Tax Justice Blog Archives

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State Rundown 9/14: Sales Tax Reform and Other Developments

September 14, 2016 02:17 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week we are bringing you news about potential sales tax changes (and vetoes) in California, New Jersey, and Iowa, voter disapproval of income tax elimination in Arizona, and other state tax policy developments from across the country. Thanks for reading […]

Poverty Data Demonstrate the Tax Code's Poverty-Fighting Ability

September 13, 2016 11:02 AM By Aidan Russell Davis, Senior Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | For the past five years, U.S. Census has released the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) along with the traditional statistics measuring poverty and income. The supplemental measure provides valuable insight into how government programs and the tax code impact poverty. […]

Tax Justice Digest: Tax Policy Can Mitigate Poverty and When Are Corporate Subsidies to 'Create Jobs' Too Much

September 9, 2016 03:40 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | How State Tax Policy Can Mitigate Poverty/Income Inequality The U.S. Census next week will release new data on poverty and household income. ITEP staff has produced recent policy briefs that make the connection between state tax policy and poverty. […]

How State Tax Policies Can Help Mitigate Poverty, Alleviate Growing Income Inequality

September 8, 2016 04:17 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | The U.S. Census Bureau is slated to release its annual national data on poverty this Tuesday and on Thursday will release state-specific data on poverty. While Census doesn’t leak data ahead of time, many economists are predicting that median income […]

State Rundown: A Growing Number of States Face Revenue Challenges

September 7, 2016 03:50 PM By Meg Wiehe, State Tax Policy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week we are bringing you news from a growing number of states with current and projected revenue shortfalls including Mississippi, Virginia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Tennessee.  Thanks for reading the Rundown! — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State […]

State Rundown 9/7: A Growing Number of States Face Revenue Challenges

September 7, 2016 03:50 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week we are bringing you news from a growing number of states with current and projected revenue shortfalls including Mississippi, Virginia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Tennessee.  Thanks for reading the Rundown! — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, […]

Workforce Development Programs Provide Greater ROI Than Corporate Subsidies

September 7, 2016 01:10 PM By Guest Blogger | Permalink | By Greg Leroy States and localities spend tens of billions of dollars annually in the name of creating jobs, but not all economic development deals are created equal.  Some are clearly cost-effective and others are obviously taxpayer gifts to large companies. A new report, […]

How Apple CEO Tim Cook Makes Data Crunchers Appreciate the Power of Words

September 1, 2016 11:51 AM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | As tax policy analysts, wonks and researchers, it’s not a surprise that we love data and number crunching. But we also appreciate an eloquent turn of phrase. So, after reading Apple CEO Tim Cook’s response to this week’s European Commission […]

EU Ruling on Apple's Egregious Tax Avoidance Is Welcome News, But $14.5 Billion Is Only a Fraction of the Story

August 30, 2016 12:12 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | In spite of Apple’s protestations, today’s European Commission ruling that the tech giant received billions in illegal tax breaks from the Irish government and must pay $14.5 billion in back taxes has been a long time coming. Three years ago, […]

EpiPens and Inversions: How U.S. Taxpayers Are Underwriting Mylan's Corporate Profits

August 26, 2016 04:56 PM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | “Don’t blame me, blame the system.” This is a typical refrain from corporate CEOs when they are the subject of public outcry for unsavory business practices. So it came as no surprise on Thursday when Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, under […]

Tax Justice Digest: Apple -- 2016 in State Taxes -- New Briefs!

August 25, 2016 04:28 PM By Kelly Davis, Assistant Director of Communications | Permalink | In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. In Spite of Tim […]

Why We Must Close the Pass-Through Loophole

August 24, 2016 05:16 PM By Richard Phillips, Senior Policy Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | While multinational corporations frequently avoid taxation by shifting profits to offshore tax havens, big businesses have increasingly exploited one onshore tax-avoidance trick: the pass-through loophole. By registering as S corporations and partnerships, businesses boasting revenues in the tens of […]

The Little-Known Effect of State Tax Changes: More or Less Money to the Federal Government

August 24, 2016 01:40 PM By Jenice Robinson, Communications Director | Permalink | The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) this week published a new policy brief whose conclusions may be surprising to those who don’t spend their days analyzing the intersection of state and federal tax policy. The brief, How State Tax Changes […]

