• blog   June 27, 2019

    ICYMI: A Brief Summary of Our June Blogs and Reports

    A summary of ITEP reports, analyses and blogs this month.

  • blog   June 27, 2019

    Wealth Tax Is Supported by Basically Everyone Who Is Not a Politician

    A February survey found that 61 percent of registered voters supported a wealth tax proposal, including 51 percent of Republican voters. And it’s not just the non-rich wanting to tax the very rich. A June survey found that 60 percent of millionaires support the idea.

  • news release   June 27, 2019

    Travelers in 12 States Will Pay More in Gas Taxes Beginning Monday

    Drivers in 12 states who hit the road during this summer driving season will be paying more in gas tax beginning Monday, July 1.

    While the federal gas tax has remained stagnant for nearly 26 years, many states have stepped up and increased their taxes so they can raise revenue to fund infrastructure and other projects. California, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont all will raise their gas taxes.

  • blog   June 27, 2019

    Gas Taxes Rise in a Dozen States, Including an Historic Increase in Illinois

    On July 1, 12 states will boost their gasoline taxes and 11 will boost their diesel taxes. The reasons for these increases vary, but they’re generally intended to fund maintenance and improvement of our nation’s transportation infrastructure–a job at which Congress has not excelled in recent years.

  • map   June 27, 2019

    Has Your State Enacted Gas Tax Reform Recently?

    Gas taxes are the most important revenue source that states have available to pay for transportation infrastructure. In recent years, state lawmakers across the country have increasingly agreed that gas taxes must be increased to fund the maintenance and improvement of their infrastructure networks.

  • blog   June 27, 2019

    Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years

    Ohio now enjoys the distinction of being the 30th state to raise or reform its gas tax this decade, and the third state to do so this year, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. While state tax policy can be a contentious topic, there has been a remarkable level of agreement on the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies. These actions are helping reverse losses in gas tax purchasing power caused by rising construction costs and improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency.

  • brief   June 27, 2019

    Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes

    The flawed design of federal and state gasoline taxes has made it exceedingly difficult to raise adequate funds to maintain the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Twenty-eight 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 purchase 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 25 years. Many states have waited a decade or more since last raising their own gas tax rates.

  • blog   June 26, 2019

    Rep. Tlaib’s Tax Credit Proposal Is Most Expansive to Date

    A refundable tax credit proposed by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would be more expansive than other recent tax credit proposals, new estimates from ITEP show. Rep. Tlaib’s proposal, unlike others, does not require households to work to receive the benefit.

  • report   June 25, 2019

    BOOST Act

    The BOOST Act would provide a new tax credit of up to $3,000 for single people and up to $6,000 for married couples, which would be in addition to existing tax credits. Income limits would prevent well-off households from receiving the credit. Unlike other refundable tax credit proposals, the BOOST Act would not be limited to people with earnings or people with children.

  • blog   June 25, 2019

    What to Watch for on Tax Policy During the Presidential Primary

    America needs a new tax code. The Democratic presidential debates beginning this week present an opportunity for candidates to make clear how they would address inequality or to raise enough revenue to make public investments that make the economy work for everyone. Here are some of the big tax issues that we hope they will touch on.

  • blog   June 24, 2019

    The SALT Cap Isn’t Harming State and Local Revenues. Myths About It May Be.

    A House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing on Tuesday will explore a highly controversial provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that prevents individuals and families from writing off more than $10,000 in state and local tax (SALT) payments on their federal tax forms each year. The focus of the hearing will be whether the cap negatively affects state and local revenue streams that fund schools, firefighters, and other services. There are at least three ways this could happen though only one of those is plausible, and it’s not the one that the organizers of this hearing likely expected.

  • blog   June 20, 2019

    UPDATED: New ITEP Data Shows the House Ways and Means Bill to Expand EITC and Child Tax Credit Would Benefit Low- and Moderate-Income People and Families

    Today the House Ways and Means Committee is marking up the Economic Mobility Act of 2019, a bill introduced by Chairman Richard Neal to expand some key tax credits to help low- and moderate-income people and families. New data generated with the ITEP microsimulation tax model show how adults and children would benefit nationally and in each state.

