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media mention March 8, 2021 Fiscal Times: Biden’s Stimulus: What You Need to Know Now
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… -
report March 7, 2021 Estimates of Cash Payment and Tax Credit Provisions in American Rescue Plan
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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ITEP Work in Action March 5, 2021 West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Governor Justice’s Tax Plan Favors the Wealthy, While Creating Large Holes in the Budget
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… -
ITEP Work in Action March 5, 2021 DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Tax Injustice: DC’s Richest Residents Pay Lower Taxes than Everyone Else
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… -
map March 5, 2021 How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?
10 states to have gone two decades or more without a gas tax increase.
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brief March 5, 2021 How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?
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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media mention March 4, 2021 Bloomberg Tax: Mega-Rich and Plans to Tax Them Abound in Washington State
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… -
ITEP Work in Action March 4, 2021 Florida Policy Institute: Florida Policymakers Need to Reassess How the Minimum Wage is Enforced
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… -
blog March 3, 2021 New Estimates on Senate’s Slightly Revised Cash Payment
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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ITEP Work in Action March 3, 2021 Florida Policy Institute: State Resolution Could Result in $1.47 Billion in Lost Wages for Young Workers and Foregone Sales Tax Revenue for Florida
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… -
ITEP Work in Action March 3, 2021 Montana Budget & Policy Center: Policy Basics: Who Pays Taxes in Montana
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… -
news release March 2, 2021 ITEP: Senate Should Pass Rescue Plan without Delay
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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blog March 1, 2021 Senator Warren Introduces Federal Wealth Tax Legislation
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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blog February 26, 2021 How the Minimum Wage Is Becoming a Tax Issue for Congress
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 talking about using the tax code to mandate a higher minimum wage?
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ITEP Work in Action February 26, 2021 Kansas Action for Children: Working Kansas Families Bear Brunt of Skewed Policies
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… -
ITEP Work in Action February 26, 2021 Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Tax Breaks Don’t Deliver
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… -
blog February 26, 2021 An Unequal Recession Will Breed Unequal Recovery Without Bold Investments
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.
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blog February 24, 2021 Income Tax Discussion Continues in Alaska
Alaska is notoriously reliant on tax and royalty revenue from oil to fund vital public services and institutions, but declining oil prices and production levels have rendered those revenues inadequate to meet the state’s needs. ITEP analysis of potential state income tax options in Alaska shows the potential to raise between $526 million and $696 million per year yet are quite modest compared to personal income tax structures in other states. When measured relative to state residents’ incomes, any of these options would rank among the bottom five lowest state income taxes in the nation.
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report February 24, 2021 Comparing Flat-Rate Income Tax Options for Alaska
Alaska lawmakers are facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis. The state is more dependent than any other on oil tax and royalty revenues but declines in oil prices and production levels have sapped much of the vitality of these revenue sources. One way of diversifying the state’s revenue stream and narrowing the yawning gap between state revenues and expenses would be to reinstitute a statewide personal income tax. Alaska previously levied such a tax until 1980. This report contains ITEP’s analysis of the distributional impact and revenue potential of a variety of flat-rate income tax options for Alaska, based on draft legislation provided by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee.
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blog February 18, 2021 Enacting a Federal Wealth Tax Is Playing the Long Game
Should lawmakers enact laws that they believe are sensible and constitutional, or should they shape their legislative agenda around what they believe ideological Supreme Court justices will allow? This is a dilemma facing Americans who support a federal wealth tax.
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blog February 16, 2021 EITC Enhancements for States to Consider in 2021
While the federal EITC provides a great deal of support for families with children, its impact is limited for those without children or who are not raising children in their homes. Childless workers under 25 and over 64 have for far too long received no benefit from the federal credit. And workers aged 25 to 64 have received very little value from the existing credit (the maximum credit is much smaller and the income limits more restrictive). The federal EITC’s meager benefits for just some childless adults lead to an inequitable outcome: the federal income tax system—which is ostensibly based on ability-to-pay—taxes some impoverished, childless adults deeper into poverty.
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ITEP Work in Action February 15, 2021 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: 10 Ways the Kentucky General Assembly Can Advance Race Equity and Shared Prosperity
HB 356, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Willner, would go a significant way toward cleaning up Kentucky’s tax code of the many tax breaks that benefit wealthy, predominately white Kentuckians —… -
ITEP Work in Action February 12, 2021 Washington State Budget & Policy Center: Washington State’s Upside-down Tax Code is Even More Racist than You Think
Lawmakers in Olympia are finally listening to communities and rightly focusing on addressing racial disparities that have permeated our state economy and institutions for far too long. They must act… -
media mention February 12, 2021 Washington Post: Drug Companies Seek Billion-dollar Tax Deductions from Opioid Settlement
“A settlement has not been reached, and, therefore, we applied significant judgment in estimating the ultimate amount of the opioid litigation settlement that would be deductible,” the company said. Matthew… -
blog February 12, 2021 CARES Act Helps Create $4.6 Billion Tax Cut for Health Care Companies Paying Opioid Settlements
Talk about a one-two punch. A new report from the Washington Post reveals that the U.S. public is set to pay for the opioid crisis again. Already, communities across the country have paid a heavy price via the devastating public health toll. Now, it appears taxpayers will be on the hook for billions in corporate tax breaks as four pharmaceutical companies exploit a loophole in the Trump-GOP tax law and a CARES Act tax provision meant for companies facing pandemic-related profit losses.