A Tax Code that Puts Workers First

DIGNITY OF WORK POLICY

The tax code is one of the best tools we have to influence the actions of businesses and put money back into the pockets of workers. President Trump’s tax law has exacerbated a tax code that gives handouts to millionaires and favors multinational corporations that move jobs overseas, instead of workers and their families.

We can honor the dignity of work by striking Trump’s tax law and replacing it with a tax code that:

Prioritizes workers and families;
Incentivizes businesses to invest in good-paying American jobs; and
Penalizes corporations that refuse to pay workers a living wage.

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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) are the most efficient ways to put money in the pockets of working families and give millions of people a bridge to the middle class.

We must extend the EITC to workers without children. Today, this is the only group of workers in the United States who can literally be taxed into poverty. And we must greatly expand both EITC and the CTC to deliver even larger tax cuts for even more workers and families.

We should double the EITC and make millions more Americans eligible for the benefit. Under this proposal, roughly 50 million Americans would get anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 back in their pockets.

And we should expand the child tax credit to $3,000 per year, or $250 per month, for each child between the ages of 6 and 18 and $3,600 per year, or $300 per month, for every child 5 years old and younger. This proposal alone would cut childhood poverty in half.

We must also change the incentives in our corporate tax code to discourage corporations from sending jobs overseas and encourage them to provide better pay and benefits to workers in the United States.

The Patriot Employer Tax Credit would allow corporations to get a lower tax rate only if they pay a living wage, provide healthcare and retirement benefits, keep jobs in the U.S., and provide opportunities for veterans.

The Corporate Freeloader Fee would end corporate subsidies by requiring corporations to reimburse taxpayers if they pay their workers so little that those workers are forced onto public assistance. Specifically, large employers would be required to pay a fee based on the portion of their workforce that earns less than 200 percent of the poverty level, or does not have adequate healthcare and retirement benefits. This would encourage corporations to increase wages. And because it is based on the corporations’ wages, not the workers’ reliance on public assistance, it would not stigmatize certain workers or discourage them from applying for the help they need.

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A Tax Code that Puts Workers First

DIGNITY OF WORK POLICY