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State Rundown 5/11: Mid-Year Special Elections and Primary Season Kicks Off with Taxes in the Spotlight
May 11, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
As 2022 inches closer to its midpoint, important tax policy decisions are being put in the hands of voters, as special elections and the primary season begin...
Most Senate Democrats Join Republicans in Calling for Corporate Tax Break
May 6, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
The vast majority of Senate Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in approving a new corporate tax break related to research in legislation that contains no offsetting corporate tax increases.
While tax discussions among federal lawmakers continue in fits and starts, major tax news continues to make waves across the nation...
Revenue-Raising Proposals in President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Plan
April 26, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
President Biden's latest budget plan includes proposals that would raise $2.5 trillion in new revenue. While many of these reforms appeared in his previous budget, some of them are brand new, such as his proposal to prevent basis-shifting in partnerships and his Billionaires Minimum Income Tax.
Biden’s Proposals Would Fix a Tax Code that Coddles Billionaires
April 21, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
Billionaires can afford to pay a larger share of their income in taxes than teachers, nurses and firefighters. But our tax code often allows them to pay less, as demonstrated by the latest expose from reporters at ProPublica using IRS data. According to their calculations, Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary under former President Donald Trump, […]
This Spring looks to be bringing a mix of showers and flowers as states around the nation continue to act on a range of tax proposals...
Eighteen states have legalized the sale of cannabis for general adult use and sales are already underway in 10 of those states. Every state allowing legal sales applies an excise tax to cannabis based on the product’s quantity, its price, or both. Quantity taxes are typically based on weight, though New York measures quantity by the amount of THC sold. ITEP research indicates that taxes based on quantity will be more sustainable over time because prices are widely expected to fall as the cannabis industry matures. Most states allowing for legal cannabis sales apply their general sales taxes to the…
Some Lawmakers Continue to Mythologize Income Tax Elimination Despite Widespread Opposition
April 19, 2022 • By Kamolika Das
One of the most surprising trends this legislative session is that conservative leaders and the business community joined with progressive advocates to oppose income tax repeal plans. There is a general consensus that income tax repeal is a step too far.
Cannabis Taxes Outraised Alcohol by 20 Percent in States with Legal Sales Last Year
April 19, 2022 • By Carl Davis
In 2021, the 11 states that allowed legal sales within their borders raised nearly $3 billion in cannabis excise tax revenue, an increase of 33 percent compared to a year earlier. While the tax remains a small part of state budgets, it’s beginning to eclipse other “sin taxes” that states have long had on the books.
Long-term troubles for this country and this planet now demand our attention. Progressive tax policy would transform our ability to tackle them.
State Rundown 4/13: Recent State Budgets Prove Not All Tax Cuts are the Same
April 13, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
Two prominent blue states made headlines this past week when they passed budget agreements that include relief for taxpayers, and fortunately, the budget plans don’t include costly tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy...
Last week we highlighted how several states were pushing through regressive tax cuts as their legislative sessions are coming to a close. Well, this week many of those same states took further actions on those bills and it’s safe to say we’re even less impressed than before...
President Biden’s Proposed Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax Would Ensure the Wealthiest Pay a Reasonable Amount of Income Tax
April 6, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
The Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax included in President Biden's budget plan would limit an unfair tax break for capital gains income and complement proposals the president has offered previously to limit other tax breaks for capital gains.
Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns About the President Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax
April 6, 2022 • By Steve Wamhoff
Find the answers to some frequently asked questions about President Biden's Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax, which would limit very wealthy individuals’ ability to put off paying income taxes on capital gains until they sell assets.
Punitive Fines and Fees Are an Invisible Cost of State Tax Cuts
April 4, 2022 • By Jenice Robinson
The deck is stacked against those who have the least, and ongoing racism makes it even more difficult for people of color to avoid punitive systems that are intentionally structured to extract what, for poor people, can be usurious penalties. The nation collectively shrugs about such injustices because they are either invisible or we chalk up entanglements in any legal morass to personal behavior. But the truth is that, indirectly, we are all part of the fines-and-fees matrix that entraps poor people in debt or keeps them tethered to the criminal justice system. None of us should look away.
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