Citizens for Tax Justice

CTJ was founded in 1979 by labor unions and public interest groups{{cite journal|title=Mobilizing Public Opinion for the Tobacco Industry: The Consumer Tax Alliance and Excise Taxes|last1=Balbach|first1=Edith|last2=Campbell|first2=Richard|date=17 October 2008|journal=Tobacco Control|pmc=2772174|pmid=18687706|doi=10.1136/tc.2008.025338|volume=17|issue=5|pages=351–6}} in response to the growing anti-tax movement's recent passage of California's Proposition 13.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HucDAAAAMBAJ&q=taxation+hesitate+mother+jones&pg=PA42|title=Taxation Hesitation|year=1989|publisher=Mother Jones}} Shortly thereafter, CTJ's sister organization, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), was created as its 501(c)(3) charitable partner.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, CTJ was closely involved with the Tobacco Institute and other labor groups to oppose excise taxes on cigarettes as regressive and harmful to the poor.{{cite journal|title=Union Women, the Tobacco Industry, and Excise Taxes|last1=Balbach|first1=Edith|last2=Campbell|first2=Richard|year=2009|journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine|pmc=2712937|pmid=19591750|doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2009.05.011|volume=37|issue=2|pages=S121–5}}{{cite web|url=http://dl.tufts.edu/bookreader/tufts:UA084.TI18220897#page/1/mode/2up|title=Memo from Samuel D. Chilchote, Jr. (Pres. Tobacco Institute) to Executive Committee|last=Chilchote|first=Samuel|date=8 April 1986|publisher=Tobacco Institute|access-date=31 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402121215/http://dl.tufts.edu/bookreader/tufts:UA084.TI18220897#page/1/mode/2up|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}

CTJ's reports are often cited in the media and by lawmakers.{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/groseclose/Media.Bias.8.htm |title=A Measure of Media Bias |year=2004 |publisher=UCLA |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122230358/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/groseclose/Media.Bias.8.htm |archivedate=2008-11-22 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/08/business/big-gap-found-in-taxation-of-wages-and-investments.html|title=Big Gap Found in Taxation Of Wages and Investments|date=May 8, 2004|publisher=NYT|first=Edmund L.|last=Andrews}}{{cite news|title=CTJ Figures Used in Budget Debate Show Ryan Plan Would Give Huge Tax Cut to Millionaires|url=http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2011/05/ctj_stats_help_senator_make_hi.php|year=2011|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017134742/http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2011/05/ctj_stats_help_senator_make_hi.php|archive-date=2012-10-17|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/21/us/public-lives-little-known-crusader-plays-a-big-role-in-tax-debate.html|title=PUBLIC LIVES; Little-Known Crusader Plays a Big Role in Tax Debate|date=May 21, 2001|publisher=NYT|first=David E.|last=Rosenbaum}} Additionally, CTJ analysts have frequently testified before Congress and other bodies, such as President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/cgtest95.pdf|title=Regarding Proposed New Tax Subsidies for Capital Gains and Corporate Profits Designed to Gut the Tax Reform Act of 1986; |year=1995|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/html/corp0603.htm|title=Concerning Waste, Fraud, [and] Abuse in Federal Mandatory Programs;|year=2003|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021359/http://www.ctj.org/html/corp0603.htm|archive-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/mcintyresw%26mtestimony20090331.pdf|title=Concerning "On Banking Secrecy Practices and Wealthy American Taxpayers;|year=2009|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/mcintyretestimony03092011.pdf|title=Regarding Business Tax Subsidies Administered by the Internal Revenue Service;|year=2011|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/mcintyrecaliforniatestimonyapril2009.pdf|title=Regarding Tax Fairness and Economic Growth;|year=2009|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/fiscalcommissiontestimony.pdf|title=Testimony Before The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform;|year=2003|publisher=CTJ}} CTJ has been described as "one of the principal sources of information for liberal Democrats on matters of tax policy."{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/pj.pdf|title=In Search of America Pages 67-69, 86; |year=2002|publisher=Hyperion}}