  • blog   June 18, 2019

    We’re Hiring: Lead Tax Model Platform Developer

    Join our team! ITEP has an opening for a Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack) to join our creative, passionate and productive staff as Lead Tax Model Platform Developer. This position will work directly with the technical engine behind our work: ITEP’s Microsimulation Tax Model. The Lead Tax Model Platform Developer reports directly to ITEP’s senior economist and works closely with the entire policy analyst team.

  • blog   June 18, 2019

    Calling Progressive Tax Proposals “Extreme” Are Taunts Meant to Distract

    Dismissing calls for progressive taxes as “radical,” “extreme,” or “socialism” are taunts meant to distract from the real question: Why should we ignore the bottom half of Americans, whose share of the economic pie shrank and now have negative net worth, while allowing the wealthy and powerful, whose net worth more than tripled, to dictate our public policies?

  • media mention   June 14, 2019

    Vox, The Weeds: 5 Big Ideas to Use Tax Credits to Fight Poverty

    Meg Wiehe from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains the leading progressive tax plans in Congress and how they differ from Trump’s tax cuts. Listen to the podcast
  • blog   June 12, 2019

    Taxing the Rich Works

    States are putting evidence into practice with multiple efforts to improve services and tax codes through more progressive taxes on the wealthy. Clear evidence has spread widely this year, informing a national conversation about progressive taxation and leading lawmakers in multiple states to eschew supply-side superstition and act on real evidence instead. Taxing the rich works, and in this Just Taxes blog we review state-level efforts to put these proven findings into effect.

  • blog   June 11, 2019

    New SALT Workaround Regulations Narrow a Tax Shelter, but Work Remains to Close it Entirely

    Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its final regulations cracking down on a tax shelter long favored by private and religious K-12 schools, and more recently adopted by some…
  • map   June 10, 2019

    Does Your State Offer Tax Credits for Private K-12 School Voucher Donations?

    Eighteen states provide public support to private and religious K-12 schools through large tax credits for taxpayers who contribute money to K-12 school voucher funds. These credits range from 50…
  • blog   June 5, 2019

    ITEP Resources on Proposed SALT Workaround Regulations

    After states implemented laws that allow taxpayers to circumvent the new $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), the IRS has proposed regulations to address this practice. It’s a safe bet the IRS will try to crack down on the newest policies that provide tax credits for donations to public education and other public services, but it remains to be seen whether new regulations will put an end to a longer-running practice of exploiting tax loopholes in some states that allow public money to be funneled to private schools.

  • ITEP Work in Action   June 4, 2019

    Policy Matters Ohio: Refundability Now

    The federal credit is so effective that 29 states, including Ohio, have used it as a model for their own EITCs, calculating the state credit’s value as a percentage of the federal one. However, Ohio’s credit leaves out the most important part: refundability.

  • blog   May 30, 2019

    ICYMI: A Brief Summary of Our May Blogs and Reports

    From a new report comparing five major federal tax credit proposals to resources for continuing gas tax debates and the launch of ITEP’s interactive library On the Map, here’s a summary of ITEP news this month.

  • blog   May 30, 2019

    Congressional Research Service Calls Three Strikes on the Trump Tax Cuts

    This new report is the most comprehensive assessment yet undertaken by the CRS, which has an unimpeachable reputation as an impartial arbiter of policy disputes. So, when it says that the TCJA doesn’t appear to have grown wages or the economy and has made our long-term budget deficits even worse, it’s a judgment that will last.

  • map   May 29, 2019

    When Did Your State Enact its EITC?

    In 1986, Rhode Island became the first state to enact a tax credit patterned after the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Since then, EITCs have become increasingly widespread at…
  • blog   May 24, 2019

    Unlike Trump-GOP Tax Law, There Are Tax Plans That Would Actually Deliver on Promise to Help Working People

    Using the tax code to boost the economic security of low- and moderate-income families is a proven strategy. These bold proposals would go much further than any policy currently on the books, and their approach directly contrasts with longstanding supply-side theories that call for continual tax cuts to those who are already economically faring far better than everyone else.

  • ITEP Work in Action   May 23, 2019

    Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the FY 2020-2021 Appropriations and Finance Committee Budget and Revenue Proposals on Children and Families

    The report recommends that state legislators and the Governor repeal the state’s Bond Lock, revise the volatility cap, and implement additional tax reforms that begin to correct the state’s regressive…