Author: tarek

A revealing new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that in 2011, the US government spent as much on corporate tax expenditures as it collected in corporate taxes. According to the report, 80 tax expenditures (exceptions, deductions, credits, preferential rates, etc.), cost the Treasury $181 billion in corporate tax revenue, which is the same as the total amount the Treasury collected in corporate taxes in 2011.

While the study looked at 80 corporate tax expenditures, over three-quarters of the revenue loses ($136 billion) were attributed to the four largest expenditures: accelerated depreciation, deferral of foreign income, the research credit, and the domestic production activities deduction. (CTJ has explained before that repealing these provisions would raise massive amounts of revenue.)

Making matters worse, 56 of the 80 tax expenditures that GAO looked at were used by individuals as well as corporations, resulting in an additional loss of $125 billion in revenue from the individual income tax. This happens because many corporate tax breaks can be used by businesses taxed under the individual income tax (the personal income tax), such as partnerships, S-corporations and other “pass-through” entities.

The report also revealed that more is spent on corporate tax expenditures in the budget areas of Commerce and Housing, International Affairs, and General Purpose Fiscal Assistance than is spent in direct federal outlays. For example, GAO found that the government spends only $45.7 billion in direct federal outlays for International Affairs, while spending $50.8 billion on corporate tax expenditures on this same budget function. Similarly, GAO concluded that one-third of the corporate only tax expenditures “appear to share a similar purpose with at least one federal spending program.”

These expenditures account for major U.S. corporations paying an average effective tax rate of half the 35 percent statutory rate, and often even zero in federal income taxes; elimination of these tax breaks should be the top priority for lawmakers looking to replace the sequester or reduce the deficit. In fact, a coalition of 515 groups recently called on Congress to repeal or reduce corporate tax expenditures as a way to raise revenue (as opposed to enacting corporate tax reform that is “revenue-neutral”). As Representative Lloyd Doggett (R-TX), who requested the GAO study, explained, “Corporate America did not contribute a nickel to the fiscal cliff deal that meant higher taxes for many Americans [and] it is reasonable to ask corporate America to contribute a little more toward closing the budget gap and to the cost of our national security.”

These corporate tax expenditures get nothing like the public scrutiny that direct spending is subject to. But tax expenditures for corporations are just like subsidies provided to corporations in the form of direct spending because Americans have to make up the costs somehow. That’s true whether it’s that bundle of earmark-like tax extenders that gets quietly renewed every year or two, or the rule allowing corporations to indefinitely defer taxes on foreign profits, or the massive breaks for depreciating equipment. All this is the spending of ordinary taxpayers’ dollars – and it merits the same critical attention.

In a stark departure from the last few years, one of the most debated state tax policy issues in 2013 has been the gasoline tax (PDF).  Until this February, it had been almost three years since any state’s lawmakers approved an increase or reform of their gasoline tax.  That changed when Wyoming Governor Matt Mead signed into law a 10 cent gas tax hike passed by his state’s legislature.  Since then, Virginia has reformed its gas tax to grow over time alongside gas prices, and Maryland has both increased and reformed its gas tax.  By the time states’ 2013 legislative sessions come to a close, the list of states having improved their gas taxes is likely to be even longer.

Massachusetts appears to be the most likely candidate for gas tax reform.  Both the House and Senate have passed bills immediately raising the state gas tax by 3 cents per gallon, and reforming the tax so that its flat per-gallon amount keeps pace with inflation in the future (see chart here).  In late 2011, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that Massachusetts is among the states where inflation has been most damaging to the state transportation budget—costing some $451 million in revenue per year relative to where the gas tax stood in 1991 when it was last raised.  Governor Deval Patrick has expressed frustration that legislators passed plans lacking more revenue for education—in sharp contrast to his own plan to increase the income tax—but he has also signaled that there may be room for compromise.

Vermont lawmakers are also giving very serious consideration to gas tax reform.  At the Governor’s urging, the House passed a bill increasing the portion of Vermont’s gas tax that already grows alongside gas prices.  The bill also reforms the flat-rate portion of Vermont’s gas tax to grow with inflation.  The Senate is now debating the idea, and early reports indicate that the package may be tweaked to rely slightly more on diesel taxes in order to reduce the size of the increase on gasoline.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has also proposed raising and reforming his state’s gasoline tax.  While Pennsylvania’s tax is technically supposed to grow alongside gas prices, an obsolete tax cap limits the rate from rising when gas prices exceed $1.25 per gallon.  Corbett would like to remove that cap in order to improve the sustainability of the state’s revenues, and members of his administration have been traveling the state to explain how doing so would benefit Pennsylvanians.  While the legislature has yet to act on his plan, the fact that it has the backing of the state’s Chamber of Business and Industry is likely to help its chances.

