One poll found that 64 percent of respondents favor the idea, including a majority of Republicans.
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blog February 26, 2021 How the Minimum Wage Is Becoming a Tax Issue for Congress
The federal minimum wage is almost comically low. At $7.25 an hour, it is 29 percent below its inflation-adjusted peak in the 1960s. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty. A solid 61 percent of voters support the idea. A majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate support at least some version of a minimum wage hike. The popular $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes a measure that would raise the minimum wage over the next few years to $15. So, what is the problem? And why are lawmakers now talking about using the tax code to mandate a higher minimum wage?
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blog February 19, 2021 Enforcing Current Tax Law Makes Financial Sense
While lawmakers disagree sharply over what our tax law should look like, there should be no argument that we must enforce tax laws currently on the books. Yet, Republican Congresses systematically weakened the IRS’s ability to enforce tax laws by defunding the agency, resulting in hundreds of billions in lost tax revenue every year. Two bills introduced in the U.S. House would address this by increasing tax audits of big corporations and high-income individuals and by providing more resources to the IRS.