Recent Work
2096 items
The Census has changed the way it asks questions in the past and can choose to do so again in the future. As the Biden administration makes data a central part of its plan to achieve greater racial equity, it has an opportunity to implement research-backed changes that will improve our understanding of race and ethnicity in the United States, and in turn, our ability to draw meaningful conclusions about how our tax laws impact tax filers of different races.
Investment Income and Racial Inequality
October 14, 2021 • By Emma Sifre, ITEP Staff, Joe Hughes
Congress has a historic opportunity to fix the way the preferential treatment of investment income widens the racial wealth gap and to strive toward a racially equitable tax code.
Limiting Tax Breaks for Capital Gains Would Mitigate the Racial Wealth Gap
October 14, 2021 • By Joe Hughes
The racial wealth and income gaps are the results of centuries of government policies favoring the accumulation of wealth among white communities while marginalizing communities of color. Policy solutions that are race-forward, meaning they remedy past and ongoing racial inequities, can also address broader social inequities.
The release of the ‘Pandora Papers’ showed once again that states and their tax systems play an important role in wealth inequality, and in this case, worsening it...
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Proposed Cuts to the Top Tax Rate Are Costly and Heavily Favor the Rich
October 8, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
As the Arkansas Legislature concludes the 2021 general session, our attention must turn to the special session they are preparing to begin to discuss personal income tax cuts. Although income tax cuts may sound like something everyday Arkansans would welcome, when we examine the details, it turns out most Arkansans will be getting a bad […]
State Income Tax Reform Can Bring Us Closer to Racial Equity
October 4, 2021 • By Carl Davis, ITEP Staff, Marco Guzman
To pave the way for a more racially equitable future, states must move away from poorly designed, regressive policies that solidify the vast inequalities that exist today.
State Income Taxes and Racial Equity: Narrowing Racial Income and Wealth Gaps with State Personal Income Taxes
October 4, 2021 • By Carl Davis, Jessica Schieder, Marco Guzman
10 state personal income tax reforms that offer the most promising routes toward narrowing racial income and wealth gaps through the tax code.
One of the few industries to excel during the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic has been the marijuana business, and lawmakers around the country are taking notice as they try to ensure that sales in their state are both legal and subject to tax...
The Billionaires’ Income Tax Is the Latest Proposal to Reform How We Tax Capital Gains
September 28, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
When people first hear about proposals to tax unrealized capital gains, they often ask, “Is this income, and if so, should we tax it?” The answers to those questions are “yes” and “yes, when we are talking about the very rich.”
Reforming Federal Capital Gains Taxes Would Benefit States, Too
September 28, 2021 • By Carl Davis
Congress’s action or inaction on federal tax changes under consideration in the Build Back Better plan could have important implications for states on many fronts. One critical area of note is at the foundation of income tax law: setting the definition of income that most states will use in administering their own income taxes.
Repealing the SALT Cap Would Wipe Out Revenue Raised by the House Ways and Means Bill’s Income Tax Provisions
September 23, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
There are several ways that the House leadership could avoid this problem. One approach is for lawmakers to replace the SALT cap with a different kind of limit on tax breaks for the rich that actually raises revenue and avoids disfavoring some states compared to others as the SALT cap does. ITEP has suggested a way to do this.
New ITEP Report Examines the Tax Changes in the House Ways and Means Build Back Better Bill
September 21, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
The vast majority of these tax increases would be paid by the richest 1 percent of Americans and foreign investors. The bill’s most significant tax cuts -- expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- would more than offset the tax increases for the average taxpayer in all income groups except for the richest 5 percent.
Tax Changes in the House Ways and Means Committee Build Back Better Bill
September 21, 2021 • By ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
This report finds that the vast majority of these tax increases would be paid by the richest 1 percent of Americans and foreign investors. The bill’s most significant tax cuts -- expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- would more than offset the tax increases for the average taxpayer in all income groups except for the richest 5 percent.
House Ways and Means Provisions to Raise Revenue Would Significantly Improve Our Tax System But Fall Short of the President’s Plan
September 15, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff
High-income people and corporations would pay more than they do today, which is a monumental change. But some wealthy billionaires like Jeff Bezos would continue to pay an effective rate of zero percent on most of their income, and American corporations would still have some incentives to shift profits offshore.
Though we can’t fault anyone for being distracted by the major stories of the day, we at ITEP remain committed to keeping you up to date on what’s happening in the tax world around you...
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