Recent Work

Who Pays Taxes in America in 2018?

April 11, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff

America’s tax system overall is marginally progressive. The share of all taxes paid by the richest Americans slightly exceeds their share of the nation’s income. Conversely, the share of all taxes paid by the poorest Americans is slightly smaller than the share of the nation’s income going to that group.

New ITEP Report: Extension of the Temporary TCJA Provisions Would Be Just as Regressive as TCJA Itself

April 10, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff

A new ITEP report estimates the impacts in every state of the much-discussed idea of extending the temporary provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which will expire after 2025 without further action from Congress. The report concludes that extending or making permanent these provisions would be just as skewed to the wealthy as the original law.

Extensions of the New Tax Law’s Temporary Provisions Would Mainly Benefit the Wealthy

April 10, 2018 • By Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

This analysis finds that extending the temporary tax provisions in 2026 would not be aimed at helping the middle-class any more than TCJA as enacted helps the middle-class in 2018.

Is the Trump Organization’s Sales Tax Avoidance More Aggressive Than Amazon’s?

April 6, 2018 • By Carl Davis

In recent weeks, President Trump has been raking Amazon over the coals for failing to collect state and local sales taxes on many of the company’s sales—a criticism that has some merit. But a new story first reported by James Kosur at RedStateDisaster, and then picked up today by the Wall Street Journal, provides fascinating insight into the sales tax collection habits of the Trump Organization’s “official retail website,” TrumpStore.com.

State Rundown 4/5: Education Funding Issues Take Center Stage

April 5, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

This week, Kentucky legislators passed a bill shifting taxes onto low- and middle-income families, Oklahoma legislators reached a deal on education funding, and their counterparts in Kansas proffered multiple proposals for their education funding needs. Meanwhile, tax debates are coming down to the wire in Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska, and responses to the federal tax-cut bill were settled on in Maryland, New York, and Wisconsin.

Passing the Buck: Forcing Spending Cuts through a Balanced Budget Amendment

April 5, 2018 • By Ronald Mak

House leaders are preparing a vote on a balanced budget amendment next week that could force massive spending cuts and restrict the ability of lawmakers to raise revenue. Although a balanced budget amendment will likely be pitched as a way to address our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, such proposals are economically harmful, ineffective, and one-sided.

Trends We’re Watching in 2018, Part 4: Tax Cuts & Tax Shifts

April 4, 2018 • By Lisa Christensen Gee

While a lot of tax activities in the states this year have focused on figuring out the impact of federal tax changes on states' bottom lines and residents, there also have been unrelated efforts to cut state taxes or shift from personal income taxes to more regressive sales taxes.

Cities Fail to Disclose Tax Incentives in Bids for Amazon’s HQ2

April 3, 2018 • By Guest Blogger

The Amazon HQ2 project would be the biggest in U.S. history as measured in projected jobs, yet little is known about the incentives cities have offered Amazon to lure its second headquarters. This lack of disclosure prevents public participation in the deal, including raising important questions about whether tax incentives that cities are offering are in the best short- and long-term interest of their residents. This is the main finding of Public Auction, Private Dealings: Will Amazon’s HQ2 Veer to Secrecy Create A Missed Opportunity for Inclusive, Accountable Development?, a Good Jobs First study released today.

Teachers’ Strikes Are Emblematic of Larger Tax Challenges for States

March 30, 2018 • By Meg Wiehe

As other researchers as well as journalists have noted, teachers striking or threatening to strike over low wages and overall lack of investment isn’t simply a narrative about schools and public workers’ pay. It is illustrative of a broader conflict over tax laws and how states and local jurisdictions fund critical public services that range from K-12 education, public safety, roads and bridges, health care, parks, to higher education.

Amazon’s Local, State and Federal Tax Issues Explained

March 30, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

President Trump’s latest Twitter target, the Amazon Corporation, is now under the microscope for its state and local tax avoidance. In a Thursday tweet, the President claimed that “[u]nlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments.” Such a statement is a startling reversal for a president who previously said his own ability to avoid paying income taxes “makes me smart.”

State Rundown 3/30: Several Major Tax Debates Will March on into April

March 30, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

This week, after the recent teacher strike in West Virginia, teacher pay crises brought on by years of irresponsible tax cuts also made headlines in Arizona and Oklahoma. Maine and New York lawmakers continue to hash out how they will respond to the federal tax bill. And their counterparts in Missouri and Nebraska attempt to push forward their tax cutting agendas.

Trends We’re Watching in 2018, Part 3: Improvements to Tax Credits for Workers and Families

March 26, 2018 • By Aidan Davis

This has been a big year for state action on tax credits that support low-and moderate-income workers and families. And this makes sense given the bad hand low- and middle-income families were dealt under the recent Trump-GOP tax law, which provides most of its benefits to high-income households and wealthy investors.   Many proposed changes are part of states’ broader reaction to the impact of the new federal law on state tax systems. Unfortunately, some of those proposals left much to be desired.

Amazon and Other E-Retailers Get a Free Pass from Some Local-Level Sales Taxes

March 26, 2018 • By Carl Davis

A new ITEP analysis reveals that in seven states (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania), the nation’s largest e-retailer, Amazon.com, is either not collecting local-level sales taxes or is charging a lower tax rate than local retailers. In other states, such as Colorado and Illinois, Amazon is collecting local tax because it has an in-state presence, but localities cannot collect taxes from other e-retailers based outside the state.

Many Localities Are Unprepared to Collect Taxes on Online Purchases: Amazon.com and other E-Retailers Receive Tax Advantage Over Local Businesses

March 26, 2018 • By Carl Davis

Online retailer Amazon.com made headlines last year when it began collecting every state-level sales tax on its direct sales. Savvy observers quickly noted that this change did not affect the company’s large and growing “marketplace” business, where it conducts sales in partnership with third-parties and rarely collects tax. But far fewer have noticed that even on its direct sales, Amazon is still not collecting some local-level taxes.

Unintended Consequences of the New Tax Bill Keep Cropping Up

March 23, 2018 • By Dacey Anechiarico

Due to its rushed passage in a matter of weeks, without public hearings or enough time even for basic proofreading, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) contains numerous unintended consequences that Congress is now scrambling to fix. The authors of the new law have openly admitted that the law includes major mistakes. One of the most prominent drafting errors is what is now known as the “grain glitch,” which temporarily created a huge incentive for farmers to sell their products to cooperatives over businesses taking other forms.