Taxes

End Tax Cuts for the Richest 2%, Not Working Families

Tell your Representative to vote for tax fairness!

Call 1-888-744-9958 today!

Whew, that was a nail biter!

Last week, the Senate voted 51 to 48 to stand up for tax fairness. This week your Representative will cast a vote on two tax cut bills — one that would help millionaires and one that would help working families.

Demand Tax Fairness Now: Call 1-888-744-9958 and listen to easy instructions and a sample script.

H.R. 15, introduced by House Democratic leaders, would end Bush-era tax cuts that benefit only the richest 2% of Americans and extend improved tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families.

H.R. 8, introduced by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), would leave no millionaire behind by continuing Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans — and end improved tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families.

And here's the kicker. More than one in three families with children — and three out of four low-income families with children — would lose out under H.R. 8. Read more »

Did your Senators do the right thing?

Find out how your Senators voted on ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2 percent. And send them a quick message!

Yesterday, the Senate voted 51 to 48 to end the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of Americans. Ending these tax cuts would save $1 trillion over the next 10 years and help protect programs that are critical to women at every stage of their lives.

While some Senators did the right thing, others did not. Take two minutes to find out how your Senators voted and send them a message.

Our advocacy isn't done when the vote is tallied. We need to make sure your Senators know that you are watching their votes because this issue will come up again. Read more »

Stand Up for Tax Fairness

Call your Members of Congress at 1-888-744-9958 and tell them that it's time for the richest Americans to pay their fair share.

Call 1-888-744-9958 today!

It's go time!

In less than 24 hours Congress will start to vote on whether to end — or extend — the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest two percent.

Ending the Bush-era tax cuts on income above $250,000 per couple, as President Obama and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) have proposed, would help restore fairness to the tax code and protect programs vital to women and their families. It would give 98 percent of Americans their full tax cuts next year.

And the wealthiest two percent would still receive tax breaks on their first $250,000! We simply can't afford to give even more tax breaks to those who need them least when so many women and families are struggling just to make ends meet.

Calling is easy. And only takes a couple of minutes. Dial 1-888-744-9958 and listen to easy instructions and a sample script. Read more »

Stand Up for Tax Fairness

Call your Members of Congress at 1-888-744-9958 and tell them that it's time for the richest Americans to pay their fair share.

Call 1-888-744-9958 today!

It's time for Congress to restore some fairness to the tax code. As early as next week, Congress will start to vote on whether to end — or extend — the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest two percent.

Extending the Bush-era tax cuts on income up to $250,000 per couple as President Obama has proposed would give 98 percent of Americans their full tax cuts next year. And the wealthiest two percent would still receive tax breaks on their first $250,000! We simply can't afford to give even more tax breaks to those who need them least when so many women and families are struggling just to make ends meet.

Call your Members of Congress at 1-888-744-9958 and tell them that it's time for the richest Americans to pay their fair share: we need to end the Bush tax cuts on income over $250,000. Read more »

We had the privilege of going to the White House this week to hear President Obama deliver remarks on the economy and taxes. There were lots of pretty cool parts (including a peek at the portraits of the First Ladies!), but the real highlight was the President’s speech exhorting Congress to end the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest two percent. Here’s why we think that is such a great idea:

• We can’t afford to continue tax breaks for the households who need them the least. That will cost about $1 trillion over the next ten years.
• Ending the tax cuts on income above $250,000 means that 98 percent of Americans won’t see their taxes go up.  
• Giving lavish tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans didn’t lead to strong job growth or shared prosperity, but it did increase the deficit – a lot.

We have a few thoughts on better ways to spend $1 trillion than on more tax breaks for the wealthy. Read more »

The IRS recently released new data on individual income taxes paid in 2009, including a report on “The 400 Individual Income Tax Returns Reporting the Largest Adjusted Gross Incomes Each Year, 1992-2009.” So interesting, right?!

...ok, so maybe the IRS could have come up with a catchier title. But the report really is fascinating, in a “wow, that’s crazy and unfair” sort of way – especially when you compare the data on the richest 400 American households (with annual incomes averaging around $200 million) to income tax data for the rest of us, as David Cay Johnston did in his excellent piece on “The Fortunate 400.” Johnston’s whole article is well worth a read, but here are a few particularly shocking statistics:

• Six of the 400 richest American households paid no federal income taxes in 2009. Yes, you read that correctly – a few of the people with the very highest incomes in the country, raking in on average half a million dollars every day, managed to pay zero federal income tax in 2009.
• 110 of the top 400 paid a federal income tax rate of 15 percent or less... just like a whole lot of people making a whole lot less than $200 million!

Millionaires have had a very good week. Women and their families have had a very bad week.

It started Monday, when 45 Senators voted to block the "Paying a Fair Share Act" (S. 2230), which would have implemented the Buffett Rule by requiring households with incomes above $1 million to pay at least a 30 percent income tax rate. Tax revenues support programs vital to women and their families at every stage of their lives, and women pay the price when millionaires and billionaires avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

Today, the House passed "The Small Business Tax Cut Act" (H.R. 9). The bill provides a 20 percent tax deduction in 2012 for businesses with fewer than 500 employees — not exactly your mom-and-pop store!

H.R. 9 would have more aptly been named the Giveaway to Millionaires Act. The Tax Policy Center estimates that taxpayers making over $1 million a year would receive nearly half of the windfall. Exactly how big is this tax break? The average millionaire would get a new tax break of $44,635 next year. The average benefit for low-income tax payers in the bottom fifth of the income distribution? Just $2. All while adding $46 billion dollars to the deficit over the next ten years. Read more »

Happy Tax Day! I realize paying taxes is not something most people relish, but when I have to send a check to Uncle Sam, I try to focus on all of the important services my tax dollars support. And I try not to think about the people who make a whole lot more money than I do but pay a smaller share of their incomes in taxes – like, say, the 22,000 millionaires who paid less than 15 percent of their income in federal taxes in 2009. (Even if you paid only a few dollars in federal income tax, that’s more than the 1,470 households with incomes over $1 million in 2009 who paid zero dollars in federal income tax.)

I know I’m not the only one who believes it’s wrong for some millionaires and billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than many middle-income families pay. Last night, 51 Senators (49 Democrats, 1 Independent and 1 Republican) voted to begin debate on the Paying a Fair Share Act (S. 2230), often referred to as the “Buffett Rule,” which would require households with incomes above $1 million to pay at least a 30 percent income tax rate (with a phase-in for incomes between $1 million and $2 million). Read more »

Tomorrow, April 17, 2012, is both Equal Pay Day and Tax Day—which means it’s a very good day to focus on economic fairness and what achieving it would mean for women.

First, fairness also requires closing the pay gap. Almost fifty years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, the typical woman working fulltime, year-round continues to be paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid by her male counterpart—a loss of close to $11,000 a year at the median.To catch up with the wages her male equivalent had been paid by December 31 of last year, this typical woman had to work through April 17. Even after taking into account factors such as occupation, education, and hours worked, women still consistently earn less than men, and this pay gap translates into lower unemployment benefits when women lose their jobs, lower Social Security benefits when they retire, and less ability to meet their families’ needs.

Because more and more families depend in whole or in part on a woman’s earnings, the pay gap doesn’t just shortchange women. It shortchanges everyone. Yet the pay gap persists, in part because pay discrimination is hard to identify and hard to challenge. Read more »

On Monday, the Senate is set to vote on whether to begin debate on the Paying a Fair Share Act (S. 2230) sponsored by Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI). By requiring that all households with incomes above $1 million pay at least a 30 percent tax rate (with a phase-in for incomes between $1 million and $2 million), this bill would implement the tax policy often referred to as the “Buffett Rule” (after Warren Buffett, the billionaire who famously pays a lower effective income tax rate than his secretary). The details of the bill are rather complex, but the principle behind it is simple – and true: millionaires and billionaires shouldn’t be paying a lower tax rate than many middle-income families pay.

So why do I think millionaires aren’t already paying their fair share? And why should women care? I’m glad you asked: 

The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer.

I’m sure you’ve heard this maxim before, but it’s especially true today. Read more »