ITEP's Research Priorities
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
January 17, 2017 • By Carl Davis
The federal government and many states are unable to adequately maintain the nation's transportation infrastructure in part because the gasoline taxes intended to fund infrastructure projects are often poorly designed. Thirty states and the federal government levy fixed-rate gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even when the cost of infrastructure materials rises or when drivers transition toward more fuel-efficient vehicles and pay less in gas tax. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over twenty-three years. Likewise, more than twenty states have waited a decade or more since last raising their…
How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?
January 17, 2017 • By Carl Davis
Many state governments are struggling to repair and expand their transportation infrastructure because they are attempting to cover the rising cost of asphalt, machinery, and other construction materials with fixed-rate gasoline taxes that are rarely increased. The chart accompanying this brief shows (as of January 1, 2017) the number of years that have elapsed since each state's gas tax was last increased.
Register Herald: Flat tax would make most Ohioans pay more
January 14, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“Using a sophisticated model of Ohio’s tax system, the national research group, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), found that with a 3.5 percent flat tax, 72 percent of Ohioans would pay more state income tax, while just 4 percent would pay less. The remaining 24 percent would pay the same amount as they […]
AL.com: In immigration debate, Trump and Clinton voters tussle over term ‘illegal immigrant’
January 14, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“Undocumented immigrants paid $13 billion in payroll taxes in 2010, according to an estimate by the U.S. Social Security Administration. At least 50 percent of undocumented immigrant households file tax returns using Individual Tax Identification Numbers, according to the non-partisan research Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The group also estimated undocumented immigrants pay $11.64 […]
Poughkeepsie Journal: The state of Hudson Valley immigration
January 14, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“Whatever one’s political view, the fate of New York’s immigrant population could have a significant impact on state and local economies. Undocumented immigrants make up a large portion of the workforce in New York industries like construction, landscaping, food and cleaning services, and farming operations upstate and on Long Island. The non-profit Institute on Taxation […]
Seven Days: Afford-Ability: Can Gov. Phil Scott Deliver a Bigger Slice of the Pie?
January 12, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“Despite all the ink spilled over the state’s supposedly high tax burden, Vermont’s effective tax rate is roughly average. And according to a 2015 study by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, “Vermont’s tax system is among the least regressive in the nation because it has a highly progressive income tax and low […]
CNN: Trump’s Tangled Web of Businesses
January 12, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner
“In fact, as with most businesses, most of Trump’s are registered in Delaware, known for its business-friendly courts and tax policies, but also the lack of disclosure requirements, according to Matthew Gardner, a fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
Bloomberg BNA: Oil States View Taxes Warily in Battling Crude Market Dips
January 12, 2017 • By Carl Davis
“That means, however unpopular, “residents are going to have to pay more” to maintain local governments and their services, Carl Davis, an analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told Bloomberg BNA.” Read more
NPR: Gas Taxes May Go Up Around The Country As States Seek To Plug Budget Holes
January 12, 2017 • By Carl Davis
“Raising fuel taxes helped the state in the 1980s, and lawmakers might try it again. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says Oklahoma lawmakers have good reason to raise taxes at the pump. “The state has one of the oldest gas tax rates in the country,” he says. “It’s […]
Common Wealth: Dump the millionaire tax
January 12, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“The state also supplements the federal Earned Income Tax Credit for joint filers with income less than $50,000. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, these adjustments resulted in the lowest 20 percent of Massachusetts filers paying an effective state income tax rate of 0.8 percent in 2015. The next quintile pays an […]
Salina Journal: Nixing tax reform obstacles
January 12, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
“The LLC exemption — which eliminated taxes on pass-through business income and relieved the tax burden for more than 330,000 Kansas business owners — was passed and signed almost half a decade ago. The exemption has cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars since then (the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says it […]
State Rundown 1/11: State Legislative Sessions Kick Off Amid Uncertainty
January 11, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
This week brings still more states looking for solutions to revenue shortfalls, multiple governors’ State of The State addresses, important reading on counter-transparency and local-preemption efforts, and more. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe A Nebraska legislator this week diagnosed the state’s $900 million revenue shortfall in plain terms, describing it as “self-inflicted […]
Akransas Advocates for Children & Families: 6 ways to make 2017 more prosperous for all Arkansans
January 11, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Legislators have just kicked off the 2017 legislative session, and ideas for big changes are buzzing around the Capitol. AACF will be on the ground advocating for bills that are best for kids and families in our state. In order to make Arkansas a better place for all of us, AACF hopes that this year: […]
