Although so much public policy has been implemented through the tax code in the last twenty years, we still have a murky understanding of how this has changed our lives. Essentially, the tax system has been used to re-distribute wealth upward.
There has been very little written about the impact of the tax system on women, so it is exciting that earlier this month the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) issued the report "Taxes ARE a Women's Issue: Reframing The Debate" by Mimi Abramovitz and Sandra Morgen. The Council is a network made up of over 100 leading
The report reveals how current tax proposals are lose- lose for women since they move to expand capital gains, dividend, and estate tax cuts while transferring more of the responsibility of taxes away from those who are wealthy to those who work for a living. "Women and people of color are more likely to live off of their wages rather than off dividends and capital gains," said NCRW President Linda Basch, "so they are unfairly penalized when wages are taxed more heavily than income from wealth."
As they released the report, the Council called on the Administration and Congress to:
- roll back recent tax cuts for the wealthiest;
- preserve the estate tax for high wealth individuals;
- protect and expand tax credits for low-income families;
- raise or eliminate the cap on earnings subject to the Social Security tax; and
- reform tax systems at state and local levels so they rely less on regressive taxes like sales taxes.
"We need a tax system where women will not lose out, where racial disparities will be addressed, where taxes will be based on ability to pay, and where low- and moderate-income taxpayers will have enough after-tax income to care for their families," asserts the Council.
For the full press release or to order the report go to: http://www.ncrw.org/researchforaction/index.htm
To take action in the direction of fair taxes, visit the website of Fair Taxes for All, a coalition of national groups: http://www.fairtaxes4all.org/ site/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp? c=apIIIWMLG&b=13155
Comments