August 15, 2013 12:07 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | In its latest attack on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the Wall Street Journal describes in ominous tones the “record” number of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship in the last quarter, supposedly driven by FATCA’s reporting […]
August 14, 2013 12:05 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | Some of the country’s most influential state tax-writers heard this week from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), about why they should reject the conventional wisdom about special business tax breaks being economy-boosters. Best known for its […]
August 13, 2013 02:32 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | Last week, the Texas Legislature voted on a transportation funding bill that would raise an estimated $1.2 billion annually to help pay for highway improvements. Technically, it doesn’t raise new revenues but rather diverts half of oil and gas […]
August 8, 2013 02:33 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | A recent court ruling allowing the use of the “manufacturing” tax deduction by a company that places candy bars and bottled wine in gift baskets illustrates a truth that politicians hate to admit: The tax code is a lousy tool for […]
August 8, 2013 02:17 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | There is a strong consensus among scholars, think tanks and advocates around the country that there are concrete benefits to providing earned income tax credits (EITCs) – refundable credits (PDF) designed to offset income tax liability for low-income families and individuals. […]
August 6, 2013 12:47 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Supply-side economist Arthur Laffer has been very busy the last few years trying to convince state lawmakers that cutting taxes and making them more regressive will lead to an economic boom. At the same time, our partner organization, the Institute on […]
August 5, 2013 11:40 AM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | If you’re looking for some summer reading, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is in the process of updating its collection of policy briefs. In the last couple weeks, ITEP has released updated briefs on sales tax […]
August 1, 2013 12:56 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | 18 states across the country are gearing up for their 2013 Sales Tax Holiday season, but these tax-free shopping sprees are also increasingly under fire. Designed to offer a temporary sales tax exemption for specific consumer items, these holidays typically last […]
August 1, 2013 12:37 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Republican Congressman Dave Camp of Michigan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, reportedly told members of his committee on Wednesday that he would propose a tax reform based on the framework spelled out in the House budget resolution – […]
July 31, 2013 06:02 PM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | A number of important changes to the District of Columbia’s tax laws will go in effect in the months ahead as part of a budget passed by the DC Council earlier this summer. A detailed budget toolkit assembled by the […]
July 31, 2013 01:01 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | If lawmakers and the media are confused about the President’s recent proposal to enact a business tax reform tied to a jobs program, it’s because the White House has not explained it very well. The President’s plan has been depicted by […]
July 30, 2013 04:29 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Here’s a look at some of the best and worst ideas that Senators submitted as part of the “blank slate” tax reform process proposed by Senators Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch, the chairman and ranking member of the tax-writing committee in […]
July 30, 2013 04:15 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Obama’s Plan Wisely Makes Job Creation the Priority, But Unwisely Lets Corporations Off the Hook President Obama has once again proposed to reform business taxes without raising any revenue in the long-term. He has shifted his position slightly, however, by proposing […]
July 25, 2013 03:34 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Did you know that “Nike Waffle” isn’t just a shoe? It’s also a tax shelter. Nike, like companies such as Apple, Dell and Microsoft, has a huge stash of offshore profits that it hasn’t paid U.S. taxes on. We also […]
July 25, 2013 03:28 PM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | Lawmakers are often criticized for not taking a long-term perspective on important issues. But when it comes to the gas tax, elected officials in four states this year (Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Virginia), as well as the District of Columbia, […]
July 24, 2013 02:43 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | On July 19, CTJ’s Steve Wamhoff made a presentation to members of the Alliance for a Just Society on the details of corporate tax reform. Because several of the audience members were small business owners, the presentation partly focused on the […]
July 24, 2013 01:09 PM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | Last year, Texas lawmakers refused to use the state’s emergency “rainy day” fund to save education from deep spending cuts. But now that the state’s transportation system is facing the budget axe, those same lawmakers appear to have changed their […]
July 23, 2013 10:58 AM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | Not even a month after cutting personal income taxes and raising the state’s sales tax, Ohio Governor John Kasich is pledging to further lower the state’s top income tax rate to below 5 percent (the top rate was 5.925% […]
July 23, 2013 09:43 AM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Congress Should End the Most Regressive Ones, Maintain the Progressive Ones, and Reform the Rest to Be More Progressive and Better Achieve Policy Goals A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice explains how Senators responding to the “blank slate” approach […]
July 22, 2013 12:21 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | In response to public outcry in several nations that multinational corporations are using tax havens to effectively avoid paying taxes in the countries where they do business, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released an “Action Plan on […]
July 17, 2013 06:30 PM By Carl Davis, Research Director at ITEP | Permalink | Rhode Island is about to put seventeen of its “economic development” tax breaks under the microscope, thanks to a new law (PDF) signed by Governor Chafee last week. This reform is a welcome step forward in a national landscape where […]
July 17, 2013 06:02 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | In a July 16 letter, 30 national organizations asked members of Congress to reject a proposal by Congressman John Delaney of Maryland because it rewards the most aggressive corporate tax dodgers with tax breaks and even gives them control of a […]
July 17, 2013 05:49 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | Months after the complete failure of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s efforts to radically reform his state’s tax code, Nebraska’s Tax Modernization Committee had its first meeting. Why a committee? Because rather than following their governor into a massive, regressive overhaul of […]
July 17, 2013 03:49 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper recently announced his support for converting the state’s flat rate income tax into a more progressive, graduated tax with a top rate of 5.9 percent. This reform would raise $950 million per year for public […]
July 17, 2013 11:15 AM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Some House Republicans are hitting the IRS when it’s down, using recent scandals (such as they are, anyway) to push through a dramatic 25 percent cut to the IRS budget. Such a devastating cut would not only substantially increase […]