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NC Teachers’ March on Raleigh and the Tax Cuts that Led Them There
May 15, 2018 • By Aidan Davis
Once again, public school teachers are taking a stand for education and against irresponsible, top-heavy tax cuts that deprive states of the revenue they need to sufficiently fund public services, including education.
Michigan League for Public Policy: The Looming Danger of Tax Cut Triggers in Michigan
May 15, 2018
New analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) uses current year and two-year forecasts to calculate the impact that a 0.1 or 0.25 rate reduction in the Personal Income Tax (PIT) could have on taxpayers and state revenue. The data shows that any reduction in the PIT actually shifts the tax load further to low-income Michiganders.
New Jersey Policy Perspectives: DACA Recipients Contribute $59 Million Per Year in Taxes
May 15, 2018
The ITEP study found that New Jersey’s young immigrants eligible for DACA contribute $59 million in state and local taxes each year, the seventh highest level of all fifty states. These contributions would increase by $38 million per year – the sixth most of all states – if all of those eligible for DACA enrolled […]
Seattle Weekly: Seattle City Council Passes Reduced Head Tax
May 14, 2018
This comes on the heels of a 2015 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report that showed Washington has the most regressive tax system in the country because of its high reliance on sales taxes. Read more
News & Observer: Arizona Income Tax story
May 12, 2018
Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the public could be more likely to support income tax hikes since federal tax debate in the fall. “People understand the consequences,” she said. “They’re starting to connect the dots of what does it mean when there’s less revenue to spend.” The […]
Valdosta Daily Times: T-SPLOST: Good for our community
May 12, 2018
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the fuel tax in Georgia actually increased .3 cents on gasoline and .4 cents on diesel in 2017. The fuel tax is indexed to the consumer price index and is adjusted annually. So basically there was no real increase in revenue to fund additional projects with […]
Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy: Idaho Primary Election Fiscal Policy Guide
May 11, 2018
This guide provides a brief summary of proposed tax changes put forth by the candidates. Estimates of the distributional impact on Idaho taxpayers and state revenue and provided by the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy.
Marketplace: Tax cuts: Have they benefited Indiana’s economy?
May 11, 2018
As for the potential long-term consequences, the richest Indiana taxpayers will receive the largest average tax cuts in 2027 (with an average cut of $4,840), while taxes would go up slightly for the poorest 20 percent (with an average increase of $160), according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more
New Tax Subsidy for Private K-12 Tuition in Massachusetts Creates a Host of Problems
May 9, 2018 • By Carl Davis
Last year’s federal tax cut bill changed 529 college savings accounts in a major way, expanding them so that they can be used as tax shelters by higher-income families who choose to send their children to private K-12 schools. This controversial change was added in the Senate by the slimmest of margins—requiring a tie-breaking vote […]
Working Life Podcast: A shift in the air on tax cuts?; Arizona uprising update; Inequality is worse than you think
May 9, 2018
The teachers’ uprisings around the nation have challenged the bankrupt ideology of supply-side tax cutting—and maybe marks a shift in the public’s view of taxes and public spending. Jonathan Tasini talks about that with Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more
CNN: North Carolina teachers will be the next to walk out. Here’s what they want
May 8, 2018
An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds North Carolina would have $3.5 billion more in annual revenue if lawmakers had not changed the tax system that was in place in 2013. Read more
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: How Seattle’s Amazon avoids paying taxes
May 8, 2018
Amazon effectively paid no U.S. income taxes in 2017, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Meanwhile, the company reported a staggering $1.9 billion in profits in the fourth quarter of 2017. “At a time when states all want to see HQ2 coming to them, but they don’t necessarily have the cash […]
Bloomberg BNA: Federal Tax Law May Spur Business Relocations Among States
May 8, 2018
Such migration concerns are “overblown,” Carl Davis, research director at the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told Bloomberg Tax. “High-income earners tend to move less often than everyone else because they are already living comfortably,” Davis said. “There is no need for them to uproot their lives in search of a tax savings […]
Washington Post: Iowa Republicans pitch ‘crisis-proof’ tax cuts. Democrats see another Kansas in the making.
May 8, 2018
"The trigger is a politically expedient way for lawmakers to claim they’ve cut your taxes without having to do anything immediately to make up for the consequences of reducing revenue," said Meg Wiehe, of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank.