In New Hampshire, the Governor has said she is open to raising the state gas tax and the House has passed a bill doing exactly that.  But there are indications that lawmakers in the state Senate might continue procrastinating on raising the tax, as the state has done for over two decades.

Nevada lawmakers are discussing a gas tax increase following the release of a report showing that the state’s outdated transportation system is costing drivers $1,500 per year.  ITEP analyzed a gas tax proposal receiving consideration in the Nevada House and found that even with the increase, the state’s gas tax rate (adjusted for inflation) would still remain low relative to its levels in years past.

Iowa lawmakers have been debating a gas tax increase for a number of years, and there may be enough support in the legislature to finally see one enacted into law.  The major stumbling block is that Governor Branstad will only agree to raise the gas tax if it’s part of a larger package that cuts revenue overall—particularly revenues from the property tax.  As we’ve explained in the past, such a move would effectively benefit the state’s roads at the expense of its schools.

Earlier this year, Washington State House lawmakers unveiled a plan raising the state’s gas tax by 10 cents per gallon and increasing vehicle registration fees.  Senate leaders are reportedly less excited about the idea of a gasoline tax hike, though there are indications they would consider such an increase if it were to pass the House.  While talk of a 10 cent increase has since quieted down, there are rumors that a smaller increase could be enacted.

Unfortunately, some states where the chances of gas tax reform once appeared promising have since begun to move away from the idea.  In Michigan, while the Governor and the state Chamber of Commerce have voiced strong support for generating additional revenue through the gas tax, neither the House nor the Senate appears likely to vote in favor of such a reform this year.  Meanwhile, the chances for a gas tax increase in Minnesota seem to have faded after the Governor came out against an increase and the House subsequently unveiled a tax plan that leaves the gas tax untouched.

Overall, 2013 has already been a significant year for state gas tax reform.  Both Maryland and Virginia have abandoned their unsustainable flat gas taxes in favor of a better gas tax that grows over time, just like construction costs inevitably will.  Hopefully, within the next few months, more states will have followed their lead.

Last week we brought you news that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was abandoning his plan to eliminate the state personal and corporate income taxes and replace the revenue with an expanded sales tax. Instead, the Governor asked the legislature to “Send me a plan to get rid of our state income tax.” But now the legislature is denying the Governor’s request.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Representative Robideaux has asked his colleagues to “defer” the bills they already had in the works to repeal the state income tax, and he’s said that he won’t allow hearings on any income tax repeal bill, closing the door on any attempt to eliminate the state’s income tax. Robideaux said, “I think it’s probably dead for the session, right now, there’s probably income tax fatigue.”  Importantly, he also asks, “Is there a constituent base out there demanding repeal of the income tax?” The answer is that two thirds of Louisianans actually opposed the Governor’s plan for this tax swap, which happens to be about the same percentage of Louisianans who stand to lose the most if any such tax plan gets implemented.

Jindal’s failure is a victory for tax justice advocates and a may serve as a lesson for lawmakers in other states entertaining similarly radical tax ideas.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch, for instance, editorialized, “Louisiana’s lawmakers realize what Missouri’s don’t: Income tax cuts are suicidal.” Missouri lawmakers are debating their own draconian tax plan that would roll back income taxes. The Post Dispatch continues, “What Louisiana has recognized is that the supposed benefits of cutting state income taxes are vastly overstated. The impact of service cuts is vastly understated. The effect is that rich people and corporations get richer. Everyone else gets poorer.”  

In another state, Georgia, income tax elimination has been debated for years, but this columnist with the Atlanta Journal Constitution is hopeful that the tax justice victory in Louisiana will lead to Georgia lawmakers reconsidering their own proposal, which eliminates the personal and corporate income tax for no good reason.

