1,134 posts
Assessing the Income Tax Treatment of Social Security Benefits
• By ITEP Staff
Early in the 2007 legislative session Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and House Speaker Rod Jetton made eliminating the state’s personal income tax on Social Security benefits a priority. In May, the legislature passed a bill that would eliminate the income tax on Social Security benefits for some better-off seniors. This bill is currently awaiting Governor […]
Combined Reporting – How Does Your State Stack Up?
• By ITEP Staff
Over the past few years, a number of states, seeking to address longstanding flaws in their corporate income taxes and significant declines in the revenue they yield, have instituted a major reform: combined reporting. Combined reporting requires multi-state corporations to report the income earned by both the parent corporation and all of its subsidiaries and […]
ITEP Testimony on Tax Reform Bill HB750 in Illinois
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on the revenue-raising tax reform bill, House Bill 750 and Illinois’ current tax structure. In particular, my testimony will discuss the state’s current tax structure and reveal the opportunity that HB 750 provides. Read the Full Report (PDF)
ITEP Testimony on Nebraska EITC Expansion
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony focuses on Legislative Bill 683, which would expand the Nebraska Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In particular, my testimony will discuss the impact of this bill on the overall fairness of Nebraska’s tax system. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Broad-Based Gross Receipts Taxes: A Worthwhile Alternative?
• By ITEP Staff
States currently face a number of fiscal challenges, ranging from unresolved structural deficit, to underlying flaws in their existing tax systems, to the demands posed by ambitious initiatives such as improved access to health care. In response, some policymakers are casting about for new alternatives for generating revenue that do not seem to require visible or difficult changes in law. One such alternative that has gained in popularity in the past few years is a…
ITEP Testimony on Combined Corporate Income Tax Reporing in Maryland
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony today examines a problem facing not just Maryland, but a number of different states – the erosion of the corporate income tax and the related emergence of profitable “zero-tax corporations.” I also will discuss the single best strategy available to lawmakers seeking to respond to the problem of corporate tax avoidance – mandatory […]
ITEP Testimony on HB 444 Proposal to Exclude Social Security Benefits from Tax
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on one bill introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives: HB 444, which concerns excluding Social Security Benefits from the Missouri’s income tax. In particular, my testimony will discuss the impact of this bill on the overall fairness of Missouri’s tax system. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Dollars and Cents – Bringing Nebraska’s Tax System Into the 21st Century (Powerpoint)
• By ITEP Staff
Goals of the Workshop • What makes a good state tax system?• How does Nebraska’s tax system (and those of other states) fall short?• Options for reform: A national perspective• Back to reality: the best and worst of tax reform in 2005-2006.• Federal legislation: threats & opportunities Download the Powerpoint
Why Large Corporations Can Do Business in Your State Tax-Free – The “Substantial Nexus” Test
• By ITEP Staff
The holiday season is in full swing — and chances are you’re buying gifts on the Internet or over the phone, from people you will never meet and companies that will never set foot in your state. These companies are clearly benefitting from services provided by your state government. They could not conduct their business […]
How Will the 2006 Special Session Affect Louisiana Tax Fairness?
