Portside

Few state tax trends are as striking as the rapid decline of state corporate income tax revenues. As recently as 1986, state corporate income taxes equaled 0.5 percent of nationwide Gross State Product (GSP) (a measure of statewide economic activity). But in fiscal year 2013 (the last year for which data are available), state and local corporate income taxes were just 0.33 percent of nationwide GSP- representing a decline of over 30 percent.

"It will help private equity managers and people like President Trump"

Despite the tax breaks and the flood of cash to Wall Street, many of the universities that benefit from the subsidies have refused to use their additional endowment resources to expand enrollment, admit more low-income students or lower their tuition rates.

The Divinity of Donald Trump. Tax Dodge: The Carried Interest Loophole. Elizabeth Warren | The Cover-Up In Trump’s Taxes. America Will Be - Uniting a Movement. Is a Socialist Future Possible? Sarah Leonard & Bhaskar Sunkara.

This study isn’t the only one to show the positive impacts of sugary beverage taxes. This study on Berkeley’s soda tax found a whopping 21 percent decrease in sugary beverage consumption. At Harvard, researchers predicted that Philadelphia’s sugary beverage tax, which went into effect this year, could prevent 36,000 cases of obesity over 10 years, prevent more than 2,000 cases of diabetes in the first year after the tax reaches its full effect, and save $200 million.

David Cay Johnston, the journalist who broke this story, suggests that the documents could possibly have come from Trump himself, or someone acting at his direction.

Among the report’s key findings: 100 companies enjoyed at least one year in which their federal income tax was zero or less, 24 companies paid zero taxes in four out of eight years, 18 companies paid no federal income tax over the eight-year period, Collectively, the 258 corporations enjoyed $513 billion in tax breaks over the last eight years. More than half of those tax breaks, $277 billion, went to just 25 of the most profitable corporations.