{{Further|Tax Reform Act of 1986}}

CTJ's most visible impact on U.S. tax policy was its role in bringing about the enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.{{cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/taxreformpanel/comments/_files/CTJBushTaxPanelTestimony.pdf|title=To the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform; |year=2005|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/26/new-fight-brews-over-corporate-taxes/?mod=google_news_blog|title=New Fight Brews Over Corporate Taxes; |date=May 26, 2011|publisher=WSJ|first=John D.|last=McKinnon}} In addition to cutting tax rates, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 also simplified and broadened the tax base, and eliminated numerous tax shelters. CTJ described the Act as "path-breaking federal legislation that curbed tax shelters for corporations and the rich and cut taxes for poor and middle-income families."{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/html/ctjdesc.htm|title=Old About CTJ;|year=2000|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021511/http://www.ctj.org/html/ctjdesc.htm|archive-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead}} The Tax Foundation, a group generally considered to be on the opposite end of the political spectrum from CTJ, has described the Act as "one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever passed."{{cite web|url=https://taxfoundation.org/blog/twenty-years-later-tax-reform-act-1986/|title=Twenty Years Later: The Tax Reform Act of 1986|date=October 23, 2006|last=Cunningham|first=Andrew|publisher=Tax Foundation|access-date=November 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825110855/http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/1951.html|archive-date=August 25, 2011}}

CTJ's impact on the debate came in the form of four reports detailing the magnitude of corporate tax avoidance, and making the case for comprehensive corporate tax reform: "Corporate Income Taxes in the Reagan Years" (1984), "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Freeloaders" (1985), "Money for Nothing: The Failure of Corporate Tax Incentives, 1981–1984" (1986), and "130 Reasons Why We Need Tax Reform" (1986). These reports revealed, among other things, that 128 large corporations had paid nothing in corporate income taxes in at least one of the previous three years.

In his memoirs, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan recalls referencing a finding made in one of CTJ's reports when he explained to President Reagan that "your secretary paid more in federal taxes last year than ... General Electric ... Boeing, General Dynamics, and 57 other big corporations."Regan, Donald T. For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington. St. Martin’s Press. January 1989. {{ISBN|0-312-91518-7}}{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1988/06/06/70607/index.htm|title=REGAN, REAGAN, AND REALITY; |date=June 6, 1988|publisher=Fortune|first=Sylvia|last=Nasar}} After admitting that "I didn’t realize things had gotten that far out of line", Reagan threw his support behind the push to close corporate loopholes.

McClatchy Newspapers has said that CTJ's work "sparked national outrage that helped pave the way for The Tax Reform Act of 1986." The Washington Post described the release of these reports as a "key turning point" in the process of enacting the Act.{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/about/background.php|title=Location|year=2011|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608023022/http://www.ctj.org/about/background.php|archive-date=2011-06-08|url-status=dead}}

University of Connecticut law professor Richard Pomp described the CTJ studies as having had "a profound effect on educating the public and on shaping public opinion, unlike previous studies relying on only statistical aggregates", and declared that "one of the major catalysts for the corporate reforms made by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the disclosure by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) of the nominal amount of income tax paid by some of the largest corporations in the country."Pomp, Richard D. "State Tax Expenditure Budgets – And Beyond." In The Unfinished Agenda for State Tax Reform. Ed. Steven D. Gold. National Conference of State Legislatures. November, 1988. pp. 74.

A 1988 article in The Washington Monthly proclaimed CTJ was one of the "best public interest groups" in the nation. The magazine described CTJ's work as having "helped set the stage for one of the most dramatic defeats that special interest groups have ever suffered: the 1986 overhaul of the federal tax code."{{cite web|url=http://ctj.org/ctjinthenews/1988/03/washington_monthlythe_best_and_worst_of_public_interest_groups_from_lifting_up_the_poor_to_shaking_d.php|title=The best and worst of public interest groups; from lifting up the poor to shaking down the elderly.|date=1 March 1998|publisher=Washington Monthly|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814034645/http://ctj.org/ctjinthenews/1988/03/washington_monthlythe_best_and_worst_of_public_interest_groups_from_lifting_up_the_poor_to_shaking_d.php|archive-date=2011-08-14|url-status=dead}}

{{Further|Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001}}

In 2001, with Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, both the Treasury Department and the Joint Committee on Taxation were encouraged not to produce distributional tables explaining the impact of President Bush's proposed tax cuts.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/04/us/doing-the-math-on-bush-s-tax-cut.html|title=Doing the Math on Bush's Tax Cut|date=March 4, 2001|publisher=NYT|first=David E.|last=Rosenbaum}} Republicans were reported to have "never liked that kind of measurement, saying it contributed to class warfare." As a result, data released by CTJ, produced using the ITEP Microsimulation Tax Model, was the primary source of information on which opponents of the tax cuts had to rely.

The New York Times described CTJ's Director, Bob McIntyre, as having "no doubt ... exerted more influence on the tax debate this year than any lobbyist in town." In a similar vein, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota said "I don’t know what we’d do without Bob McIntyre. The agencies of government that are supposed to provide this information don’t, and the only way we can get it is from Bob." Despite CTJ's role in stoking the opposition to the 2001 cuts, the plan did eventually pass.

