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report August 23, 2018 ITEP Testimony “Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force”
Read the testimony in PDF WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO: THE ARKANSAS TAX REFORM AND RELIEF TASK FORCE Lisa Christensen Gree, Senior State Tax Policy Analyst Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy… -
ITEP Work in Action August 22, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Clean Up the Tax Code to Invest in Our Commonwealth
To move our tax code in the right direction, Kentucky should rejoin 32 other states with a graduated income tax based on ability to pay. Income below $37,500 single/$75,000 married… -
media mention August 17, 2018 Press Herald: Will Maine Referendum On Home Care Result In ‘Marriage Penalty’ Tax?
Aidan Davis, senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office on June 15 stating that the income… -
blog August 15, 2018 1964: Unconditional War on Poverty; 2018: Unconditional War on the Poor
During his first State of the Union address in January 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson declared a War on Poverty in response to a national poverty rate of more than 19… -
blog August 9, 2018 Insult to Injury: Why Tax Cuts 2.0 Makes No Sense
In this illustrated breakdown of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and Tax Cuts 2.0, ITEP staff examine TCJA’s role in growing income inequality, broken promises from corporations pledging to invest tax savings into workers and wages, and the embarrassment of riches flowing to the wealthiest Americans as a result of these “middle-class tax cuts.”
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blog August 7, 2018 Updating Sales and Excise Taxes to Reflect Today’s Economy
Consumers’ growing interest in online shopping and “gig economy” services like Uber and Airbnb has forced states and localities to revisit their sales taxes, for instance. Meanwhile new evidence on the dangers and causes of obesity has led to rising interest in soda taxes, but the soda industry is fighting back. Carbon taxes are being discussed as a tool for combatting climate change. And changing attitudes toward cannabis use have spurred some states to move away from outright prohibition in favor of legalization, regulation and taxation.
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ITEP Work in Action August 6, 2018 Itchy Tax Trigger Finger: Tax Foundation Says Aim Toward Foot
Accounting for all the possible curveballs the future economy might throw at our state is impossible. That’s why legislators bother coming together every year to assess our budget and make choices based on the best available, most current information. One dubious new style of tax change, “tax triggers”, attempts to base major future tax and revenue changes only on the information we have today. Tax triggers are dangerous and generally work by automatically kicking in a tax cut when revenue or some other metric reaches a certain level.
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ITEP Work in Action August 1, 2018 Indiana Institute for Working Families: The Status of Working Families in Indiana: 2018 Report
Indiana faces a choice of whether to continue down a southward-leading path of low-road policies, or to rebuild its economy for Hoosier families. By adopting a policy agenda for working families that improves Indiana’s jobs with higher wage and labor standards; strengthens protections for Hoosier families including repairing the safety net and crafting consumer and job safeguards; and increases economic mobility through improved access to education, rebalancing the state’s regressive tax and budget structure, and focusing economic development on strengthening Hoosier families and communities, Indiana can reclaim its place as a leader in the Midwest and in the nation.
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ITEP Work in Action July 15, 2018 Cleveland.com: Changes Needed in Ohio’s Tax Policy (Opinion)
The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy has examined the major state tax changes since 2005. For the top 1 percent, who make at least $480,000 a year, the tax cuts average $40,790 annually. Middle-income Ohioans on average have not received a cut, while those in the poorest fifth, earning less than $22,000, got an average increase of $140.
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ITEP Work in Action July 15, 2018 American Federation of Teachers: A Decade of Neglect–Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession
“A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession,” details the devastating impact on schools, classrooms and students when states choose to pursue an austerity agenda in the false belief that tax cuts will pay for themselves.
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brief July 12, 2018 Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
An updated version of this brief for 2019 is available here. Read this report in PDF. Overview Sales taxes are an important revenue source, composing close to half of all… -
report July 11, 2018 Federal Tax Cuts in the Bush, Obama, and Trump Years
Since 2000, tax cuts have reduced federal revenue by trillions of dollars and disproportionately benefited well-off households. From 2001 through 2018, significant federal tax changes have reduced revenue by $5.1 trillion, with nearly two-thirds of that flowing to the richest fifth of Americans.
