ITEP

Excessive CEO Pay Makes Inequality Worse. Shareholders and the Public Deserve to Know About Compensation Disparities Huge executive pay packages are a prime driver of income inequality. Shareholds and the public deserve to know about how CEOs are compensated, but new SEC leadership might think otherwise.

Huge executive pay packages are a prime driver of income inequality.

Shareholders and the public deserve to know about how CEOs are compensated, but new SEC leadership seems to think otherwise.

itep.org/excessive-ce...

Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform Sales tax holidays are often marketed as relief for everyday families, but they do little to address the deeper inequities of regressive sales taxes. In 2025, 18 states offer these holidays at a colle...

Several states have sales tax holidays this weekend.

They look like relief for low- and middle-income families, but they're poorly targeted, easy to exploit, and offer little lasting benefit.

IRS Chief Says Direct File Is ‘Gone,’ Other Audit Tech Is Coming The Biden-era IRS free filing tool, Direct File, is “gone,” IRS Commissioner Billy Long said.

Direct File saved users an average of $160 in filing fees and made it easier for families to claim tax credits like the EITC and CTC.

Despite strong results from its pilot year, the IRS says it's "gone."

Which States Expanded Refundable Credits in 2025? Refundable tax credits were a big part of state tax policy conversations this year. In 2025, nine states improved or created Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits.

Good tax policy means supporting the families who need it most.

This year, 9 states boosted their Child Tax Credits or EITCs, continuing the momentum we’ve seen around these credits in recent years.

US Companies, Consumers Are Paying for Trump's Tariffs, Not Foreign Firms Who’s paying for Donald Trump’s tariffs? So far, American businesses and consumers.

Tariffs are driving up costs for working families.

They function like a consumption tax, with middle- and lower-income households paying more as a share of their income.

Americans Want to Know Which Corporations Aren’t Paying Taxes, but House Republicans Want to Keep this Information Secret The Republican Party’s war on information may have a new casualty: corporate income tax disclosure. The appropriations plan released by…

The Financial Accounting Standards Board now requires corporations to disclose detailed info about their U.S. & foreign taxes.

Most Americans support this, but House Republicans don't.

They want to withhold funding for this oversight board because of this new requirement. itep.org/corporate-ta...

Will Trump Eliminate Capital Gains Taxes For Home Sales? Here’s What To Know Trump has said a bill eliminating the capital gains tax for home sales would be a “very big positive.”

Single filers can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains on home sales, and that amount is doubled for married filers.

Eliminating the federal capital gains tax on home sales would be another move that primarily benefits wealthier Americans. www.forbes.com/sites/tylerr...

GOP megabill’s final score: $3.4T in red ink and 10 million kicked off health insurance, CBO says The package President Donald Trump signed on July 4 would grow the deficit over the next 10 years, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper predicts.

CBO says Trump's megabill will add $3.4 trillion to the deficit while stripping health care from 10 million people.

And for what? Massive tax cuts that will mostly flow to the richest Americans and foreign investors.

States to Lose $1.3 Billion From Sales Tax Holidays, Report Says Sales tax holidays in 18 states will reduce their revenue by a collective $1.3 billion in 2025, according to a recent study.

Sales tax holidays don’t fix regressive tax codes, they just offer a short break that anyone can benefit from – especially rich people.

Low- and middle-income families deserve real relief, not gimmicks.

The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.

When the IRS uses tax data to target immigrants, it makes many taxpaying undocumented immigrants fearful and suspicious of the tax collection agency. That reduces public revenues.

Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. State legislators and local governments should prioritize the residents who can least afford their property taxes...

Property tax limits (like CA’s Prop 13)
🏡don’t make housing less expensive
😱sometimes make new housing MORE expensive
💲tend to favor wealthier ppl and harm less wealthy ppl
🔨take a hammer to local services

How Much Would Every Family in Every State Get if the Megabill’s Tax Cuts Given to the Rich Had Instead Been Evenly Divided? If instead of giving $117 billion to the richest 1 percent, that money had been evenly divided among all Americans, we'd each get $343 - or nearly $1,400 for a family of four.

The megabill gives $117 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% in 2026.

If that money had been evenly divided among all Americans, every person would get $343 – or nearly $1,400 for a family of four.

Here’s what each state would receive:
itep.org/map-family-s...

Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform Sales tax holidays are often marketed as relief for everyday families, but they do little to address the deeper inequities of regressive sales taxes. In 2025, 18 states offer these holidays at a colle...

18 states currently offer a "sales tax holiday," a brief tax break on select items like firearms or school supplies.

Costing nearly $1.3 billion in lost revenue, these tax breaks do little to address the bigger problems with regressive sales taxes.
itep.org/sales-tax-ho...

Two in Three Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes As inflation and fuel efficiency undercut traditional gas tax revenue, many states are rethinking how they fund transportation. Lawmakers across the country are beginning to modernize outdated gas tax...

Gas taxes are used in every state to help fund transportation infrastructure.

