Tax Justice Blog Archives

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Congress Searches the Couch Cushions for Road Funding Money

November 20, 2015 10:21 AM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | For years, the nation’s transportation funding account has lurched from crisis to crisis.  Revenues have consistently failed to keep pace with the cost of infrastructure maintenance and construction.  And the root cause of these very serious problems is crystal clear: […]

Ted Cruz's Tax Plan Would Cost $16.2 Trillion over 10 Years--Or Maybe Altogether Eliminate Tax Collection

November 12, 2015 03:38 PM By Bob McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | Update March 9th, 2016: We have since revised downward our analysis from $16.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion, to reflect that Ted Cruz’s staff has informed the media that the actual VAT rate will be 18.56 percent, rather than […]

Candidates' Tax Cuts Unequivocally Skew Toward the Wealthy

November 10, 2015 04:46 PM By Jenice Robinson, Communications Director | Permalink | As Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) outlined in a post last week, most major Republican presidential candidates have released tax proposals that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and balloon the national debt. No one can refute this, but candidates and anti-tax, trickle-down […]

New Law Endangers Michigan's Fiscal Future

November 10, 2015 03:45 PM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | Earlier today, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a package of tax changes that will eventually fund improvements to the state’s transportation infrastructure, but it comes with cuts to other services and a weakened long-term fiscal position.  When most of the law’s […]

How to Curtail Offshore Tax Avoidance

November 9, 2015 12:10 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | In a time of fiscal austerity, it is breathtaking to learn that Congress has allowed Fortune 500 companies to avoid an estimated $620 billion in federal taxes on earnings they are holding offshore. While the inaction by lawmakers on […]

State Rundown 11/6: Election Day Wrap Up

November 6, 2015 11:23 AM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Voters went to the polls in a number of state and local elections this week, with lots of implications for tax policy. This rundown covers the burning ballot outcomes and election results that followers of state policy should know […]

Tax Justice Digest: Presidential Crazy Talk - Corporate Tax Watch - Many Secrets

November 5, 2015 12:27 PM By Kelly Davis, Assistant Director of Communications | Permalink | Read the Tax Justice Digest for recent reports, posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. For frequent updates find us on Twitter (CTJ/ITEP), Facebook (CTJ/ITEP), and at the Tax Justice blog. Tax Cut […]

Tax Cut Crazy Talk

November 4, 2015 03:46 PM By Jenice Robinson, Communications Director | Permalink | Sometimes when presented with fantastical information, the only appropriate response is a heavy sigh and a plea to stop. Please. Just. Stop.  Such has been the case time after time this year as presidential candidates have released tax reform proposals that promise […]

Marco Rubio's Tax Plan Would Pile $11.8 Trillion on the National Debt

November 4, 2015 09:19 AM By Bob McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | A Citizens for Tax Justice’s analysis of Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio’s tax proposal found that the senator’s plan would give the biggest tax cut to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and balloon the national debt by $11.8 […]

After Failed Attempt to Become British, the Pfizer Corp. Now Wants to be Irish to Avoid U.S. Taxes

November 3, 2015 01:05 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | How do you say Viagra in Gaelic? That’s an internal question the Pfizer Corporation may have to deal with if it’s successful in its latest attempt to avoid billions of dollars in taxes by trading its U.S. citizenship for an […]

How the U.S. Became a Top Secrecy Jurisdiction

November 3, 2015 12:25 PM By José P. Martínez, Intern at Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | Sometimes, ranking near No. 1 is not a badge of pride. The U.S. ranks as the third biggest offender – just after Switzerland and Hong Kong – on the Tax Justice Network’s 2015 Financial Secrecy Index when […]

Apple Shifts a Record $50 Billion Overseas, Admits It Has Paid Miniscule to No Tax on Offshore Cash

November 2, 2015 03:18 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | For the die-hard fans who lined up to purchase Apple’s latest iPhone last month, it’s hardly news that the California-based company still lives up to its reputation for technological innovation. The world’s No. 1 smart phone manufacturer last week released […]