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blog July 10, 2018 Building on Momentum from Recent Years, 2018 Delivers Strengthened Tax Credits for Workers and Families
Despite some challenging tax policy debates, a number of which hinged on states’ responses to federal conformity, 2018 brought some positive developments for workers and their families. This post updates a mid-session trends piece on this very subject. Here’s what we have been following:
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blog July 2, 2018 ITEP Summer Reading (and Listening) List
Ah, summertime – a season synonymous with sunshine, backyard barbecues and mercury rising. Outside of our day jobs analyzing tax policy, we occasionally take a break from our screens to… -
ITEP Work in Action June 28, 2018 Washington Post: N.J. Approaches a Government Shutdown as Democrats Feud Over Tax on Millionaires
New Jersey is just days away from a government shutdown over a plan to raise taxes on the rich that has divided Democrats and revealed the political difficulty of raising funds for the party’s ambitious social spending goals.
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report June 27, 2018 The Other SALT Cap Workaround: Accountants Steer Clients Toward Private K-12 Voucher Tax Credits
On May 23, 2018, the IRS and Treasury Department announced that they “intend to propose regulations addressing the federal income tax treatment of certain payments made by taxpayers for which… -
blog June 26, 2018 Gas Taxes Rise in Seven States, Including an Historic Increase in Oklahoma
A rare sight is coming to Oklahoma. The last time the Sooner State raised its gas tax rate, the Berlin Wall was still standing, and Congress was debating whether to ban smoking on flights shorter than two hours. Fast forward 31 years, and Oklahoma is finally at it again. On Sunday, the state’s gas tax rate will rise by 3 cents and its diesel tax rate by 6 cents. Both taxes will now stand at 19 cents per gallon—still among the lowest in the country. But Oklahoma isn’t the only state where gas taxes will soon rise.
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ITEP Work in Action June 26, 2018 Scene: Policy Matters Ohio Proposes State Income Tax Overhaul to Help Low- and Middle-Income Ohioans
After presenting the recommendations contained within a new report Tuesday morning, Policy Matters Ohio researcher director (and the report’s lead author) Zach Schiller was asked whether or not Ohio, a “center-right state,” would realistically support a tax code overhaul that proposed taxing Ohio’s wealthiest at a higher rate.
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ITEP Work in Action June 25, 2018 Policy Matters Ohio: Overhaul: A plan to rebalance Ohio’s income tax
Policy Matters proposes the following changes to the state income tax […] This would generate almost $2.6 billion a year, including the cost of expanding the EITC, according to analysis… -
news release June 21, 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Decision Brings Overdue Fairness to Retail Sales Tax
Following is a statement by Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. Mr. Davis has authored numerous policy briefs regarding how online retailers that fail to collect sales taxes deprive states of necessary sales tax revenue and maintain an unfair advantage over bricks and mortar retailers.
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blog June 13, 2018 All Bets are Off: State-Sponsored Sports Betting Isn’t Worth the Risk
Many state legislators and regulators are considering expanding state-sponsored gambling by allowing betting on major league sports games. But the revenue states could bring in isn’t worth the risk.
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ITEP Work in Action June 13, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: On Immigration Rhetoric, Consider the Facts
These undocumented Oklahomans currently contribute about $85 million in state and local taxes per year, according to our best estimates. They pay sales tax directly when they purchase goods and… -
brief June 12, 2018 Lottery, Casino and other Gambling Revenue: A Fiscal Game of Chance
Cash-strapped, tax-averse state lawmakers continue to seek unconventional revenue-raising alternatives to the income, sales, and property taxes that form the backbone of most state tax systems. However, gambling revenues are rarely as lucrative, or as long-lasting, as supporters claim.
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ITEP Work in Action June 8, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: To Improve Public Safety and Insurance rates, Allow Undocumented Oklahomans to Drive Legally
Oklahoma’s approximately 95,000 undocumented immigrants are a force in Oklahoma’s economy, accounting for about 1 in 30 members of the workforce and contributing roughly $85 million in state and local… -
ITEP Work in Action June 5, 2018 Center for American Progress: The 7 States Suing to End DACA Would Be Harmed by a Victory in Court
Through their employment, DACA recipients are contributors to their localities and states as wage earners and taxpayers. A 2017 state-by-state study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed…