Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

La Opinión: Los indocumentados que Trump quiere deportar aportan millones de dólares a la economía

August 15, 2024

En una entrevista con la cadena ABC el pasado domingo, el compañero de fórmula de Donald Trump en la mancuerna presidencial republicana, JD Vance, evadió responder cuál será el proceso para identificar y deportar a millones de indocumentados, la pieza central de su campaña, y se limitó a recitar las usuales frases que son código de movilización para su base: frontera “abierta”, muro, criminales.

America’s Voice: Immigrants Contribute a Lot – Just Ask the Researchers

August 13, 2024

Recent research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reveals that undocumented immigrants contributed an astounding $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Six of the most immigrant-populous states accounted for a combined $21.1 billion of these contributions, with California leading the way at $8.5 billion in tax revenue. The research further showed that these workers pay into programs that they’re barred from accessing, and in most areas pay higher state and local tax rates than their wealthiest neighbors. 

NPR Planet Money: The Economic Mind of Tim Walz

August 13, 2024

In recent weeks, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz burst from relative obscurity to co-headlining the Democratic presidential ticket. Walz’s career rocket launch was fueled by his cutting political rhetoric, folksy midwestern charm, jovial dad vibes, and progressive principles and accomplishments.

The Washington Examiner: The Coming Multifront Battle Over the Corporate Tax Rate

August 12, 2024

Next year is likely to see the biggest battle over the taxation of corporations in nearly a decade, a multifront engagement that will pit free marketers and big business against Democrats and populists. The corporate tax rate is set to be a point of negotiation in a historic “fiscal cliff” scheduled for next year, when the individual portions of the Trump tax cuts expire.

USA Today: Trump’s Lies About Undocumented Immigrants Hide the Truth: They Pay Their Share of Taxes

August 9, 2024

These payments fund essential public services and immigrants' own paths to legal status. Misinformation about undocumented immigrants in America is harmful and leads to stereotypes and policies that not only hurt immigrants but Americans and businesses, too.

Every Texan: Undocumented Texans Paid $4.9 billion in State and Local Taxes in 2022.

August 8, 2024

Undocumented immigrants are essential contributors to Texas’ economy and robust job growth. Regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, immigrant families pay state and local taxes to support vital public services that benefit all of us, such as schools and colleges, roads, parks, and libraries. A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) confirms in 2022 1.9 million undocumented Texans paid a hefty $4.9 billion in state and local taxes. 

ABC News: What is Tim Walz’s Record on the Economy? Look at Minnesota.

August 8, 2024

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has enacted economic policies in the state on key issues like job creation and taxes. The track record, stretching back to 2018, indicates how he may approach such issues if granted the nation's second-highest office. His positions could also help shape perceptions of the Harris-Walz ticket on the economy, which ranks as one of the most important issues among voters. Here's what to know about where Walz stands on key economic issues:

Bangor Daily News: Immigrants Add Value to the US

August 8, 2024

With so much focus on immigration, there is unfortunately much false information being shared about immigrants and their impact on the U.S. One common misperception is that immigrants are a drain on the economy. A recent national report adds new information to debunk such arguments. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. More than half went to the federal government.

Mother Jones: How Trump’s “Mass Deportation” Plan Would Ruin America

August 8, 2024

This election cycle, former President Donald Trump has made one campaign promise the most prominent: Mass deportation. It is a long-standing vow. In 2016, Trump said he would deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Once in the White House, he ordered sweeping worksite raids, enacted a ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries, and deliberately separated migrant families, many of whom have yet to be reunited.

New York Times: A Walzonomics Primer

August 7, 2024

It’s been nearly 24 hours since Kamala Harris announced Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, catapulting him into the national spotlight. Unlike other candidates for the position, including Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, the Midwestern politician hasn’t been closely scrutinized — until now. Here’s where he stands on some key business issues.

Fox Business: Kamala Harris’ VP Pick: What to Know About Tim Walz’s Economic Track Record

August 7, 2024

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's economic track record is under the microscope after Vice President Harris' decision Tuesday to select Walz as her running mate on the Democratic Party's 2024 ticket.

Yahoo Finance: The Economic Risk of Trump’s Deportation Plan

August 6, 2024

The surge of migrants entering the United States during part of Joe Biden’s presidency has played to Donald Trump’s signature issue. Trump launched his first campaign for president in 2015 with an anti-immigrant rant, and the issue has worked for him ever since. So Trump, in his third campaign for president, has raised his bid on the issue, promising the “mass deportation” of up to 20 million people if he wins a second term.

ProPublica: How a Washington Tax Break for Data Centers Snowballed Into One of the State’s Biggest Corporate Giveaways

August 5, 2024

In 2010, as the country still reeled from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, tech companies, real estate developers and rural lobbyists went to the state Capitol in Olympia, Washington, to press for a tax break for data centers.

