The so-called “small” business tax cut in the Trump-GOP tax plan, which would lower the business tax rate from 39.6% to 25%, is a fake because it will primarily benefit wealthy businesses, such as Wall Street hedge fund managers, big law firms and real estate developers like Trump. The new 25% tax rate would benefit […]
September 14, 2017
Far From Helping, Trump’s Tax Plan Shortchanges Disaster Victims
By Will Rice, Senior Writer/Researcher Donald Trump is not helping disaster victims when he urges Congress to quickly pass tax cuts for the wealthy as a response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Far from helping, reducing federal revenues by trillions of dollars through the kind of tax giveaways to the rich and corporations Trump is calling for would […]
Health insurers and their top executives are in for a big payday if Republicans succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). The GOP repeal would eliminate $145 billion in taxes on health insurance corporations while subsidizing giant compensation packages for their top executives. That’s money the ACA has used to help cover […]
June 21, 2017
Price-Gouging Pharmaceutical Companies to Get $28 Billion Tax Break in GOP Health Plan
There will be a lot of losers if the House GOP’s disastrous plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) ever becomes law: people with preexisting medical conditions, working families, older folks, kids. One of the few winners would be the nation’s pharmaceutical industry: $28 billion richer thanks to a big […]
March 21, 2017
Richard Rubin: President Trump benefiting President Trump
It’s worth taking another look at Richard Rubin’s story from Friday’s Wall Street Journal: “One Beneficiary of GOP’s Tax Bill: President Trump.” Referring to the tax cuts included in the Republican health care plan, Rubin writes: The first big tax cut moving through Congress under President Donald Trump would likely benefit the president himself, potentially […]
January 24, 2017
ATF Op-ed in Huffington Post: Wrong Address: Trump’s Inaugural Misdirects Blame for Workers’ Woes (Away from Him)
Op-ed originally published on The Huffington Post by Frank Clemente, executive director, Americans for Tax Fairness, January 24, 2017 In his inaugural address, Donald Trump correctly reported a crime—the ongoing rip-off of America’s working families—but misidentified the culprits. That’s not surprising, since he’s one of them and plans to accelerate the theft now that he’s […]
March 25, 2016
Obama Can Stop Pfizer’s Tax Rip-Off
This blog also appeared on the Huffington Post. You already know big pharmaceutical companies are ripping you off by charging too much for their medicines. But did you know they’re also hurting you by dodging their fair share of taxes? A new report shows how one company pulls off this double whammy—and how there’s still […]
October 29, 2015
Carl Icahn’s Latest Investment: Corporate Tax Dodging
Sometimes the smartest investment a Wall Street billionaire can make is in our pay-to-play political system. That’s why legendary wheeler-dealer Carl Icahn plans to fund a campaign to promote a huge corporate tax cut — one that could personally enrich him by up to $440 million (and maybe more). With that kind of payoff, the […]
October 23, 2015
Raising Revenue Must Be Central Goal of Budget Talks
Budgets are made up of spending and revenue. But budget negotiators in Washington are talking only about what spending to cut, not what revenue to raise — even though there are gaping tax loopholes to close. Closing them would eliminate the need to cut critical services that benefit tens of millions of Americans and would […]
August 26, 2015
Vintage Ethics: Etsy Crafts an Offshore Tax Dodge
Who knew a New Age crafts seller could be so, well, crafty? Etsy, the online marketer of handmade earrings, vintage watches and millions of other precious items, proudly brands itself a socially responsible corporation. But when it comes to the socially responsible act of paying its fair share of taxes, Etsy is decidedly old […]