Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Corporate Taxes

GOP Megabill Breaks America’s Promise to Future Generations

This country’s biggest historical challenge has been delivering this progress to all Americans, but Republicans have cut it back for everyone, retreating from many 20th century achievements in ways that will slam doors, rather than opening them, for the next generation.

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Five Issues for States to Watch in the Federal Tax Debate

June 3, 2025 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Kamolika Das, Marco Guzman, Miles Trinidad, Neva Butkus

Five Issues for States to Watch in the Federal Tax Debate

This post covers five particularly notable provisions for states: increasing deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) paid, allowing more generous tax write-offs for businesses, offering new avenues for capital gains tax avoidance to people contributing to private school voucher funds, carving tips and overtime out of the tax base, and re-upping Opportunity Zone tax breaks for wealthy investors.

House Bill’s $164 Billion Giveaway to Multinational Corporations Puts America Last

The House of Representatives’ recently passed tax bill changes course on taxing multinational corporations engaged in shifting U.S. profits overseas, offering massive tax giveaways that weaken American revenues and risk sending more American corporate investment offshore.

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Federal Tax Debate 2025

May 2, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

Federal Tax Debate 2025

Want to know more about the tax and spending megabill that President Trump recently signed into law? We've got you covered.

It’s Tax Day. You’ve Paid Your Share, but the Billionaires Haven’t.

You likely had most of your federal taxes deducted from your paychecks throughout the year. This is not true, however, for mega-millionaires and billionaires, some of whom are practically running our government right now.

Philadelphia Mayor’s Proposal to Cut Business Taxes is Illogical and Imprudent

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s proposal to cut the city’s business income and receipts tax (BIRT), based off the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission’s recommendation, is illogical and imprudent. This is more than the city spends each year on homelessness services, public health, the streets department, and countless other programs that directly benefit residents.

What the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Got Wrong About Tesla’s Tax Avoidance

Tesla’s income tax avoidance is still in the news, and that’s a good thing.

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Advantaging Affluence: A Distributional Analysis of Missouri HB 798’s Uneven Tax Cuts for Wealth and Work

March 28, 2025 • By Aidan Davis, Carl Davis, Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Eli Byerly-Duke, Matthew Gardner

Advantaging Affluence: A Distributional Analysis of Missouri HB 798’s Uneven Tax Cuts for Wealth and Work

Missouri House Bill 798 would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates, fully eliminate taxes on capital gains income from sale of assets, and eliminates the state’s modest Earned Income Tax Credit that assists many working people in lower-paid jobs. HB 798 would radically transform Missouri’s income tax code into a system that privileges income from wealth over income from work, leaving many middle-income families to pay a higher income tax rate than wealthy people living off their investments.

Why Americans Are Right to Be Unhappy About Corporate Tax Avoidance

If lawmakers wanted to reduce income inequality and racial inequality, shutting down or at least limiting corporate tax breaks would be one option to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, President Trump and the current Congress show little interest in this and may even move in the opposite direction by introducing new corporate tax breaks.

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Federal Tax Policy: What Should It Accomplish?

March 26, 2025 • By Steve Wamhoff

Federal Tax Policy: What Should It Accomplish?

The U.S. needs a tax code that is more adequate, meaning any major tax legislation should increase revenue, not reduce it. The U.S. also needs a tax code that is more progressive, meaning any significant tax legislation should require more, not less, from those most able to pay.

Trump’s Address to Congress Obscures His Actual Tax Agenda

In last night’s address to Congress, President Trump spent more time insulting Americans, lying, and bragging than he did talking about taxes. But regardless of what President Trump and Elon Musk talk about most loudly and angrily, there is one clear policy that they and the corporations and billionaires that support them will try hardest […]

Corporate Income Tax Filing Methods: States with Water’s Edge or Worldwide Combined Reporting

The purpose of state corporate income taxes is to tax the profit, or net income, an incorporated business earns in each state. Ascertaining the state where profits are earned is, however, complicated for companies that conduct business in multiple jurisdictions. Twenty-eight states plus D.C. now require a limited version of combined reporting called “water’s edge” […]

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A Revenue Analysis of Worldwide Combined Reporting in the States

February 20, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner

A Revenue Analysis of Worldwide Combined Reporting in the States

Universal adoption of mandatory worldwide combined reporting would boost state corporate income tax revenues by roughly 14 percent. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia would experience revenue increases totaling $19.1 billion.

The Five Biggest Corporations Represented at Trump’s Inauguration Could Save $75 Billion from One Tax Break Before Congress

New financial reports indicate five of America’s biggest corporations—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Tesla—could win $75 billion in tax breaks if Congress and the President satisfy demands from corporate lobbyists to reinstate a provision repealed under the 2017 Trump tax law.

Trump and Congress’ Tax Package Likely to Worsen Racial Inequities

While the country transitions to a new, yet familiar, presidential administration, lawmakers must keep in mind: fighting racial injustice should still be one of the focal points of this year’s tax debates. In theory, the debate over extending much of 2017’s Trump tax law represents an opportunity to advance racial equity. In practice, the tax package is likely to do the opposite, worsening racial inequities that already exist.  

How Would the Harris and Trump Tax Plans Affect Different Income Groups?

Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have put forward a wide range of different tax proposals during this year’s campaign. We have now fully analyzed the distributional impacts of the major proposals of both Vice President Harris and former President Trump in separate analyses. In all, the tax proposals announced by Harris would, on average, lead to a tax cut for all income groups except the richest 1 percent of Americans, while the proposals announced by Trump would, on average, lead to a tax increase for all income groups except the richest 5 percent of Americans.