Recent Publications

  • American Corporations Tell IRS the Majority of Their Offshore Profits Are in 10 Tax Havens

    Recent revelations that a Panamanian law firm helped set up more than 200,000 offshore shell corporations has heightened awareness of the vast amount of income and wealth flowing into tax and secrecy havens worldwide. The countries through which this firm helped funnel the global elites' assets also act as tax havens for multinational corporations. Recently released data from the Internal Revenue Service show that U.S. corporations claim that 59 percent of their foreign subsidiaries' pretax worldwide income is being earned in ten tiny tax havens.

    04/07/2016

  • U.S. Corporate Taxes Are Below Developed Country Average

    Corporate income taxes in the United States as a share of the economy are significantly less than the average among developed nations, according to an analysis of the most recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

    04/07/2016

  • The U.S. Is One of the Least Taxed Developed Countries

    The most recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that the United States is one of the least taxed developed nations.

    04/07/2016

  • News Release: Pfizer Inversion Failure Is an Example of What Happens When Elected Officials Stand up to Special Interests

    Following is a statement by Robert McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, regarding Pfizer Corp.'s announcement that it will no longer seek to merge with Ireland-based Allergan, a move that for months has been widely derided as a scheme to avoid billions in U.S. taxes.

    04/06/2016

  • News Release: New Treasury Regulations Are Good, But Not Sufficient to Stop Inversions

    Following is a statement by Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, regarding the Treasury Department's proposed new regulations to curb tax avoidance by U.S. corporations that pretend to become foreign companies for tax purposes.

    04/05/2016

  • CTJ Letter to Treasury on Inversion Regulations

    We urge the Department of Treasury to take all action within its authority to curb the ability of corporations to avoid taxes by engaging in corporate inversions. Specifically, we believe that Treasury could take further steps to curb inversions through the use of its regulatory authority under Section 956 and Section 7701.

    03/23/2016

  • Donald Trump's Tax Plan Would Cost $12 Trillion

    A new Citizens for Tax Justice analysis of presidential candidate Donald Trump's tax plan reveals that it would add $12.0 trillion to the national debt over a decade. More than one-third of these tax cuts, $4.4 trillion, would go to the top one percent of taxpayers. Trump's tax cuts would have to be paired with $12 trillion in spending cuts to avoid massive budget deficits, meaning this plan could require eliminating 94 percent of all discretionary spending to make up for its cost. This analysis also finds that if Congress chooses to pay for the Trump plan's tax cuts with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, the net impact of the Trump tax plan would provide an even greater boon to the wealthy and be even more detrimental to low- and middle-income taxpayers.

    03/17/2016

  • Ted Cruz's Tax Plan Would Cost $13.9 Trillion, While Increasing Taxes on Most Americans

    A new Citizens for Tax Justice analysis of presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz's tax plan reveals that it would add $13.9 trillion to the national debt over a decade. Despite proposing the largest tax cut of any candidate, Cruz's tax plan would actually increase taxes on 60 percent of Americans. Cruz's tax cuts would have to be paired with $13.9 trillion in spending cuts to avoid massive budget deficits, meaning that even eliminating all discretionary spending would not be enough to make up for its cost. This analysis also finds that if Congress chooses to pay for the Cruz plan's tax cuts with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, the net impact of the Cruz tax plan would provide an even greater boon to the wealthy and be more detrimental to low- and middle-income taxpayers.

    03/16/2016

  • The Net Effect: Paying for GOP Tax Plans Would Wipe Out Income Gains for Most Americans

    A complete analysis of each candidate's tax plan should include the impact of necessary future spending cuts and tax increases that the plans would require. This CTJ report not only provides a distributional analysis of how the candidates' plans would affect taxpayers on average based on income quintile, it also provides a blanket distributional analysis of the economic impact on each quintile of tax increases and spending cuts. This analysis concludes that when the tax cuts and their likely offsets are accounted for, only the wealthiest Americans would receive a net benefit, while the vast majority of Americans would be much worse off.

    03/09/2016

  • News Release: Paying for GOP Tax Plans Would Wipe Out Income Gains for Most Americans

    When the tax and spending implications of GOP tax plans are considered, the vast majority of Americans would be worse off, according to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice that sheds more light on the true impact of GOP tax plans.

    03/09/2016

  • Fortune 500 Companies Hold a Record $2.4 Trillion Offshore

    All told, American Fortune 500 corporations are avoiding up to $695 billion in U.S. federal income taxes by holding $2.4 trillion of "permanently reinvested" profits offshore. In their latest annual financial reports, 27 of these corporations reveal that they have paid an income tax rate of 10 percent or less in countries where these profits are officially held, indicating that most of these monies are likely in offshore tax havens.