State Rundown 8/24: Tax News in New Jersey, Minnesota, Illinois, California, Colorado

August 24, 2016 12:50 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week we are highlighting tax and budget news in New Jersey, Minnesota, Illinois, California and Colorado. Be sure to check out the What We’re Reading section for the latest on marijuana laws, state film tax credits, and a new […]

Tim Cook's Disingenuous Argument to Justify Apple's $215 Billion Offshore Cash Hoard

August 19, 2016 06:24 PM By Jenice Robinson, Communications Director | Permalink | Tim Cook is a persuasive CEO. In a wide-ranging interview published earlier this week in the Washington Post, he discussed his vision for the company, thoughts about leadership succession, and humbly admitted he has made mistakes. So it would be very easy […]

Apple Inc.: Poster Child for Why We Need to Close Offshore Tax Loopholes

August 18, 2016 05:36 PM By Bob McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice | Permalink | Apple Inc. is not only the world’s leading cell phone designer, it is also number one when it comes to falsely asserting that most of its profits are earned in tax havens. The company has $215 billion in […]

Surveying State Tax Policy Changes Thus Far in 2016

August 18, 2016 02:25 PM By Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Staff | Permalink | With the exception of New Jersey, the dust has now settled on most state legislatures’ 2016 tax policy debates.  Many of the conversations that took place in 2016 were quite different than those that occurred over the last few […]

State Rundown 8/17: Oregon, Louisiana, Nebraska, Alabama and California

August 17, 2016 12:05 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week we’ve got updates on tax and budget news in Oregon, Louisiana, Nebraska, Alabama and California. Be sure to check out the What We’re Reading section for links about the latest on Kansas, an editorial from the Wall Street […]

When Bad Policy Meets Worse Policy: Mississippi's Solution to Revenue Hole Seems to Be 'Keep Digging'

August 12, 2016 03:20 PM By Dylan Grundman, Senior Analyst at ITEP | Permalink | A legislative study of Mississippi’s tax code kicked off recently, with committee members giving special consideration to cutting overall taxes in the state and shifting away from the state income tax toward a “user-based system” (i.e. a heavier reliance on […]

Tax Justice Digest: Candidates and Taxes

August 11, 2016 05:31 PM By Kelly Davis, Assistant Director of Communications | Permalink |   Trump Child Care Tax Break: Good PR, But Bad Policy That Will Do Nothing for Low-Income FamiliesPresidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this week announced a child-care tax break that offers nothing to the lowest-income, most vulnerable families, despite his […]

Tax Code Simplification Not a Goal for Trump or Clinton

August 11, 2016 10:59 AM By Matt Gardner, Senior Fellow at ITEP | Permalink | Tax simplification is usually a goal that everyonecan agree on. It makes filing taxes easier for the general public, and makes it easier for tax administrators to effectively enforce tax laws. Yet as this fall’s general election campaign gears up, […]

Donald Trump's Revised Tax Plan Fails to Answer Hard Questions, Remains a Budget-Busting Giveaway to the Wealthy

August 10, 2016 05:31 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Donald Trump’s advisors have tried to spin his economic address earlier this week as yet another reboot of his campaign and of his tax reform plan. Trump’s speech, coupled with the abrupt disappearance of his original tax plan from his campaign […]

State Rundown 8/10: Avoiding a Race to the Bottom

August 10, 2016 01:59 PM By Meg Wiehe, Deputy Director at ITEP | Permalink | This week’s Rundown features a troubling multi-state trend that would help shield the country’s wealthiest taxpayers from paying state income taxes, a message from voters about the Kansas tax cut experiment, and potential special sessions in Minnesota and Alabama. Also, […]

Puerto Rico and Section 936: A Taxing Lesson from History

August 9, 2016 02:24 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | The U.S. general election kicked off this week, and that means we’re going to be hearing about a lot of tax proposals—some good, others very bad—from House, Senate, and Presidential hopefuls. While the Puerto Rican debt crisis has taken a back […]

Trump Child Care Tax Break: Good PR, But Bad Policy That Will Do Nothing for Low-Income Families

August 8, 2016 05:34 PM By Citizens for Tax Justice Staff | Permalink | Presidential candidate Donald Trump today announced a child-care tax break that offers nothing to the lowest-income, most vulnerable families, despite his claims to the contrary. During a speech today in which he revealed the plan among other economic proposals, Trump said […]