Taxes: Income

Taxes: Income

The income tax has been the primary means of funding the federal government since 1913 when the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted. It is a progressive tax on individual and corporate income, based on income levels.  43 states impose an income tax on individuals, while 47 states impose a tax on the income of corporations. Many municipalities and counties also levy income taxes on their residents.

Commentary

Chamber of Commerce, Wrong Again

May 19, 2011

The California Chamber of Commerce released its hit list of so-called "job killer" bills. Like every year, they oppose every proposal to protect consumers, workers and the environment from irresponsible business practices, or raise revenues to fund public services, or support middle and working class families. 

They were wrong before and they are wrong now.

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Taxes and the wealthy

Will Higher Taxes on the Rich Kill Jobs?

December 01, 2010

Will raising income taxes on the rich hurt or help the economy? That's the key question that Congress will be debating as they consider whether to extend the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

As he pledged during the 2008 campaign, President Obama, along with most Congressional Democrats, wants to maintain the Bush 2001 tax cuts for the middle class but allow them to expire for high income Americans. Business groups and Republicans are, predictably, claiming that such a plan would "kill jobs," harm small businesses, and deepen the recession. They are crying wolf, but they repeat their misleading warnings so often -- and the media report them as if they were true -- that many Americans believe them.

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Cry Wolf Quotes

But, I will tell you, this program will not give you deficit reduction. It will be a disaster for the performance of the economy because of the repressive impact of these taxes and, of course, the possible inflationary impact of the taxes, along with the labor-cost-increasing mandates that are already a part of the president's agenda.

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Rep. Dick Armey, CNN.
02/18/1993 | Full Details | Law(s): Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993

[The rich are] the people who've been hit hardest by this recession and who we need to create the jobs that will get us out of it.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Speech on the Senate floor.
09/16/2010 | Full Details | Law(s): Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003

Clearly, this is a job-killer in the short-run. The revenues forecast for this budget will not materialize; the costs of this budget will be greater than what is forecast. The deficit will be worse, and it is not a good omen for the American economy. The impact on job creation is going to be devastating, and the American young people in particular will suffer a fairly substantial deferment of their lives because there simply won't be jobs for the next two to three years to go around to our young graduates across the country.

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Rep. Dick Armey, CNN
08/02/1993 | Full Details | Law(s): Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993

[Taxing the rich] was supported by the Socialist party, the Populist party, and by the Democratic party with a few honorable exceptions, simply as a means of re-distributing the wealth.

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Senator Nelson Aldrich (R-RI), 1909
01/01/1909 | Full Details | Law(s): Tax: Income
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Related Laws and Rules

Evidence

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Backgrounders & Briefs

Taxes Not Seen as Making the Rich Flee New York

Almost everyone agrees that raising taxes on the rich does not induce mass upper-class migration. 

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Resources

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a think tank focused on tax and fiscal policy. They provide in-depth analysis of state issues.

Citizens for Tax Justice is an organization that represents low and middle income citizens in the tax debates on Capitol Hill.

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