Boston Globe: The Hidden Tax Power of Undocumented Immigrants

August 5, 2024

A common argument among anti-immigrant politicians and advocates is that noncitizens who are in the United States illegally exploit government benefits and constitute a financial burden on the country. That claim is largely inaccurate and misleading. The latest evidence was provided this week by policy analysts and researchers at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. They found that undocumented immigrants in the United States paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, averaging $8,889 per person.

USA Today: Report: Targeted for Deportation by Trump, Undocumented Immigrants Pay Billions in Taxes

August 1, 2024

Florida is among a half-dozen states which each collect more than $1 billion in taxes from undocumented immigrants – a flow of public money likely to disappear under Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, a new report shows.

Newsweek: Undocumented Immigrants’ Payments Into Social Security Detailed in Report

August 1, 2024

New analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that undocumented residents paid £25.7 billion into Social Security funds and $6 billion into Medicare in 2022; both programs that they are not entitled to use. In total, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion, or roughly $9,000 per person, in taxes in 2022.

Florida Policy Institute: Florida Should Welcome Immigrants

August 1, 2024

New research confirms that immigrants without a documented status still contribute economically, despite most not being eligible for any public services or benefits. Many immigrants without a documented status pay taxes — primarily via sales and excise taxes on purchases.[1] The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s (ITEP’s) latest report details the state and local taxes immigrants without a documented status contribute throughout the United States. Nationwide, ITEP finds that for every 1 million undocumented immigrant residents, revenue for public services increases by $8.9 billion.

Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice: How Hawaiʻi’s Hardworking Undocumented Immigrants Support Our Economy and Communities

August 1, 2024

Undocumented immigrants work hard in Hawaiʻi and play a vital role in our economy, boosting both our general excise and individual income tax revenue. This is despite the fact that it is more difficult for them to file taxes than for other Hawaiʻi residents. A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) lifts up the significant tax contributions that these immigrants make to our federal, state and local governments through the taxes they pay each year.

Immigration Research Initiative: People Who Are Undocumented: Occupations, Taxes Paid, and Long-Term Economic Benefits

July 30, 2024

As a July 2024 report from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows, people who are undocumented paid $97 billion in taxes in 2022. A total of $34 billion comes from payroll taxes to cover programs that exclude people who are undocumented from getting benefits: $25.6 billion paid to Social Security, $6.4 billion to Medicare, and, through contributions of their employers, $1.8 billion to unemployment insurance (which is a joint federal and state program). In other words, workers who are undocumented have wages withheld or employers are required to pay for programs that benefit other Americans, but which…

McClatchy DC: Undocumented Immigrants in California Are Paying Billions in Taxes. Here’s How Much.

July 30, 2024

Amid pledges for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by presidential candidate Donald Trump, a new study has highlighted the increasingly positive economic effects of this community. The report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based progressive research group, found undocumented immigrants nationwide paid an estimated $96.7 billion in taxes in 2022. About $37.3 billion was spent on state and local taxes, and the rest went to federal taxes.

Quartz: ‘Trump Trade’ Is Back in Focus

July 16, 2024

The world’s financial markets are growing increasingly open to the likelihood that former President Donald Trump will make his way to a second term in the White House. All it took was outperforming President Joe Biden on a debate stage and surviving an assassination attempt.

Route 50: States, Cities Consider ‘Mansion Taxes’ to Fund Affordable Housing

July 15, 2024

States and cities have been throwing darts at the wall, trying to find dedicated funding to tackle affordable housing needs. Nationwide, tens of millions of families are struggling amid a housing shortage with rent and housing costs. Home prices are up about 60% over the past decade, adjusted for inflation. And about a quarter of renters—some 12 million households—spend more than half their income on housing, which is far above the recommended 30%. To support affordable housing development and other initiatives in the rapidly growing Denver area, Mayor Mike Johnston on Monday unveiled a proposed new tax that would add 0.5%…

Nonprofit Quarterly: Can Taxes Reduce Inequality? What a Study of State and Local Taxes Tells Us

July 11, 2024

Who pays? Along with its companion question of “who benefits,” “who pays” has long been a central concern of both politics and economics. Earlier this year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) published Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, its seventh study on the topic since 1996 and its first since 2018.

The 19th News: Republicans Want to Kill the Dept. of Ed and Privatize Education. Billionaires Are Helping Them.

July 10, 2024

In the fall, the Department of Education will mark 45 years since its inception, but that anniversary could be its last if Donald Trump gets his way. The federal agency is one of several he’s vowed to slash if reelected president.

Education Week: A State Considers a Future in Which Schools Can’t Rely on Property Taxes

July 10, 2024

What would a world without property taxes look like? In every state, revenue from property taxes is one of the biggest sources of K-12 school funding. But that could change soon as efforts ramp up in a handful of states to abandon property taxes altogether, or at least as a funding source for schools.