{{Further|Affordable Care Act}}

During the 2009 debates over President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act proposal, CTJ produced a series of reports detailing the revenue and distributional effects of a number of potential options for financing those reforms.{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/smallbuzhealthsurcharge.pdf |title=House Surcharge Proposal Unlikely to Have Noticeable Impact on Small Businesses|year=2009|publisher=CTJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare.htm|title=Three Proposals to Pay for Health Care Reform|year=2009|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604100853/http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare.htm|archive-date=2011-06-04|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/surchargeproposalwaysandmeans.pdf|title=House Proposal to Apply a Graduated Surcharge to Incomes Over $350,000|year=2009|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916191935/http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/surchargeproposalwaysandmeans.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-16|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/medicaretaxproposal.pdf|title=Make the Medicare Tax a More Progressive Tax that Wealthy Investors Pay Just Like Everyone Else|year=2009|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021646/http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/medicaretaxproposal.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/idlimitproposal.pdf|title=President Obama's Proposal to Limit Itemized Deductions for High-Income Families|year=2009|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904071029/http://www.ctj.org/payingforhealthcare/idlimitproposal.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-04|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/healthcarefinancing.pdf|title=Progressive Revenue Options to Fund Health Care Reform|year=2009|publisher=CTJ}}

An expansion of the Medicare tax first proposed by CTJ was incorporated into the package that Obama signed into law.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=axUPrlex8juQ|title=Senate Mulls Medicare Tax on Capital Gains to Fund Health Plan|date=July 9, 2009|publisher=Bloomberg}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2010/03/how_health_care_was_reformed_a.php|title=How Health Care Was Reformed (and Financed Partly with a Progressive Tax)|year=2010|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021707/http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2010/03/how_health_care_was_reformed_a.php|archive-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead}}

CTJ often analyzes the distributional and revenue impact of tax policy proposals made by candidates for public office.{{cite web|url=http://www.ctj.org/fed_pub_news/elections.php|title=Elections|year=2011|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608022711/http://www.ctj.org/fed_pub_news/elections.php|archive-date=2011-06-08|url-status=dead}} Those estimates have been frequently cited by the media, as well as by candidates themselves.{{cite news|url=http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/issues/counterpt/9610/03/|title=Don't Repeat The 1980s Mistake|year=1996|publisher=CNN|access-date=2011-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000902032311/http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/issues/counterpt/9610/03/|archive-date=2000-09-02|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960922/2350519/read-fine-print-in-child-credit-tax-plans|title=Read Fine Print In 'Child Credit' Tax Plans|date=September 22, 1996|publisher=Dallas Morning News|first=George|last=Rodrigue}}{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/10/mich.debate/index.html|title=Most GOP presidential contenders pledge not to go negative |year=2000|publisher=CNN|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041208162538/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/10/mich.debate/index.html|archivedate=December 8, 2004}}{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2008/1027/p16s01-wmgn.html|title=How Obama's tax plans would 'spread the wealth around'|year=2008|publisher=Christian Science Monitor}}

CTJ's funding comes from donations by individuals, labor unions, and other organizations.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aF05ReKjW2L8&refer=us|title=Bush Supports Tax Credits for Dow Chemical, Genentech|date=February 9, 2004|publisher=Bloomberg}}

Many of the reports written by Citizens for Tax Justice rely on analyses produced by the "ITEP Microsimulation Tax Model", which is housed at its partner organization, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).{{cite web|url=http://www.itepnet.org/about/ITEP_tax_model_simple.php|title=ITEP Microsimulation Tax Model|year=2011|publisher=ITEP|access-date=2011-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716192038/http://itepnet.org/about/ITEP_tax_model_simple.php|archive-date=2011-07-16|url-status=dead}} Revenue and distributional estimates of current federal tax policies, as well as of policies proposed by members of Congress, the President, presidential nominees, or CTJ itself are the topic of a large number of the organization's reports.{{cite web|url=http://ctj.org/ctjreports/archives.html|title=CTJ Reports|year=2011|publisher=CTJ|access-date=2011-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613015337/http://ctj.org/ctjreports/archives.html|archive-date=2010-06-13|url-status=dead}}

CTJ has also published a significant number of reports analyzing the financial statements of large corporations in order to calculate their effective corporate income tax rates. The first of those reports was released in 1984.

• Center for American Progress
• Center for Economic and Policy Research
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Economic Policy Institute
• Tax Foundation
• Tax Policy Center

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://ctj.org/}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150102085524/http://nccsweb.urban.org/communityplatform/nccs/organization/profile/id/521156415/popup/1 Organizational Profile] – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Citizens For Tax Justice}}

Category:501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations

Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States

Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States

Category:Taxpayer groups

Category:Tax reform in the United States

Category:Think tanks based in Washington, D.C.