ITEP Statement & Resources: Tax Fairness and The State of the Union

President Biden’s State of the Union address and a new White House fact sheet touched on a wide range of tax policy issues. See below for a statement on the President’s tax agenda and useful resources about many of the White House proposals.

STATEMENT FROM ITEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AMY HANAUER

“When it comes to tax fairness, President Biden has a clear and compelling vision. Make large, profitable corporations and the wealthy pay their share, reduce taxes on low-income and working families with robust refundable tax credits, and use the trillions of dollars in new resources to create the kind of America we all want to see. As the President’s tax agenda makes clear, we can strengthen this country’s communities, care for all our people, and restore balance to our tax system. Our lawmakers just need to find the will to do it.”

RESOURCES

New blog: Tax Proposals President Biden Is Expected to Discuss in the State of the Union

Reforming the corporate tax

The President is proposing several important corporate tax reforms, including raising the rate to 28%, instilling a corporate minimum tax of 21% for billion-dollar corporations, reining in corporate tax avoidance, and increasing the stock buyback tax.

ITEP’s recent report found that many profitable American corporations are paying much less than the 21% corporate tax rate due to loopholes. The 342 companies included in our study paid an average effective income tax rate of just 14.1% from 2018-2022, almost a third less than the statutory rate. That translates to $275 billion in tax subsidies for these companies.

Other important corporate tax resources:

• Higher Stock Buyback Tax Would Raise Billions by Tightening Loophole for the Wealthy
• Unfinished Tax Reform: Corporate Minimum Taxes

Stronger taxes on wealthy individuals

The President is proposing, among other things, to have billionaires pay at a 25% minimum tax, and to ensure the IRS has enough funding to continue collecting unpaid taxes from wealthy taxpayers and corporations.

Resources:

• Everything You Need to Know About Proposals to Better Tax Billionaires
• IRS Commissioner, New GAO Report Highlight Importance of Proper IRS Funding (all our IRS funding work is here)

Improving refundable credits for low-income and working families

The President is proposing to restore the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit and strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit, among other reforms.

Resources:

• Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Help Nearly 60 Million Kids, Especially Those in Families with Low Incomes (with state-by-state data)
• Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Advance Racial Equity in the Tax Code
• Federal EITC Enhancements Help More Than One in Three Young Workers