Flat Isn’t Fair and Other Lessons Before Tax Day

Ahead of Tax Day, host Bert Zipperer tackles gritty tax policy and the future of fair and progressive taxes. He’s joined by Jon Whiten of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization.

ITEP reports that people at the bottom of the economic spectrum pay the most when it comes to taxes. And in nearly all states, the top 1% of earners are taxed at the lowest rate. A recent analysis from ITEP finds that undocumented immigrants pay a considerable amount of taxes. Whiten says that states that invest in the child tax credit and earned income tax credit can help folks at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Whiten breaks down the differences between income, property, consumption, and corporate taxes. The 2017 and 2025 tax laws have made it so that companies like Tesla and Meta are paying little to no federal corporate income tax. And though a “flat tax” may sound fair, it’s a regressive form of taxation because “not everyone is in the same economic situation,” says Whiten.

Property taxes are the least abstract tax, you can see where your money is going, to schools or libraries, etc. But cutting property taxes would inevitably result in reductions to all kinds of public services. It’s possible to make property taxes more fair, like mansion taxes or tax credits like “circuit breakers.”

They also talk about how taxes help to build the common good. And we hear from callers about school referendums in Wisconsin, the attempt to pass a “circuit breaker” in Wisconsin, how the wealthy place a high demand on government services funded by taxes, the uses of debt, and more.

Jon Whiten is the Deputy Director at ITEP. He helps guide ITEP’s overall strategy and approach to policy change, works to properly resource ITEP’s work, and leads ITEP’s work to shape the public debate around tax policy and ensure that policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders are using ITEP’s data and analysis in order to make sound decisions.

Featured image of a protester holding a sign at a Tax Day rally in New York City in 2012 via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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The post Flat Isn’t Fair and Other Lessons Before Tax Day appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.