The tax code is one of the largest tools that the federal, state, and municipal governments have to provide families with economic security and wealth-building opportunities. Yet the tax code systematically disadvantages women, people of color, immigrants and low-income families. Homeowners with home mortgages get tax breaks, but we know that people of color have been systematically left out of homeownership opportunities; high-income earners with retirement and other savings get tax breaks, but we know that women and people of color are more likely to be in jobs that do not pay enough or do not offer retirement savings opportunities. Further, immigrant workers and families are increasingly excluded—either explicitly or implicitly—from these initiatives. These, and other tax code priorities, perpetuate the racial and gender economic gaps that exist in the U.S.
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Read More:
Prosperity Now: From Upside Down to Right-Side Up: Turning the Tax Code Into an Engine for Economic and Racial Equality (July 2020)
ITEP: How Local Governments Raise Revenue—and What it Means for Tax Equity (March 2023)
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: State Earned Income Tax Credits Help Build Opportunity for People of Color and Women (July 2018)
Syracuse University: IRS Audits Few Millionaires But Targeted Many Low-Income Families in FY 2022 (January 2023)