Even in this slow year for candidate elections, the decisions that voters in states and cities make could strengthen or weaken revenue for needs in their communities and could change how taxes are distributed across the income spectrum. In the places where tax fairness is on the ballot, much is at stake.
Jon Whiten
Jon Whiten leads ITEP’s communications work to shape the public debate around tax policy and ensure that policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders are using ITEP’s data and analysis in order to make sound decisions.
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blog October 24, 2023 2023’s State and Local Tax Ballot Measures: Voters to Weigh in on Property Taxes, Wealth Taxes, and More
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blog October 17, 2023 Large and Growing Tax Gap Underscores the Need to Adequately Fund the IRS
New figures released show the difference between what Americans paid and owed in taxes grew to $688 billion in 2021, a significant jump from previous estimates. This new data underscores that last year’s boost to IRS funding under the Inflation Reduction Act was absolutely necessary and should be protected by lawmakers.
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blog June 1, 2023 Debt-Limit Deal’s Provision to Let Tax Cheats Off the Hook Will Increase the Deficit
The latest debt-limit bill in Congress includes a provision to claw back important IRS funding meant to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This cut in funding would actually increase the deficit while continuing the rig the system in favor of the most well-off.
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blog April 12, 2023 8 Things to Know About State Taxes
As Tax Day approaches, it’s worth thinking about not only the taxes that we individually pay but the overall condition of our tax code as well. State tax codes, while… -
blog February 1, 2023 By Fighting Audit Bias, Funding for Tax Enforcement Can Advance Racial Equity
Black households are between 2.9 and 4.7 times more likely to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service than non-Black households. This disparity is driven in part but not wholly by a lack of resources at the IRS, which itself is driven by years of budget cuts the agency has faced.
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blog January 18, 2023 Several States Make New Moves to Tax Wealth
Lawmakers in seven states will introduce legislation this week to tax wealth in a new coordinated effort to combat ever-increasing income and wealth inequality. The bills couldn’t come at a better time, as those at the very top continue to pull apart from the rest of us and far too many states contemplate piling on to this runaway inequality with seemingly endless tax cuts for those at the top.
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blog January 17, 2023 National Taxpayer Advocate: Infusion of New IRS Funding a ‘Gamechanger’ for Taxpayers
A new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate – part of an independent oversight arm inside the IRS – found that the agency struggled in 2022 with timely processing of tax returns and refunds, responding to taxpayer correspondence quickly, and answering phone calls. It expects these issues to improve in 2023, thanks in part to the influx of $80 billion in new funding from last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which the Advocate’s office calls a “gamechanger” for Americans.
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blog January 10, 2023 New House Majority Quickly Moves to Help Wealthy Evade Taxes
The “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act” would rescind 90 percent of the new funding for the IRS included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. This would eliminate the new law’s $45.6 billion to enforce the tax code for people making more than $400,000 and repeal an additional $26 billion in IRS funding that would include, among other things, a pilot for a free e-file program to make it easier for people with relatively simple tax returns to file. The slash-and-burn bill comes just weeks after Republicans forced a 2 percent cut in annual IRS funding as part of the omnibus spending plan.
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blog December 19, 2022 ITEP’s Top 5 Charts of 2022
Covering federal, state, and corporate tax work, here are our top 5 charts of 2022. It’s worth noting that the biggest tax news of 2022 – the adoption of a federal 15 percent corporate minimum tax in the Inflation Reduction Act – should make some of these charts look much better after the new law is implemented.
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blog November 10, 2022 Election Day in the States: Voters Deliver Important Victories for Tax Justice
Voters in Massachusetts and Colorado raised taxes on their wealthiest residents to fund schools, public transportation and school lunches for kids while making their tax codes more equitable. And voters in West Virginia defeated a proposal to deeply cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and drain the coffers of county and local governments.
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blog October 26, 2022 Measures on the November Ballot Could Improve or Worsen State Tax Codes
In a couple of weeks, voters in a handful of states will weigh in on several tax-related ballot measures that could make state tax codes more equitable and raise money… -
blog August 22, 2022 Four Tax Policy Wins in the Inflation Reduction Act and Four More That Can Build on This Progress
With four major tax policy provisions, the IRA takes a huge step toward a fairer tax code and a more equitable economy. But as always, there are more steps lawmakers should take to build on this progress.
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blog August 22, 2022 The Case for More IRS Funding
Editor’s note: This originally ran as an opinion piece in The Hill. Though the Inflation Reduction Act is enormously popular, some politicians and pundits are trying to generate hysteria about…