Close Tax Loopholes So Everyone Pays Their Fair Share Updated September 10, 2013 Close tax loopholes to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. Congress must stop the irrational, arbitrary, and harmful budget cuts. Working families have already paid by taking $1.8 trillion in spending cuts since 2011; by comparison, we have only raised revenue by $600 billion.1 And all of the tax increases have come from individuals; corporations have contributed nothing to the effort.2 Any additional deficit reduction should be done by closing wasteful tax loopholes that benefit the top 2% and wealthy corporations, not by further cutting federal programs that are crucial for children and working families. Meanwhile, the deficit continues to drop dramatically with the improving economy—it fell by 38% in 2013—so the rationale for more spending cuts makes less and less sense.3 One way to solve our budget woes is to pass immigration reform because doing so will grow our economy and reduce the budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that enacting the Senate immigration reform bill will reduce the federal budget deficit by nearly $850 billion over the next 20 years and increase economic growth by 5.4%.4 In addition, the Social Security Trust Fund would see increased revenues of $300 billion over the next decade.5 Sequestration Budget Cuts Versus Tax Loopholes Federal Budget Items
Importance to Latinos
Federal Budget Cut in 2013 Due to Sequestration6
Head Start
37% of all Head Start preschoolers are Latino7
$400 million
Child Care Development Block Grant
20% of children who receive a child care subsidy are Latino9
$115 million
WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Nutrition Assistance
42% of WIC participants— low-income pregnant women, infants, and children—are Latino11
Title I Education (Funding for Low-Income Schools)
42% of Latino elementary school children attend highpoverty schools14
$789 million
Job Training
32% of all youth enrolled in federal job training programs are Latino16
$168 million (youth and adult job training)
12
$133 million
Value of Tax Loophole per Year
Tax loophole for corporate private jet depreciation8 = $370 million Tax loophole for distilled alcohol with flavor and wine additives10 = $110 million Estate tax loophole allowing heirs to lowball gifts for income tax purposes13 = $155 million Tax loophole for hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate15 = $1.7 billion Tax loophole for derivatives traders to pay a lower tax rate17 = $300 million