November 21, 2014 12:45 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | By Kelly Davis and Meg Wiehe Mississippi lawmakers have been talking for months about spending some of the Magnolia State’s revenue surplus next year on a tax cut, but that talk has been short on details until this week. […]
November 21, 2014 10:48 AM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Like the mythic Hydra of centuries old, the idea that people “vote with their feet” by intentionally leaving high-tax states for low-tax states is a monster that will not die. Each time the tax flight myth is shot down, […]
November 20, 2014 05:06 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | File this in the category of you can’t make this stuff up. The U.S. Treasury Department’s next high-ranking political appointee may be Antonio Weiss, a Wall Street dealmaker who helped orchestrate major corporate inversion deals. This comes just two months […]
November 20, 2014 05:03 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | The tax extenders legislation that Congress enacts every couple of years to extend dozens of tax breaks for businesses has been criticized from the right and the left as pork for special interests. Yet Congress is considering making some of […]
November 20, 2014 04:44 PM By Rebecca Wilkins, Senior Counsel, Federal Tax Policy at CTJ | Permalink | As you sip your morning latte, you should know that Starbucks has joined the list of multinational corporations whose tax-avoidance deals with European Union member states are being challenged by the European Commission, EU’s governing body. The […]
November 20, 2014 04:34 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | The already overheated battle over immigration reform is becoming more intense after President Obama yesterday announced executive action to give legal status to many undocumented residents. But will the impending debate shed any light on the important question of […]
November 17, 2014 10:59 AM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | On Wednesday, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog reported on new data from the Congressional Budget Office, explaining that “President Obama appears to have achieved at least one of his goals for the nation’s pocketbook: The very richest Americans are finally shelling […]
November 17, 2014 10:45 AM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | Congress is considering two proposals related to taxes and the internet, one that would facilitate state and local governments in exercising their tax authority, and another that would restrict it. The first, a very good idea, would allow state and […]
November 14, 2014 02:38 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | New data out of Kansas shows local property tax rates falling after an infusion of state cash for struggling school districts. After the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that cuts in state aid to schools created “unconstitutional, wealth-based disparities” between […]
November 7, 2014 12:29 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | On November 5, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed leaked documents demonstrating that Pepsi, IKEA, FedEx and 340 other multinational corporations received special deals from the government of Luxembourg allowing them to use the country as a tax haven. […]
November 6, 2014 04:10 PM By Rebecca Wilkins, Senior Counsel, Federal Tax Policy at CTJ | Permalink | A story that made few waves earlier this week due to the focus on the election reminds me of Leona Helmsley’s infamous “only the little people pay taxes” comment. If you missed it, a Bloomberg report on […]
November 6, 2014 04:09 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will lead the chamber as majority leader starting in January said Wednesday that tax reform is one priority he could pursue. But it’s unclear how the caucus he leads could possibly produce […]
November 6, 2014 03:55 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | The outcome of Tuesday’s election surely will shape the direction of state tax policy in 2015 as tax shift proposals appear to be looming in a number of states. In states with budget shortfalls, it may be difficult for […]
October 31, 2014 01:12 PM By Rebecca Wilkins, Senior Counsel, Federal Tax Policy at CTJ | Permalink | The media may be abuzz with Apple CEO Tim Cook’s essay in BusinessWeek yesterday, but they also should be paying attention to the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week. In its annual 10-K report, Apple […]
October 30, 2014 03:58 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | In addition to a number of tax proposals on the ballot this election, voters in Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia will vote on ballot initiatives that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. These measures could also have […]
October 30, 2014 03:19 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | San Francisco Giants fans, giddy from their team’s third World Series win in five years, would be forgiven for scoffing at the notion that their team’s reputation will be worth nothing in 15 years. Yet an obscure federal tax law […]
October 30, 2014 02:45 PM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | NPR has the latest on Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s implosion, noting that since his tax cuts were enacted neighboring states have seen more robust job growth, and that revenue shortfalls have been double what state officials originally projected. Politico’s […]
October 30, 2014 02:27 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Earlier this week the Tax Foundation released its “2015 State Business Tax Climate Index,” the latest in its annual series purporting to provide a single overall ranking of business tax structures in each of the 50 states. States scoring the […]
October 29, 2014 05:22 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s recent Bloomberg op-ed about corporate taxes reads like a catalogue of Chamber of Commerce talking points. He uses one misleading and inaccurate statement after another to argue that corporations will flee the United States unless we […]
October 27, 2014 03:17 PM By Steve Wamhoff, Legislative Director at CTJ | Permalink | On October 21, fourteen Senators, including nine Republicans and five Democrats, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew pleading to save a business tax break known as last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting, which both President Obama and Republican House Ways […]
October 23, 2014 04:05 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | There are two types of tax legislation Congress may enact after it returns to Washington for its lame duck session in November: bad policy and extremely bad policy. The Least Bad Scenario Let’s start with the least terrible scenario, which would […]
October 23, 2014 03:47 PM By Kelly Davis, Assistant Director of Communications | Permalink | For years we’ve been telling you about the various tax cuts that have been signed into law by Ohio governors. Governor Bob Taft (who was elected in 1999) pushed through (among other tax changes) a 21 percent across the board income tax […]
October 23, 2014 10:02 AM By Sebastian Johnson, State Policy Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Kentucky is the land of bourbon, horse racing, and – now – dubious tax cuts. Last week, The Courier-Journal reported that Ark Encounter, LLC, a company planning to build a facsimile of Noah’s Ark to biblical specifications as the […]
October 22, 2014 11:49 AM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Looking for a good scare this Halloween? Right-wing film producer John Sullivan will have you hiding under your covers with his portrayal of jack-booted IRS thugs going door to door looking for any Christian, veteran or true freedom-loving American […]
October 16, 2014 12:31 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | The Irish government’s announced plans to phase out the infamous “Double Irish” loophole represents a significant victory for tax justice advocates worldwide who have sought to end this practice, but also leaves an opening for corporations to find new […]