• 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…
  • map   May 22, 2019

    How Does Your State Tax Income?

    One of the most important decisions that must be made when designing a state personal income tax is whether to charge taxpayers a single flat rate on all their taxable income, or whether to levy a series of graduated rates that ask more of high-income taxpayers

  • blog   May 22, 2019

    Proposals for Refundable Tax Credits Are Light Years from Tax Policies Enacted in Recent Years

    A new ITEP report examines five big proposals that have been announced this year to create or expand tax credits to address inequality and help low- and middle-income households.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    Understanding Five Major Federal Tax Credit Proposals

    Federal lawmakers have recently announced at least five proposals to significantly expand existing tax credits or create new ones to benefit low- and moderate-income people. While these proposals vary a great deal and take different approaches, all would primarily benefit taxpayers who received only a small share of benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    Cost-of-Living Refund Act

    The Cost-of-Living Refund Act would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low- and moderate-income working people. The maximum EITC would nearly double for working families with children. Working people without children would receive an EITC that is nearly six times the size of the small EITC that they are allowed under current law.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    American Family Act

    The American Family Act would expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families. The CTC would increase from $2,000 under current law to $3,000 for each child age six and older and to $3,600 for each child younger than age six. The proposal removes limits on the refundable part of the credit so that low- and moderate-income families with children could receive the entire credit.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    Working Families Tax Relief Act

    The Working Families Tax Relief Act would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    LIFT the Middle Class Act

    The LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) the Middle Class Act would create a new tax credit of up to $3,000 for single people and up to $6,000 for married couples, which would be an addition to existing tax credits. Eligible taxpayers would be allowed a credit equal to the maximum amount or their earnings, whichever is less. Income limits would prevent well-off households from receiving the credit.

  • report   May 22, 2019

    Rise Credit

    The Rise Credit would replace the existing EITC. In most cases, the Rise Credit would be $4,000 for single people and $8,000 for married couples. Eligible taxpayers would be allowed a credit equal to the maximum amount or their earnings, whichever is less.

  • blog   May 21, 2019

    Gas Taxes Have Gone Up in Most States, but Decades-Long Procrastinators Remain

    The upcoming Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the traditional summer driving season. In most states, summer road-trippers are paying more gas tax than they did a few years ago and are benefiting from smoother and safer roads as a result. In total, 30 states have raised or reformed their gas taxes in the last six years.

  • map   May 20, 2019

    These States Abandoned Old Gas Tax Structures in Favor of More Sustainable Variable-Rate Gas Taxes

    Because of these reforms, more than 193 million people (or 59 percent of the U.S. population) now live in places where the state gas tax rate automatically varies over time.