    03/04/2016

  • Ten Corporations Would Save $97 Billion in Taxes Under "Transition Tax" on Offshore Profits

    Earlier this week, President Barack Obama released details of his proposed federal budget for the fiscal year ending in 2017. The proposal includes a one-time "transition tax" on the offshore profits of all U.S.-based multinational corporations. The President's plan would tax these profits at a 14 percent rate immediately, rather than at the 35 percent rate that should apply absent the "deferral" loophole. This proposal, like an alternative Republican plan that would tax these profits at an even lower 8.75 percent rate, would lavish huge tax cuts to the many corporations currently holding such profits, often actually earned in the U.S., in low-rate foreign tax havens. Ten of the biggest offshore tax dodgers would receive a collective tax break of $97 billion under Obama's plan, and $121 billion under the Republican alternative.

    02/16/2016

  • President Obama's FY17 Budget Proposal: A First Look At Its Major Tax Provisions

    Earlier this week, President Barack Obama released details of his proposed federal budget for the fiscal year ending in 2017. While many cynical observers and some members of Congress immediately derided the budget blueprint as an irrelevant exercise in political theatre, the President's plan actually includes a number of sensible ideas that could help point the way to meaningful federal tax reform in years to come. Here's a quick overview of the best--and the rest--of the tax policy ideas in the Obama 2017 budget plan.

    02/11/2016

  • Bernie Sanders' Health Care Tax Plan Would Raise $13 Trillion, Yet Increase After-Tax Incomes for All Income Groups except the Very Highest

    A new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' recently released "Medicare for All" tax plan finds that Sanders' health-related taxes would raise an estimated $13 trillion over 10 years. The analysis also finds that the plan would raise average after-tax incomes for all but the top income groups.

    02/08/2016

  • The Tax (and Wage) Implications of Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All" Health Plan

    A new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ recently released “Medicare for All” tax plan finds that Sanders’ health-related taxes would raise an estimated $13 trillion over 10 years. The analysis also finds that the plan would raise average after-tax incomes for all but the...

    02/08/2016

  • News Release: Sen. Bernie Sanders' Tax Proposal Would Increase Federal Revenue and Increase after Tax Wages for All but the Top 5 Percent

    A new analysis of Sen. Bernie Sanders' tax plan finds that it would increase federal revenue by $13 trillion over a decade, while increasing after-tax income for all groups except the very highest earners. The top 1 percent would see an average reduction in after-tax income of $159,000, while almost all other income groups would see an increase in after-tax income.

    02/08/2016

  • Press Statement: Clinton Tax Reform Proposals Are a Step Toward Tax Fairness

    For decades, the wealthy have used their clout to create a tax system riddled with special carve outs and loopholes, allowing them to pay relatively low tax rates. Clinton's call to enact the Buffett Rule and a "Fair Share Surcharge" on income over $5 million would help level the playing field between wealthy investors, who benefit from a special low rate on their investment income, and everyday Americans.

    01/12/2016

  • Ben Carson's Flat Tax Plan Would Cost $9.6 Trillion, While Increasing Taxes on Low-Income Families

    A Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) analysis of presidential candidate Ben Carson's recently released flat tax plan finds that it would cost an estimated $9.6 trillion over 10 years. The candidate's proposal would have to be paired with $9.6 trillion in spending cuts to avoid massive annual budget deficits, meaning it would require an implausible 75 percent cut to all discretionary spending over the same time period. Carson's plan would provide the wealthiest one percent of taxpayers with trillions in additional tax cuts, while increasing taxes on families in the bottom half of the income distribution.

    01/06/2016

  • Why Lawmakers Should Reject the Deficit-Financed $680 Billion Tax Cut Deal

    Late Tuesday, congressional leaders announced the details of a $680 billion tax cut deal that will be up for a vote in the House and Senate over the next couple days. While there are some worthwhile provisions in the package, they come at too high a price to justify supporting the overall package.

    12/17/2015

  • Press Statement: Compromise? Good Things in the Extenders Package Come at Far Too High a Price

    At a time when we already face a $7 trillion budget hole over the next decade, increasing that hole by $680 billion to pay for a new package of tax breaks is an absolute disgrace. This tax-cut package would lose more revenue than was "raised" by the fiscal cliff package in 2013.

    12/16/2015

 

 

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