Quartz: The obscure tax rule that’s stopping US states from paying teachers more
May 5, 2018
When lawmakers do gather enough votes to raise tax revenues, it is usually for “low hanging fruit” like cigarette taxes or a sales tax, said Meg Wielhe, the deputy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax research group. These increases “definitely fall more heavily on low-income families,” she said, which can means […]
Iowa Fiscal Partnership: Tax Plan Facts vs. Spin
May 5, 2018
As Iowa lawmakers consider the agreed-upon tax plan developed by Republican leadership and Governor Reynolds, sharp differences are clear from earlier proposals by the Governor and the House Ways and Means Committee.
In the Face of the Trump Administration’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda, We Must Rely on Evidence to Highlight the Contributions of and Dispel Myths About Dreamers
May 4, 2018 • By Misha Hill
Immigrants face tremendous uncertainty and little hope under the Trump Administration. The administration’s actions—banning travel from residents of primarily Muslim countries, the deportation of Christian Iraqi asylum seekers, and the rescission of DACA, the program that provides temporary reprieve to young immigrants; public statements on the value of immigrants from countries like Norway; and leaked […]
Newly Unveiled Ballot Initiative Aims to Tax Arizona’s Top 1 Percent to Fund Education
May 1, 2018 • By Aidan Davis
Today marks Day 4 of the Arizona teachers’ walkout. After decades of tax cuts and underfunding of public education, education advocates are now driving the debate and urging lawmakers to act. Their newest proposal would raise taxes on incomes above half a million dollars for married couples, or above $250,000 for single taxpayers—that is, the same wealthy taxpayers that just received a generous tax cuts under last year’s federal tax overhaul.
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability: Cutting Taxes for the Middle Class and Shrinking the Deficit
April 30, 2018
According to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, Illinois ranks as the fifth-most-regressive state and local tax system in the country — and the most regressive in the Midwest. In Illinois, the top one percent of income earners pay just 4.6 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the middle 20 percent of workers pay more than double that, coming in at 10.8 percent of income, and the bottom 20 percent of earners have almost three times the tax burden of the wealthiest, coming in at 13.2 percent.
State & Local Tax Contributions of Young Undocumented Immigrants
April 30, 2018 • By Meg Wiehe, Misha Hill
This report specifically examines the state and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants who are currently enrolled or immediately eligible for DACA and the fiscal implications of various policy changes. The report includes information on the national impact (Chart 1) and provides a state-by-state breakdown (Appendices 1 and 2).
Beacon Journal/Ohio.Com Editorial Board: Agenda For The Governor’s Race
April 30, 2018
In one week, Democratic and Republican voters will choose their candidates for the November election. That includes the selections for governor, the job coming open after eight years with John Kasich. The governor has his achievements, most notably, the Medicaid expansion. His tenure also frames a worthy debate for this campaign. Fortunately, Innovation Ohio and Policy Matters Ohio, two think tanks, highlighted that discussion last week in unveiling their report “A Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families.”
Iowa Fiscal Partnership: IFP’s Tax Policy Kit
April 29, 2018
IFP's Tax Policy Kit offers resources for the public, advocates and policy makers who want to better understand the stakes — and sort away the spin — on state tax debates.
Trump Administration’s Spending Priorities Echo Tax Cut Priorities: Punish the Poor and Lavish the Rich
April 27, 2018 • By ITEP Staff, Jenice Robinson, Misha Hill
In 2017, the Trump Administration released a budget proposal filled with loaded language about “welfare reform” and moving able-bodied people from welfare to work. This narrative is designed to perpetuate the pernicious idea that poor people have personal shortcomings and are taking something that rightly belongs to others.
Vox: Arizona Teacher Walkout: How 3 Decades of Tax Cuts Suffocated Public Schools
April 26, 2018
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey tried to avert the strike by promising a 20 percent raise over the next three years — a promise that some say is tied to overly optimistic growth projections. But it’s important to understand why Arizona teachers aren’t just happy with a raise, and why their demands include restoring education funding […]
Trends We’re Watching in 2018, Part 5: 21st Century Consumption Taxes
April 20, 2018 • By Misha Hill
We're highlighting the progress of a few newer trends in consumption taxation. This includes using the tax code to discourage consumption of everything from plastic bags to carbon and collecting revenue from emerging industries like ride sharing services and legalized cannabis sales.
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