The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Arizona’s State Budget and Taxes: What Every Arizonan Needs to Know About Growing Our Economy
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
When all types of state and local taxes are combined—income, sales and property—families with incomes in the bottom fifth pay nearly three times what families in the top 1 percent do—$12.50 for every $100 of income compared to $4.58 for the highest income families and $8.20 for middle income families. Sales taxes make up the […]
The Economic Progress Institute: Rhode Island Standard of Need
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The Economic Progress Institute publishes the Rhode Island Standard of Need (RISN) to answer two fundamental questions: What is the cost of meeting basic needs for families and individuals in Rhode Island? How do state and federal work and income supports help households meet the cost of basic needs? The RISN calculates a no-frills […]
Third and State: Undocumented Immigrants Already Paying Billions in State/Local Taxes
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Just this week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a comprehensive report on the state and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants. In the public debate about immigration policy, there are often gross inaccuracies about undocumented immigrants that are presented as facts. This important report provides state-by-state and national estimates on undocumented immigrants’ […]
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays For An Increase in the PIT to 4% on Income From Wealth
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Legislators are currently working to find the revenues necessary to fund the appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate this week. They are finding it difficult to agree on a proposal that raises genuine, recurring revenues in a way that does not make our already inequitable tax system more unfair. One constitutional way to […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Private school tax subsidy blurs the line between charitable gift and money laundering
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Carl Davis is Research Director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state, and local tax policy issues. Photo by ccPixs.com / CC BY 2.0 Photo by ccPixs.com / CC BY 3.0 When is a charitable contribution not a “donation” at all? If a […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: The tax shift rears its head
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Last week the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee approved SB 977, a bill that would suspend 23 tax credits for the next two years as a way to partially address the state’s massive budget shortfall. While the bill targets numerous credits, a large majority of the impact would come from ending three important tax credits […]
Maryland Center for Economic Policy:To Support a Strong Economy, All Marylanders Must Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Maryland’s success today is due to our past public investment in good schools, a strong transportation system and other building blocks of a prosperous economy. As another “tax day” rolls around, it’s worth remembering that the income taxes we pay help make these investments possible. Cutting state income taxes or corporate taxes would undermine […]
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: A Preview of the 2016-2018 Kentucky State Budget
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
A comprehensive preview of the upcoming two-year Kentucky state budget confirms both a massive funding gap facing the state for the next two years and a need for reinvestment in many areas post-recession. Authored by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP), the report notes that expected growth in state revenue the first year […]
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: 2016 Kentucky Budget Primer
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The Budget of the Commonwealth is a financial plan, enacted every two years by Kentucky’s General Assembly, that maps out our state’s investments in education, health, transportation, public safety, human services and other areas that build a strong state economy. As such, the budget is a statement of Kentucky’s priorities: How we invest reflects […]
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Inheritance Tax Repeal Is Giveaway to the Top Kentucky Can’t Afford
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Since 1906, Kentucky has relied on the inheritance tax to help pay for the good schools, infrastructure and other investments that strengthen the Commonwealth. A repeal of the inheritance tax would be a $51 million tax cut tilted to the very wealthy that would weaken those investments and make economic progress harder in the […]
Iowa Fiscal Partnership: Understanding Iowa Taxes
January 10, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The Iowa Fiscal Partnership is pleased to distribute a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: The ITEP Guide to Fair State and Local Taxes. We hope you will find this useful in understanding and evaluating state and local tax policy. Many of the general tax principles and issues presented in the […]
Indiana Institute for Working Families: Tax Rate Cuts to Offset Gas and Cigarette Tax Increases? There are Better Ways
January 9, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Ensuring Indiana has funding needed to adequately repair its roads and bridges over the next several years is a top priority among lawmakers this legislative session. Among the proposed infrastructure improvement plans is HB 1001, which would raise the state’s gasoline tax by 4 cents per gallon, the tax on diesel fuel by 7 […]
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.