But a traditional fixed rate loses value due to inflation and fuel efficiency.

That's why more states are modernizing this tax to keep pace with rising infrastructure costs.
itep.org/state-gas-ta...

10 Crazy Comparisons Showing How Much Trump and Congress Just Cut Taxes for the Rich $117 billion is a big number, so we thought it could use a little context.

The megabill gives $117 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% in 2026.

That amount is more than the cost of:
- Every MLB team
- Tuition, room and board for every college senior
- Every wedding in the U.S for an entire year
itep.org/10-crazy-com...

June Budget Report Doesn’t Erase Our Nation’s Fiscal Challenges Nobody should be too excited and think this means our country is headed toward lower deficits - especially when the administration recently signed one of the most expensive budget reconciliation bills...

The White House is touting last month’s Treasury statement showing a budget surplus as a fiscal victory.

Are we on track to closing the budget gap?

The short answer: not even close.
itep.org/june-budget-...

Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. State legislators and local governments should prioritize the residents who can least afford their property taxes...

50 years of property tax limits have done nothing to reduce the cost of housing.

Instead, they’ve favored wealthier homeowners and businesses over average Americans while reducing funds for local services.

There are better solutions available.
itep.org/effects-of-p...

Would Mamdani's 'millionaire tax' chase the rich out of New York City? Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is a leading candidate for mayor of New York. He wants to tax the rich. Business interests are panicking.

“They’ve been claiming this for a long time, and there’s just very scant evidence to support it."

Our Local Policy Director Kamolika Das debunks the millionaire tax flight myth as more New Yorkers want to tax their rich.
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Federal Tax Debate 2025 Want to know more about the tax and spending megabill that President Trump recently signed into law? We've got you covered.

itep.org/federal-tax-...

Trump’s tariffs could offset most of the megabill’s tax cuts for the bottom 80% of Americans.

For the bottom 40% of Americans, the tariffs would be greater than the tax cuts.

Higher prices will impact low- to middle-income households more than the wealthy.

Conservatives are asking Trump for another big tax cut Fresh off passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” some anti-tax advocates hope to push the administration to change how taxable capital gains are calculated.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

GOP Megabill Breaks America’s Promise to Future Generations This country’s biggest historical challenge has been delivering this progress to all Americans, but Republicans have cut it back for everyone, retreating from many 20th century achievements in ways th...

Tax and social policies in the 20th century helped open doors for many working Americans, our director @amyhanauer.bsky.social explains.

But with their megabill, Republicans have retreated from many achievements in ways that will slam doors for the next generation.
itep.org/gop-megabill...

There Were Far Cheaper and Fairer Options Than the Trump Megabill President Trump this weekend signed into law a massive tax and spending megabill that will reduce revenue by around $570…

President Trump's megabill will reduce revenue by around $570 billion in 2026 and mainly help the rich.

But Congress and Trump could have spent less than half that on a tax bill that does far more for working- and middle-class households.
itep.org/there-were-f...

Here’s who will — and won’t — qualify for the new car loan interest deduction | CNN Business President Donald Trump’s mega tax-and-spending cuts bill, signed into law last week, contains plenty of new tax provisions, the contours of which Americans are still digesting.

The car loan interest deduction in Trump's tax bill? A mirage.

For most buyers, it won't even offset a small price increase from his own tariffs.
edition.cnn.com/2025/07/09/b...

Trump’s tax law includes a $40,000 SALT cap. Here’s who qualifies. The changes were secured by congressional Republicans who represent high-tax states.

“SALT cap or no SALT cap, the mega bill overall is a bonanza for the rich in every state."

Even with the SALT cap, the wealthy still receive the biggest tax cuts from this bill, as our Steve Wamhoff explains.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Federal Tax Debate 2025 Want to know more about the tax and spending megabill that President Trump recently signed into law? We've got you covered.

Who benefits from the tax cuts in Trump's megabill?

More than 70% of these tax cuts will go to the richest 20% of Americans.

The richest 1% will receive a total of $117 billion in tax cuts in 2026 alone.

See our national and state estimates here:
itep.org/federal-tax-...

Congress Passes a National School Voucher Program

Trump signed into law an unprecedented 100% tax credit on donations to private school vouchers.

Here's what Congress ultimately settled on:
- Permanent
- No budget cap
- States must opt in

It remains triple the value of donating to any other charity.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/u...

Congress has passed Trump's megabill. It will provide enormous tax cuts to the wealthiest people in this country while taking away health care and food assistance from millions of families.

This bill will only widen the already-huge chasm between the rich and the rest of America.

Top 1% to Receive $1 Trillion Tax Cut from Trump Megabill Over the Next Decade The Trump megabill will give the top 1 percent tax cuts totaling $1.02 trillion over the next decade. For comparison, the bill’s cuts to the Medicaid health care program will total $930 billion over t...

itep.org/top-1-to-rec...

The centerpiece of Trump's megabill is a trillion-dollar tax cut to the wealthy, paid for by increasing the national debt and cutting public services.