Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

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BuzzFeed: Congress Just Passed Another Round Of COVID Checks And Unemployment Aid

March 10, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that 83 million children live in households that will benefit [from the Child Tax Credit expansion]. Currently, the families with the lowest incomes are excluded from receiving this support due to a lack of taxable income. The COVID bill rewrites that language so that families with the […]

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Philadelphia Inquirer: The New Coronavirus Relief Bill Promises Big Financial Help for Parents in the Philly Region

March 10, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Combining the relief checks and tax credits, people in the bottom 60% of earners, those making less than $65,000, would see an 11% jump in income, according to the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Those with families would see the largest benefits. Read more

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Forbes: Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The New Expanded Child Tax Credit

March 10, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

83 million. That’s how many children live in households that will benefit from the expanded credit, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The expansion would send about $116 billion to families with children in 2021, the ITEP estimates. Read more

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CNBC: Stimulus Checks and Expanded Tax Credits

March 10, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

Between stimulus checks and expanded tax credits in the latest Covid-relief package, most U.S. households are poised to get some extra cash. The amount? An average of $3,450 for the bottom 60% of earners ($65,000 or less), according to research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The number reflects direct stimulus payments and […]

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San Francisco Chronicle: California Schools, Governments and Residents to Get Billions in COVID Stimulus

March 9, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

The bill includes another round of direct stimulus payments to Americans. The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 22 million adults and 9 million children in California will benefit from the $1,400 checks. The bill also expands the child tax credit from $2,000 per year to $3,000 for children over the age […]

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Mississippi Today: Study: House Tax Proposal Increases Burden on Poor Mississippians

March 9, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

The bottom 60% of Mississippi’s income earners would be paying more taxes under legislation that has passed the House while the top 40% would be paying less, according to an analysis conducted by a Washington, D.C.-based policy think tank. A person in the top 1% with average income of $924,000 would pay $28,610 less in […]

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CNET: Child Tax Credit 2021 Approval Could Bring More Money Than Stimulus Checks. What to Know

March 9, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

For the bottom 20% of families in terms of income, the proposed expansion of the CTC would increase income by an average of 9.7% — even higher if you consider only tax filers with children, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The proposal would also lift 4.1 million children above the poverty line, […]

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Washington State Budget & Policy Center: Why Now Is the Time to Pass a Tax on Extraordinary Profits

March 8, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Members of the Washington State Senate have an historic opportunity to create a more just state tax code while bolstering and sustaining our state’s fiscal and economic recovery long after federal recovery funds fade away. Senate Bill 5096 would create a new 7% excise tax on extraordinary profits from the sale of financial assets (capital […]

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Fiscal Times: Biden’s Stimulus: What You Need to Know Now

March 8, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

What you need to know about the $1,400 “stimulus checks”: Individuals earning less than $75,000 and couple making less than $150,000 are eligible for the full $1,400 relief payments, plus an additional $1,400 per dependent. The payments phase out completely for individuals who earn more than $80,000 a year and married couples earning more than […]

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Estimates of Cash Payment and Tax Credit Provisions in American Rescue Plan

March 7, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

Update: On March 10, the House passed the Senate version of the COVID relief bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, and sent it to President Biden for his signature. This means that the Senate version of the bill described herein is the final legislation enacted into law.

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West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Governor Justice’s Tax Plan Favors the Wealthy, While Creating Large Holes in the Budget

March 5, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Governor Justice has finally unveiled his proposal to make sweeping changes to the state’s tax system, including a substantial cut to the state’s personal income tax, while raising a variety of sales and other taxes. The changes would be a dramatic shift in who pays state taxes in West Virginia, shifting the responsibility onto working […]

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DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Tax Injustice: DC’s Richest Residents Pay Lower Taxes than Everyone Else

March 5, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

A tax system that adequately advances racial and economic justice must be progressive, requiring the richest people to pay a much higher share of their income in taxes than lower-income families who have little or no wiggle room in their family budget. Yet new findings from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a […]

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How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?

March 5, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

10 states to have gone two decades or more without a gas tax increase.