Tax plans similar to Jindal’s have hit road blocks in Nebraska and Ohio this year. Among the many reasons these plans fail, it seems, is that when people realize that they amount to unwarranted tax cuts for the rich that raise taxes for everyone else and probably bust the budget, too, common sense prevails and these ideas are defeated. 

We know that Louisianans dodged a bullet when the Governor’s plan fell apart.  And while it’s good news that a big reason was widespread concern over its fundamental unfairness, the fact is Bobby Jindal is not the only supply-sider committed to eliminating the income tax. So we savor the victory, yes, but also prepare for the next battle as similar plans are winding their ways through other state capitals.

The Indiana Senate recently passed a budget that speeds up the phase-out of the state’s inheritance tax (PDF), cuts taxes for the politically well-connected financial industry, and reduces the state’s flat personal income tax rate from 3.4 to 3.3 percent.  

The income tax cut in the plan, though a scaled-back version of a plan that Governor Pence originally proposed on the campaign trail, is similarly regressive. A new report from our partner organization, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), shows that while the Senate income tax cut is significantly smaller than the Governor’s, the two plans are equally lopsided—distributing the lion’s share of the benefits to the state’s most affluent residents.

ITEP finds that over half (55 percent) of the income tax cuts under either plan would go to the best-off 20 percent of Indiana residents. Out of this group, the top 1 percent would fare best of all—receiving an outsized 14 percent share of the benefits.  Their average tax cut would range from $694 under the Senate’s plan to $2,361 per tax filer under the Governor’s preferred approach.

Middle- and lower-income taxpayers would not fare nearly as well. The entire bottom 60 percent of households would be divvying up just 23 percent of the tax cuts enacted under either plan, while the poorest 20 percent of Indiana residents in particular would see a tiny 2 percent share.  Under the Senate plan, this group would see an average tax cut of just $6, while the $20 cut they’d see under the Governor’s proposal is only marginally more generous.

This lopsided tax cut comes on top of a state tax system that is already, according to ITEP’s ranking, the ninth most regressive in the country.

But even putting fairness considerations aside, a recent letter from House Speaker Brian Bosma referenced by ITEP points out that Indiana’s last round of tax cuts wrecked the state’s budget. Even with late news of a boost in revenue projections, Indiana lawmakers would be wise to avoid a repeat of that fiscal history for the sake of tax giveaways that serve no greater economic good.

For more detail, see ITEP’s new report: Indiana Senate’s Income Tax Cut: Just as Lopsided as the Governor’s.

On April 15, the majority of Americans file their income taxes, federal and state. As CTJ and ITEP demonstrate in their annual Who Pays Taxes in America, state tax systems are overwhelmingly regressive and the federal system just barely makes up for that. Today we highlight some great, creative efforts in a few states promoting the importance of state tax fairness.

Michigan: The Michigan League for Public Policy organized a social media campaign and video called “Pay it Forward Michigan.” The League explains that “its aim is to remind us about the good things our tax dollars create or protect — clean water, parks, good schools, safe streets, good roads, protection for children, great universities, the arts, bike paths, pristine beaches and more.”

North Carolina: Russell the Public Investment Hound was back and starring in a new film, The Great Tax Shift.  Also, check out this tax day Fair Fight Luchadora (Mexican wrestling) showdown that was staged across the street from the North Carolina General Assembly building. From the press advisory: “Tax Day is a reminder that wealthy and powerful special interests aren’t made to pay their fair share because too few lawmakers in Raleigh and in D.C. care about being champions of the People who elected them. This year, working people will get to settle the score!” Spoiler alert: the people’s champ won!

Ohio: Amy Hanauer of Policy Matters Ohio writes in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer about why income tax cuts won’t help the state’s economy, and highlights research from ITEP to make her case.  She also shares a personal experience with a fire in the basement of her home just days before Tax Day in 2001. “The firefighters arrived in minutes and put out the still-tiny fire … and I suddenly had a more vivid picture of what my un-mailed taxes would pay for. Twelve years later, I can thank countless teachers, crossing guards, snowplow drivers, police officers, water inspectors and others for helping keep my kids educated, protected, safe and happy in our community.”

Wisconsin: Ever wonder what Wisconsin income taxes help fund? Read all about it here and check out the gorgeous infographic showing how tax revenues are an economic investment.

Photo courtesy of FairFight North Carolina.

