June 30, 2011 11:20 AM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Last Friday night (6/24/11), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the state’s first ever property tax cap, one of the biggest legislative priorities of his administration. As Citizens for Tax Justice noted even before its final passage, […]
June 29, 2011 11:51 AM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | With just a few days left before the end of the fiscal year, Democratic lawmakers who control the legislature released an alternative to Governor Christie’s budget that the good people over at New Jersey Policy Perspective call a “this is what […]
June 29, 2011 10:26 AM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released new data showing that the number of individuals paying zero US income taxes on an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $200,000 or more almost doubled between 2007 and 2008. In 2008, the […]
June 24, 2011 04:43 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | On June 15, 2011, think tank Third Way held the event “The Next Stimulus? Bringing Corporate Tax Dollars Home to Work in America” supporting a tax repatriation holiday. When the panel was opened up for questions, they faced tough […]
June 23, 2011 02:58 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Expert to North Carolina: Don’t Cap the Gas Tax Statement from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) June 23, 2011 Washington, DC – With the state’s gas tax pegged to the price of gasoline, North Carolina is scheduled to […]
June 22, 2011 03:33 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Senator Schumer Supported, then Opposed, and Now Supports, Amnesty for Corporate Tax Dodgers In 2004, Senator Charles (Chuck) Schumer of New York voted in favor of the so-called American Jobs Creation Act, a bill full of so many tax breaks for […]
June 22, 2011 03:31 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | Last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved H.J.Res 1, the newest incarnation of the potentially disastrous balanced-budget amendment. As passed out of committee, the balanced-budget amendment is more extreme than versions proposed in the past, as it would not […]
June 22, 2011 03:29 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | The U.S. Senate voted last Thursday to repeal a tax break for the ethanol industry that cost $5.4 billion last year. Some observers interpret the vote as an indication that the grip of anti-tax ideologue Grover Norquist over Congress […]
June 22, 2011 03:19 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | The latest idea from Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) is to protect the ability of tax professionals who have thought up creative tax avoidance schemes to get as much profit from these schemes as they possibly can. Rep. Polis first made a […]
June 22, 2011 03:04 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | If a multistate corporation doing business in North Carolina shows signs of shifting income around to avoid paying state taxes, the state’s Department of Revenue has authority to require additional information to be sure the company’s not simply offshoring its […]
June 22, 2011 03:03 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | Maine Governor Paul LePage signed a $6.1 billion two-yearbudget into law this week. The budget includes reductions to the state’s personal income and estate taxes in addition to other tax changes that will cost the state $153 million in FY12-13 […]
June 22, 2011 03:02 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | The DC City Council passed a budget last week that includes a variety of smart tax policy changes. Among them are a reform designed to limit tax avoidance by multi-state corporations, and a provision curtailing some of the generous tax breaks […]
June 22, 2011 03:01 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Last year, Rhode Island’s lawmakers very wisely chose to close a large number of loopholes in the state’s Swiss cheese tax code. Now Ocean State lawmakers have an opportunity to shore up that newly reformed code against the inevitable flood of […]
June 22, 2011 03:00 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | In signing a new two-year budget, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker fattened corporate welfare programs while making cuts to just about every public service the working poor depend on, including healthcare, child care, higher education and transportation. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy […]
June 17, 2011 11:51 AM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | With the Iowa Caucuses almost 8 months away, the Republican primary was in full swing on Monday night as 7 of the Republican contenders battled it out during a debate on CNN. Tax policy took center stage as every single one […]
June 16, 2011 05:08 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | How much is enough? On top of the close to $500 million in corporate tax breaks Illinois doles out each year, Governor Pat Quinn now finds himself confronted by a growing crowd of CEO’s demanding even more. In the wake of […]
June 8, 2011 03:09 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Plan Would Cut Personal Income Taxes by at Least 41 Percent for Millionaires Generally Former Minnesota governor and presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty has released his proposed tax plan, including very specific rate cuts and exemptions for investment income, and vague promises […]
June 8, 2011 03:08 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | CTJ and others have noted that the cost of the Bush tax cuts from 2001 through 2010 was about two and a half trillion dollars. The recent “compromise” that extended them for another two years, through the end of 2012, cost […]
June 8, 2011 03:05 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | The Mercatus Center, a think tank run by “America’s Hottest Economist,” has attempted to quantify the level of “freedom” enjoyed within each state. If this sounds impossible, that’s because it is. A quick look at the “taxes” component of each state’s […]
June 8, 2011 03:02 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Sales tax laws would be essentially meaningless if retailers were not required to collect the tax every time a purchase is made. The opportunities for customers to evade the sales tax (either on accident, or on purpose) would be overwhelming. Every […]
June 8, 2011 03:00 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | When Florida governor Rick Scott took office, he set out to dramatically slash both taxes and public services. While his most radical proposals were very wisely rejected by the state’s slightly more reasonable legislature, he has unfortunately been partially successful in […]
June 8, 2011 02:59 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | Last weekend, North Carolina’s General Assembly gave final approval to a state spending plan for next year that significantly cuts spending, allows temporary taxes to expire, and offers small businesses a new tax break. The budget now sits on Governor […]
June 8, 2011 02:57 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | Bucking his repeated “no new taxes” pledge, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval worked with Republicans and Democrats alike in Nevada to pass a $6.2 billion budget deal, including the extension of $620 million in temporary tax hikes. Sandoval is part of […]
June 6, 2011 12:40 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | On Saturday, the organization U.S. Uncut demonstrated at Apple Stores in several cities in protest against the company’s lobbying for an amnesty for offshore tax dodging by corporations, also known as a “repatriation holiday.” This video shows what happened in the […]
June 3, 2011 12:50 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Will Nearly Double Budget Deficit if Continued, Mostly Benefit the Rich State-by-State Fact Sheets Ten years ago, on June 7, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the first of several tax cuts that drove the balanced budget he inherited […]