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How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?

March 5, 2021 • 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.

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Bloomberg Tax: Mega-Rich and Plans to Tax Them Abound in Washington State

March 4, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

According to a Dec. 31 report from the bipartisan Tax Structure Work Group, the state’s system creates average tax burdens at 8.2% of total income for households with income between $17,000 and $30,000 a year, but the burden drops as incomes rise and is only 1.8% for households making more than $208,000. The Institute for […]

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Florida Policy Institute: Florida Policymakers Need to Reassess How the Minimum Wage is Enforced

March 4, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Finally, the state budget could take a hit if wage theft persists. Sales tax revenue as an effect of higher minimum wages is particularly relevant to highlight in Florida. The state lacks a personal income tax and over 75 percent of its general revenue fund is comprised of sales tax revenue. General revenue supports critical […]

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New Estimates on Senate’s Slightly Revised Cash Payment

March 3, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

As the Senate takes up the COVID relief bill passed by the House last week, Senate Democrats have proposed to lower the income level at which the $1,400 cash payments would be phased out. New estimates from ITEP demonstrate that, for most people, the change would make no difference.

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Florida Policy Institute: State Resolution Could Result in $1.47 Billion in Lost Wages for Young Workers and Foregone Sales Tax Revenue for Florida

March 3, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Florida, lacking a personal income tax, relies on sales tax revenue to support critical areas like education and health and human services. More than 75 percent of Florida’s General Revenue Fund, which finances most of these vital services, is comprised of sales tax revenue. Furthermore, Florida households are the highest contributors to sales tax collections, […]

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Montana Budget & Policy Center: Policy Basics: Who Pays Taxes in Montana

March 3, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Our tax dollars serve as shared investments in the programs and services that make our state a great place to live, work, and play. Tax dollars enable Montanans to work together for things we cannot achieve alone like a quality education for our children, the development and maintenance of infrastructure, public safety through police and […]

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ITEP: Senate Should Pass Rescue Plan without Delay

March 2, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer

Senators and representatives can look to recent history—the 2007-2009 recession—for lessons on how to best address the current economic crisis. If we do too little, the economy will stay weak much longer, hurting all of us.

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Senator Warren Introduces Federal Wealth Tax Legislation

March 1, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

With the onslaught of news about billionaire wealth soaring while low- and moderate-income families have trouble making ends meet, a federal wealth tax makes good economic and fiscal sense—and the public supports it. One poll found that 64 percent of respondents favor the idea, including a majority of Republicans.

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How the Minimum Wage Is Becoming a Tax Issue for Congress

February 26, 2021 • By Steve Wamhoff

The federal minimum wage is almost comically low. At $7.25 an hour, it is 29 percent below its inflation-adjusted peak in the 1960s. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty. A solid 61 percent of voters support the idea. A majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate support at least some version of a minimum wage hike. The popular $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes a measure that would raise the minimum wage over the next few years to $15. So, what is the problem? And why are lawmakers now…

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Kansas Action for Children: Working Kansas Families Bear Brunt of Skewed Policies

February 26, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

In the midst of a global pandemic and recession, the Kansas Legislature shockingly continues to consider bills that will further lower the already low tax responsibilities of corporations and high-income Kansans. Lawmakers should reject legislation like Senate Bill 22 and instead work to enhance economic and racial equity through Kansas’s tax code. Our state’s leaders […]

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Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Tax Breaks Don’t Deliver

February 26, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

In addition to eroding the corporate income tax base and harming the state budget, in many cases, the state’s tax credit programs represent the transfer of Georgia taxpayer dollars to large out-of-state corporations and top income earners. Granting funds to corporations in this manner leaves less funding for schools, job training and health care programs […]

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An Unequal Recession Will Breed Unequal Recovery Without Bold Investments

February 26, 2021 • By Stephanie Clegg

Without bold investments now, experts predict a longer, more unequal recovery. President Biden's American Rescue Plan, the framework for legislation expected to pass this week in the House, would boost economic well-being for those whose livelihoods were most affected by the pandemic-induced economic crisis.