• By ITEP Staff
Louisiana lawmakers currently face a pleasant dilemma: how to dispose of a short-term budget surplus exceeding $2 billion. In the opening days of the special legislative session that began last Friday, tax writers in the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee approved several bills that would reduce state income tax collections substantially. This analysis […]
Analysis of Proposed Capital Gains Tax Cut
• By ITEP Staff
The Ohio legislature is considering a proposal to scrap the current Ohio rule that taxes capital gains (profits from selling stock, investment real estate, etc.) at the same rates as other income. The plan would reduce the maximum Ohio tax rate on capital gains as follows: In 2007, from the currently scheduled 6.555 percent to […]
ITEP Testimony on HB 1960 Proposed Income Tax Reform
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on one bill introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives: HB 1960, which concerns reforming the state’s individual income tax structure. In particular, my testimony will discuss the impact of this bill on the overall fairness of Missouri’s tax system. This bill would make the overall tax structure more equitable and […]
Achieving Adequacy: Tax Options for New York in the Wake of the CFE Case
• By ITEP Staff
Achieving Adequacy is intended to provide a useful resource for understanding the impact of recent school finance legislation on the state’s tax and education system. The study examines options available to New York policy makers as they seek to adequately fund elementary and secondary education and other public services. Read the Full Report (PDF)
ITEP Testimony Bill 16-35 Proposed Income Tax Changes
• By ITEP Staff
ITEP’s analysis of Bill 16-35 shows that it would impact the District’s tax system in two important ways. First, the bill would make the District’s tax system less unfair by reducing the income tax on low- and middle-income D.C. residents. Second, it would reduce the revenues available to fund public services by about $86 million […]
ITEP Testimony on SB 403 and SB 748 – Combined Reporting & Corporate Minimum Tax
• By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on a trend in the Maryland corporate income tax that is becoming increasingly visible—the emergence of profitable “zero-tax corporations”—and on two effective and complementary solutions to this problem, mandatory combined reporting and a gross-receipts-based minimum corporate tax. Requiring combined reporting of the income of multi-state corporations would help ensure the long-term […]
State Corporate Income Taxes 2001-2003
• By ITEP Staff
Last September, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy published Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years, an in-depth look at the taxes that 275 large, profitable corporations paid, or failed to pay, on their U.S. profits over the 2001-03 period. That study found that by 2003, these corporations were […]
The Impact of the Tennessee Tax Structure Study Commission’s Tax Reform Recommendations on Tax Fairness
• By ITEP Staff
Tennessee’s tax system is regressive, requiring low- and middle-income families to pay more of their income in tax than wealthier Tennesseans. A tax reform plan recently proposed by the Tennessee Tax Structure Study Commission would reduce the state sales tax, repeal local sales taxes, cut business taxes, and introduce a personal income tax. This analysis […]
Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years
• By ITEP Staff
This study details which companies have benefitted the most from the decline in corporate taxes over the past three years, and which have been less fortunate. It also measures the effects of loopholes in our corporate tax laws that predated the George W. Bush administration. Specifically, the study looks at the federal income taxes paid […]
The Effects of Replacing Most Federal Taxes with a National Sales Tax
• By ITEP Staff
Recently, there has been renewed discussion of the possibility of replacing most federal taxes with a national retail sales tax. Such an idea was broached in the 1990s, but political interest waned when it was discovered that it would take a sales-tax rate well in excess of 50 percent to replace existing federal revenues. In […]
The Impact of the Ron Sims Tax Plan on Washington Tax Fairness
• By ITEP Staff
Washington’s tax system is regressive, requiring low- and middle-income families to pay far more of their income in tax than wealthier Washingtonians. A tax reform plan recently proposed by gubernatorial candidate Ron Sims would change the state’s tax system by repealing the state’s general business tax and the state sales tax, creating a $100,000 homeowner’s […]
A Primer on State Rainy Day Funds
• By ITEP Staff
In recent years, most state governments have experienced painful budget deficits. Many states have reacted to these shortfalls by cutting spending or increasing taxes. Almost all states now have a third option that can help postpone these painful decisions: using a rainy day fund (RDF). Like a savings account, an RDF sets aside surplus revenue during periods of economic growth for use in times of budget shortfalls. This policy brief takes a closer look at…
Federal Taxation of Earnings Versus Investment Income in 2004
• By ITEP Staff
How do personal taxes on total investment income compare to taxes on earnings right now? This paper addresses that question. The analysis includes both the individual income tax, which applies in varying degrees to both earnings and investment income, and Social Security and Medicare taxes, which apply only to wages and selfemployment earnings. The central […]
Value Added Taxes: An Option for States?
• By ITEP Staff
In recent months, lawmakers in a number of states have suggested that a particular type of sales tax, called the value-added tax or VAT, might be a cure-all for state budgetary problems. Although Michigan is the only state that currently relies on a VAT as a major revenue source, several other states have recently considered implementing this type of tax. This policy brief evaluates the case for (and against) implementing a VAT at the state…
State Corporate Tax Disclosure: Why It’s Needed
• By ITEP Staff
Corporate income taxes are in decline. Corporate tax revenues represent a smaller piece of the federal and state tax pie than at almost any time since World War II. While it is possible to diagnose some of the reasons for this decline on the federal level, very little public information is available to help policymakers evaluate the health of the corporate taxes collected by state governments. For this reason, some policymakers have called for better…
Does Personal Income Tax Progressivity Inhibit Economic Growth?
• By ITEP Staff
What is the relationship between income tax burdens and state economic growth? A December 2003 study by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), titled Income Tax Progressivity in Oklahoma: Hindering Economic Growth, Variating State Revenue, attempts to weigh in on this issue. The authors of the report claim that Oklahoma’s personal income tax is […]
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.