John,

When the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax became law, it was hailed as a landmark victory for tax fairness. It was supposed to end the era of billion-dollar corporations paying zero income taxes. The idea was simple: if you make more than $1 billion in profits, you pay at least a 15% tax on what you report to your shareholders. That’s what tax justice looks like in a well-functioning economy.[1]

But that principle is now being destroyed from within. The Trump Treasury Department and IRS have issued new rules that raise the exemption threshold by hundreds of millions of dollars, effectively exempting dozens of major, profitable corporations.[2] They’ve given private equity firms a free pass by counting each portfolio company separately rather than together, and created new loopholes for crypto investors and foreign property speculators. These decisions directly contradict congressional intent and rob the country of hundreds of billions in corporate tax revenue.

Congress cannot let this power grab stand. Lawmakers must hold oversight hearings, subpoena Treasury officials, and restore enforcement of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax as written.

Demand that Congress investigate this illegal corporate giveaway and hold the IRS and Treasury accountable to the law.

Letting the IRS rewrite laws to favor corporate interests sets a dangerous precedent. If this goes unchecked, any administration could undo reforms by quietly issuing notices and “technical guidance” that never face public scrutiny.

Already, the result is an unlegislated tax cut for the rich, executed behind closed doors, with no public accountability. These new rules were never debated or passed by Congress. They were written by insiders, serving the same corporate and billionaire donors who stand to gain the most.

If this pattern continues, the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax will become another broken promise. Billion-dollar firms like Amazon, FedEx, and Meta are once again finding ways to pay nothing in taxes. This is the same playbook that led to record inequality and massive deficits under the first set of Trump tax cuts.

We fought for this reform, and we’re not backing down now. Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund is demanding immediate oversight, accountability, and full enforcement. The Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax was built to serve working people, not shield the billionaires it was meant to confront.

Tell Congress to restore the integrity of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax and make the wealthy pay what they owe.

Let’s stand together and make sure the system works for people, not billionaires and large corporations.

John Foti
Legislative Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] How the Inflation Reduction Act’s Tax Reforms Can Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap
[2] How the Trump Administration Is Giving Even More Tax Breaks to the Wealthy

-- David's email --

John,

A bombshell New York Times report just revealed how Trump’s Treasury Department quietly handed out billions in new tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy. Behind closed doors, officials have been rewriting federal tax rules to gut one of the biggest corporate accountability measures in decades: the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax.[1]

This reform that Americans for Tax Fairness fought for was supposed to ensure that companies reporting over $1 billion in profits finally paid a minimum of 15% on those earnings. It was projected to raise more than $222 billion over ten years by closing the gap between the profits corporations boast to shareholders and what they report to the IRS.[2]

Now, that progress is being reversed in secret. The Trump administration’s Treasury Department and IRS have quietly issued new rules that gut the enforcement of this law. They raised income thresholds, created carve-outs for corporate insiders, and opened loopholes for crypto firms, multinational corporations, and private equity titans. These “regulatory changes” hand billions back to corporations and billionaires who have already rigged the system in their favor.

These backroom giveaways were designed to escape public scrutiny. They were never voted on by Congress, never debated in public, and never approved by the people. Yet they are poised to erase hundreds of billions in corporate tax revenue that was meant to fund healthcare, clean energy, education, and more.

We cannot let this stand. Congress must act immediately to hold the Trump administration accountable. Tell lawmakers to demand the Treasury Department and IRS enforce the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax and end these illegal corporate giveaways.

Corporate tax receipts have already dropped by 15% since these rollbacks began. Multinationals are exploiting the same gimmicks that the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax was created to stop, while small businesses continue to pay full freight.

This is how inequality grows. When corporations hide their profits overseas or claim they don’t meet the threshold for taxation, the rest of us lose funding for schools, hospitals, and housing. The Treasury’s job is to enforce the law as written, not rewrite it to please billionaire and corporate donors. These actions violate both the spirit and the letter of the Inflation Reduction Act―the legislation that created the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax.

We’ve fought to make sure America’s biggest, most profitable corporations paid at least something in taxes each year. When President Biden signed the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax into law, it was a direct result of our movement’s work.

Congress must use its oversight powers to reverse these illegal regulatory changes. We worked hard to pass this reform, and we are not about to let unelected bureaucrats dismantle it in service to billionaire interests.

Tell Congress to step in, enforce the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, and make billion-dollar corporations pay what they owe.

Together, we can hold the powerful accountable and make sure the wealthy pay their fair share.

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] How the Trump Administration Is Giving Even More Tax Breaks to the Wealthy