Citizens for Tax Justice has been publishing studies of what major U.S. corporations pay in federal income taxes for years. Not just the effective tax rate, but also what they actually pay in federal (and state) taxes on their profits each year. From time to time, however, we hear the critique that there is no way to figure out what corporations actually pay in federal income taxes, based on corporate 10-K annual reports that we use.
a
Most recently, in the Washington Post of April 12, 2013, Allan Sloan levels this mistaken charge. According to Sloan:

 “There are more than a dozen tax metrics disclosed in a 10-K — but not the federal income tax incurred for a given year. . . . The stories you read about disgracefully low corporate taxes are based on the “current portion” of taxes due, disclosed in 10-K footnotes. Many people —­ including me, years ago, before I learned better — use that number as a proxy for the federal income tax that a company pays. But that’s a mistake. . . . The current-portion number . . . has no connection whatsoever with what a company actually forks over to the IRS for a given year.”

As we pointed out in our November 2011 study, Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers 2008-10, the “current” federal income taxes that corporations disclose in their annual reports, adjusted for stock-option tax benefits that are reported separately, are the best (and only) measure of what corporations really pay (or don’t pay) in federal income taxes.

To read our full explanation of why this is true, click here.

We wholeheartedly endorse the call, made by Sloan and others, for more transparent disclosure of tax information in corporate annual reports. But the disclosure we already get, if one knows how to understand it, is quite fine. The journalists, lawmakers, policy advocates and the general public who rely on our research can be confident in our findings about corporate taxes.

EVENT ADVISORY/PHOTO-OP FOR APRIL 15, 2013

BILLBOARD TRUCK IN WASHINGTON, DC ASKS, DO YOU PAY MORE TAXES THAN MAJOR CORPORATIONS?

 Citizens for Tax Justice Mobile Billboard to Visit Dupont, K Street, Capitol Building and National Capitol Post Office over Eight Hour Day

 Washington, DC – “Do you pay more Federal Income Taxes than Facebook, Southwest Airlines, GE, Pepco and other Giant Corporations? Yes You Do!” These words are splashed across a red, white and blue, ten by twenty foot rolling billboard that will be seen by thousands of tourists, food truck customers, pedestrians and commuters on Monday April 15th, courtesy of Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ). CTJ’s April 11 report, “Ten Reasons We Need Corporate Tax Reform,” supports the billboard’s text that will be circulating around DC between 11 AM and 7 PM on Tax Day.

The billboard route maximizes visibility for passersby and access for news cameras, in particular at its final stop affording a visual of taxpayers visiting the Post Office. The route and schedule is divided into four parts, all times Eastern, primarily in NW DC. Some stops scheduled, others by request.

11 AM – Noon: Circling Dupont Circle and pulling off the Circle onto 19th St. NW (in front of Dupont Metro, Krispy Kreme, Front Page bar) at 11:30 for cameras and as needed.

Noon – 2 PM: Lunch at K Street Parks – Farragut Sq, McPherson Sq, Franklin Park. Route is rectangle of K Street NW to 13th Street to I (Eye) Street to 17th Street. Stops at I (Eye) near 15th/Vermont at 1:00 and 1:30 PM and as needed.

2 – 3 PM: US Capitol Building Loop – 3rd St NW/SW to Independence Avenue to 2nd St SE/NE to Constitution Ave. No stops scheduled but as needed will be on 3rd Street NW between Madison/Jefferson Streets.

3:30 – 7 PM: National Capitol Post Office, 2 Mass Ave, NE at North Capitol Street. Billboard will park kitty corner from Post Office entrance (doors on North Capitol), adjacent to Sun Trust Bank, in sight of Dubliner bar (F Street). Depending on parking, truck’s 5-minute loop passes busy tourist sites as it runs up North Capital, onto Louisiana Ave NE onto New Jersey Ave NW and back on Mass Ave NW for media availability.

###

Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), founded in 1979, is a 501 (c)(4) public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on federal, state and local tax policies and their impact upon our nation (www.ctj.org).

Idaho Senate leadership took a difficult stand on a high-profile issue in favor of good tax policy by refusing to give the Girl Scouts a special tax break on their famous cookies. Their counterparts in the Idaho House, however, weren’t nearly as principled, bowing to the pressure of some of the nation’s youngest tax policy lobbyists and voting 59-11 in favor of the special break. The Girl Scouts plan to return to the statehouse next year in hopes of convincing the Senate to support the new tax subsidy, which is like any other (PDF) subsidy.

