What's New
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report
July 20, 2017
Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Tax Proposals Would Not Benefit All States or Taxpayers Equally
The broadly outlined tax proposals released by the Trump administration would not benefit all taxpayers equally and they would not benefit all states equally either. Several states would receive a share of the total resulting tax cuts that is less than their share of the U.S. population. Of the dozen states receiving the least by this measure, seven are in the South. The others are New Mexico, Oregon, Maine, Idaho and Hawaii.
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blog
July 24, 2017
Sound Tax Policy Made a Comeback in 2017
2017 marked a sea change in state tax policy and a stark departure from the current federal tax debate as dubious supply-side economic theories began… -
ITEP Work in Action
July 24, 2017
Evidence Counts: Senate Tax Plan Punches More Holes Into Budget (Updated)
Similar to previous tax plans from the Senate, this plan increase taxes on most West Virginians while lowering them for higher-income residents. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Senate tax plan increases taxes on 60 percent of West Virginia households while lowering taxes on the top 40 percent of households. This is because lower income West Virginians pay more in sales taxes than income taxes, while the opposite is true for higher income people.
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ITEP Work in Action
July 24, 2017
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute: Revenue in Review: An Overview of New Hampshire’s Tax System and Major Revenue Sources
New Hampshire’s revenue system is relatively unique in the United States, as it lacks broad-based income and sales taxes and instead relies on a diversity of more narrowly-based taxes, fees, and other revenue sources to fund public services. This system presents both advantages and disadvantages to stable, adequate, and sustainable revenue generation.
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press release
July 23, 2017
Trump's Budget Proposal and Tax Plan Are the Antithesis of Populism
A month ago, President Trump released a tax sketch that likely would redistribute wealth upward, and today he has poured salt on the wound with a proposed budget that would gut safety net programs and cut funding for other services that help move people out of poverty. Yet the PR refrain is the same Orwellian prattle we’ve been hearing for years: water isn’t wet, tax cuts for the rich will eventually trickle down to the rest of us, and balancing the federal budget must always rely on cutting programs that benefit ordinary people.
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blog
July 22, 2017
Explaining our Analysis of Washington State’s Highly Regressive Tax Code
Supporters of creating a local personal income tax in Seattle are rightly concerned about the lopsided nature of their state’s tax code. In a 50-state study titled Who Pays?, produced using our microsimulation tax model, we found that Washington State’s tax system is the most regressive in the nation.
Repealing Obamacare Has Always Been About Tax Cuts for the Rich
One of the biggest tax cuts in the GOP health care bill is a provision that would repeal a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for those who earn more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples). Lawmakers are vacillating on whether to keep this tax cut for the rich in the health bill. Even if they don't, they likely will try to slip it into broader tax reform later this year.
50-State Analysis of GOP Health Proposal's Tax Provisions
Congressional Republicans have proposed legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including rolling back a number of tax changes that were enacted to pay for the ACA’s health care expansions. This 50-state analysis outlines how repealing ACA tax provisions would affect each of the 50 states.
Undocumented Immigrants' State and Local Tax Contributions
Undocumented immigrants living in the United States pay billions of dollars each year in state and local taxes. These tax contributions would increase significantly if all current undocumented immigrants were granted a pathway to citizenship as part of a comprehensive immigration reform.
The 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth
Profitable corporations are subject to a 35 percent federal income tax rate on their U.S. profits. But many corporations pay far less, or nothing at all, because of the many tax loopholes and special breaks they enjoy.
Who Pays? 5th Edition
ITEP's Who Pays? report assesses the fairness of state and local tax systems by examining the share of income paid in state and local taxes by people across the economic spectrum.
Impact
Whether it’s at the state or federal level, ITEP produces careful research and in-depth analyses of tax policies, and provides a voice for working people in tax policy debates. State advocates, policymakers and media often use our work to inform public discourse on current and proposed tax policies.
Expertise
Federal Policy
ITEP’s federal policy resources provide quantitative and qualitative research and analysis on current tax policies, proposals, and reform options. Its distributional analyses highlight how tax proposals will affect low-income, middle-class and wealthy Americans nationally and in all 50 states.
Learn more about our Federal Policy work
State Policy
State taxes pay for essential public services, from education to health care. But the ideal design of a tax system is complicated. ITEP’s state policy resources offer insights into central issues, including the impact of state tax systems on individuals, families, and businesses. Its work also analyzes the sustainability of revenue sources over time.
Learn more about our State Policy work
Corporate Tax Research
ITEP’s corporate tax research examines the tax practices of Fortune 500 companies. Besides its corporate study on average effective tax rates paid by the nation’s largest, most profitable corporations, ITEP produces research on subjects such as offshore cash holdings, tax haven abuse, executive stock options and other tax loopholes.
Expert's View
"For the better part of the 20th century, the nation’s economic pie grew as did incomes for all Americans. But for the past 40 years, wages for ordinary Americans have stagnated while income growth and wealth have concentrated at the top. Our nation’s tax and other public policies play a big part in this damaging trend. Our policymakers owe working people more than tax cuts with unrealistic promises of economic growth."
