A president can’t raise taxes by himself. The Wall Street Journal considers (paywall) Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s $4 trillion, ten-year plan to increase taxes on corporations and high-income households. To achieve that, he’d need Democratic control of the Senate and House. Russ Sullivan, a Democratic tax lobbyist and former Senate Finance Committee staff director said “a Republican-controlled Senate would thwart most of the Biden tax agenda.”
Evidence suggests that fines and fees are closely intertwined with structural racism. TPC’s Sarah Calame and Aravind Boddupalli write about new data from the 2017 Census of Governments. They show that some cities and townships rely more heavily than others on revenues from parking and moving violation tickets, traffic camera violations, court-imposed fines, forfeited bail, and other criminal justice-related charges and penalties. Low-income people often are more burdened by the tax than those with higher incomes. They conclude “it would be fiscally-imprudent and unjust for cities to pass the burden of local finances onto their most disadvantaged residents.”
Seattle business leaders ask the city to revisit payroll tax. Amazon may relocate some of its employees after a survey shows workers have little desire to work in Seattle. The Downtown Seattle Association is now asking the City Council to reconsider its recently passed tax on the highest-salaried employees at some large firms. Revenue from the tax would fund coronavirus relief in the short run, and future affordable housing and homeless services.
Three Michigan women sue over “unlawful and invalid taxation” of feminine hygiene products. They filed a class action lawsuit against the state last week claiming that its 6-percent sales and use tax on menstrual products violates both the US and Michigan constitutions by discriminating on the basis of sex. They want the state to refund $27.6 million in such taxes collected over the last four years from about 2.4 million individuals.
Tune in Thursday for The Prescription. TPC’s next online conversation on policy responses to the COVID-19 economy features Caroline Bruckner (@CaroBruckner). Bruckner was chief counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship during the 2008 recession and is currently managing director of the Kogod School of Business Tax Policy Center at American University. She’ll talk with TPC senior fellow Howard Gleckman (@howard_gleckman) on the economic effects of the pandemic, especially on women business owners. Watch it here on Thursday, August 20, at noon.
IRS extends non-filers’ deadline to request children’s stimulus payments. People who don’t typically file tax returns have until September 30 to use the IRS’ online tool to claim dependents who are eligible for the CARES Act $500 stimulus payments.
Members of each chamber of Congress will be in their home districts until Congress and the White House reach a deal on coronavirus relief. Barring such a deal, the Daily Deduction will post Mondays only until September.
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