Nevada lawmakers are debating whether they should join Maryland and Wyoming as the third state to raise its gasoline tax this year.  The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) provides some important context with a new chart showing that even if the state’s gas tax were raised by 20 cents over the next 10 years (as the Senate is considering), the rate would still be below its historical average in value.

Texas business owners are pushing state lawmakers to repeal the state’s largest business tax, trotting out familiar arguments about the economic benefits of tax cuts. Fortunately, as the Austin American Statesman reports, “a $1.2 billion annual price tag … appears to have doomed the effort.”

Massachusetts House lawmakers set up a showdown with Governor Patrick over transportation funding in the Bay State with the passage of their less ambitious revenue package this week. Governor Patrick’s budget includes almost $2 billion in new revenues to boost transportation and education spending raised primarily through increasing the personal income tax. The Governor’s plan also includes a sharp reduction in the state’s sales tax. The House package, by contrast, raises just over $500 million through increases in fuel and cigarette taxes as well as a few business tax changes. Governor Patrick threatened to veto any tax package from the House or Senate that does not raise significant revenue for both transportation projects and education.

(Photo courtesy Bitterroot Star)

In a speech to the Louisiana Legislature yesterday, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he would “park” his tax plan. There is no doubt this is a huge blow to supply-side advocates and Arthur Laffer enthusiasts who tout false claims that tax cuts will ultimately pay for themselves and increase economic development.

The Governor’s controversial plan would have repealed the state’s personal and corporate income and franchise taxes and then paid for these tax cuts by increasing the sales tax. The sales tax changes included increasing the state tax rate from 4 percent to 6.25 percent, and expanding the base of the tax to include a wide variety of previously untaxed services and goods. ITEP found that the Governor’s plan would have raised taxes on the bottom 60 percent of Louisianans, as tax swaps tend to do.

The Governor’s plan met enormous resistance “in recent weeks as business groups and advocates for the poor have assailed its effects and think tanks have questioned whether the math in the proposal adds up.” Now the Governor is backing away from his proposal and urging the legislature to send him its own bill – one that would also eliminate the personal income tax – leaving “tax reform” up to the state legislature.

The key fact to bear in mind for Louisiana is that aside from raising the sales tax, there is really no way for the state to replace nearly $3 billion in revenue that will be lost if the income tax is eliminated. Lawmakers would do better to stay away from supply-side theories and instead close corporate tax loopholes, reverse the regressivity of the state’s tax structure and invest in public infrastructure because that is what real reform looks like.

Earlier this year, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback proposed another round of personal income tax cuts (on top of those he signed into law last year that are creating a massive hole in the state’s budget). Read ITEP’s analysis of that proposal here.  Now the Kansas House and Senate have each responded with their own tax cut plans, and are expected to reconcile their differences soon.

To date, much attention has been given to the major difference between the House and Senate plans — the Senate bill includes permanently preserving a temporary sales tax rate hike while the House plan would allow the hike to expire. What the two plans have in common, however, is what should be of paramount concern to all Kansans because both plans eventually lead to the elimination of the state’s personal income tax – which would grow the hole in the state’s coffers by another $2.2 billion.  

Policymakers have not proposed a way to pay for this tax cut. Instead they are making an explicit assumption that income tax repeal will at least partially “pay for itself.” Kansas’ balanced-budget requirement means that the state will be forced to offset at least some portion of the revenue loss from income tax repeal, and it’s a sure bet that further increases in the state sales tax will be the primary remaining revenue-raising mechanism lawmakers would look to.

ITEP’s latest analysis runs some scenarios that show the impact on Kansas taxpayers of using a sales tax increase to replace various percentages of the revenue currently raised through the personal income tax.  For example, if 50 percent of the revenues were made up with sales tax hikes, the poorest 40 percent of Kansans would see a net tax increase from this change and the state sales tax rate would have to be raised from 6.3 to 9.11 percent, pushing the statewide average state/local rate up to 10.86 percent.

Read ITEP’s full report here.

Kansas is one of several states contemplating a “tax swap” of some sort, but no state can meet its fiscal needs fairly and sustainably without an income tax — especially in the absence of extraordinary natural resources (like Alaska’s oil), for example, or out-of-state consumer dollars to tax (like Nevada’s tourism).