State Rundown 10/30: Spooky Appointments, Phantom Tax Increases

October 30, 2015 05:59 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Click Here to sign up to receive the State Rundown in your inbox. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, clearly not a regular reader of this blog, nominated Art Laffer acolyte Ford Scudder to be state treasurer. Scudder is chief operating officer […]

Paul Ryan Wants to Cut Taxes for the Rich and Make Life Harder for Low-Income People

October 29, 2015 03:10 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Anti-tax champion Grover Norquist recently said Paul Ryan is a ‘prophet” who “points the way to the Promise Land.” Coming from Norquist, that statement alone is reason enough for pause. But the newly elected Speaker of the House’s record […]

Louisiana Voters Protect State Rainy Day Fund

October 29, 2015 09:59 AM By Aidan Russell Davis, Senior Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Good news out of Louisiana this week. Voters defeated Amendment 1, one of four constitutional amendments on the Oct. 24 statewide primary ballot. The proposal would have put a $500 million dollar cap on the state’s Rainy Day Fund, […]

New CTJ Report: Guiding Principles for Tax Reform

October 27, 2015 03:22 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | With campaign season in full swing, presidential candidates of both major parties are now releasing details on their views of “tax reform.”  Not surprisingly, everyone’s for it– but that’s because the candidates have very different views on what reform should accomplish. […]

Tax Ballot Measures Ask Voters to Decide

October 26, 2015 02:53 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | The fall harvest season has brought a bumper crop of tax ballot measures in states across the nation(though sadly, no tax-themed seasonal lattes.) We’ve already covered a ballot proposal in Washington, a potential ballot proposal in North Carolina, and a 2016 […]

State Rundown 10/23: Cuts, Roads and Student Kickbacks

October 23, 2015 05:37 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Click Here to sign up to receive the State Rundown in your inbox. A coalition of Iowa student leaders is calling for a tax incentive to keep graduate and professional students in the state. Student government leaders from the University of […]

Fiscal Time Bomb Quietly Advances in Michigan

October 23, 2015 10:16 AM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | Years of debate over how to boost funding for Michigan’s roads may be nearing an end.  But somewhere along the way, that debate was hijacked in a way that few people seem to have fully noticed. Earlier this week, the […]

Hope Springs Eternal in Georgia

October 22, 2015 10:14 AM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | In recent years, Georgia has been a hotbed for regressive proposals to eliminate or lower the state’sreliance on income taxes and replace that revenue with higher sales taxes.  So far each of these proposals has been rejected, though late last […]

New ITEP Brief: A Primer on State Rainy Day Funds

October 21, 2015 12:10 PM By Aidan Russell Davis, Senior Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | With the Great Recession behind us and economic conditions slowly improving across the country, now is the time for states to assess their preparedness for future downturns. Rather than waiting for another crisis to occur, ITEP’s new policy brief explains […]

State Rundown 10/16: More Cuts, Less Funding

October 16, 2015 12:07 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Click Here to sign up to receive the State Rundown in your inbox. The Clarion-Ledger reports that transportation funding could be a “sleeper issue” in Mississippi’s upcoming election. The state has not raised its gas tax, right now at 18.4 cents […]

Although He Left out Key Details, It's Clear Kasich's Tax Plan Is a Deficit-Busting Giveaway to the Wealthy

October 15, 2015 02:54 PM By Bob McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | Presidential candidate John Kasich today released a tax proposal that is in lock step with other Republican candidates’ plans.  Most basic details are missing, but it is clear Kasich’s plan would lavish substantial tax breaks on the best-off […]

We (Don't) Need to Talk about Bobby Jindal

October 8, 2015 04:49 PM By Bob McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | Leading Republican presidential candidates including Donald Trump, Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio have all received misguided accolades at some point for so-called populist tax plans that would eliminate or reduce federal income taxes for the lowest-income […]

In Maine, Dueling Ballots

October 8, 2015 03:28 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | A new proposal from a Maine coalition could set the stage for dueling tax ballot initiatives in Maine. The Stand Up for Students proposal would create a 3 percent surcharge on households with taxable income over $200,000, generating an […]