Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Replacing Income Tax with Sales Tax is a Boon for the Wealthy

February 15, 2017

Scale back income tax exemptions – Every taxpayer regardless of income receives a $2,000 exemption for each dependent. Phase it out between $150,000-$200,000, and eliminate it for those over $200,000, and it would increase revenue by an estimated $10 million. PowerPoint presentation available here

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What to Watch in the States: Modernizing Sales Taxes for a 21st Century Economy

February 15, 2017 • By Misha Hill

This is the fourth installment of our six-part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here.   State lawmakers often find themselves looking for ways to raise revenue to fund vital public services, fill budget gaps, or pay for the elimination or weakening of progressive taxes. Lately, that search has […]

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State Rundown 2/15: Tax Overhauls Debated Around the Country

February 15, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week we are following a number of significant proposals being debated or introduced including reinstating the income tax in Alaska and eliminating the tax in West Virginia, establishing a regressive tax-cut trigger in Nebraska, restructuring the Illinois sales tax, moving New Mexico to a flat income tax and broader gross receipts tax, and updating […]

Kansas Action for Children: KAC Testimony to the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee in Support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1604

February 15, 2017

The high food sales tax hurts Kansas families. Food is a basic necessity for Kansas’ families. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the state’s increasing reliance on sales tax hurts Kansas’ poorest residents. The lowest 20% of  income earners in Kansas pay an average of 11.1% of their income in state and […]

Detroit Free Press: House Panel Approves Gradual Elimination of Income Tax

February 15, 2017

And Gilda Jacobs, executive director of the Michigan League for Public Policy, said that according to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the tax relief for the lowest earners–less than $22,000 a year–would be only $16 per year while the wealthiest earners–more than $484,000–would get a tax benefit of $3,700 a […]

West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Income Tax Cuts and Shifting to Sales Tax a Poor Strategy for Growing West Virginia’s Economy

February 15, 2017

Even though faced with a $600 million budget deficit, some West Virginia lawmakers are proposing reducing or eliminating the state’s income tax, and replacing that lost revenue with an increase in the sales tax. This plan is unlikely to produce the economic growth, instead it dramatically shifts tax responsibility responsibilities from the wealthy onto low […]

ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 188

February 14, 2017

ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering income tax rates and exempting business pass-through income from taxation (see Figure 1). While the state subsequently made up some of these revenue losses through […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Nees a Strong Income Tax

February 10, 2017

Ohio’s income tax is the only major tax that is based on ability to pay. This principle was embraced by the founders of our democracy, such as Thomas Jefferson, as well as by the intellectual father of capitalism, Adam Smith. As your taxable income goes up, you pay a higher rate; for instance, income between […]

DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Revenue: Where DC Gets Its Money

February 9, 2017

The DC government collects revenue in a variety of ways from its residents, businesses, and the federal government.  These revenues are used to fund the wide array of services provided by the District, from schools to health care to libraries to road construction.  The DC government collected about $10.5 billion in revenue in fiscal year […]

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Lawmakers Should Not Use Disproven Trickle-Down Myth to Ramrod Tax Cuts for the Rich

February 8, 2017 • By Misha Hill

For more than four decades, supply-side ideologues have promoted the myth that tax cuts for the wealthy are self-financing and the benefits eventually trickle down to everyone else, despite real-life evidence that tax cuts for the rich benefit the rich. Not even the reality of 40 years of widening income inequality or the current economic […]

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State Rundown 2/8: Lessons of Kansas Tax-Cut Disaster Taking Hold in Kansas, Still Lost on Some in Other States

February 8, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week we bring news of Kansas lawmakers attempting to fix ill-advised tax cuts that have wreaked havoc on the state’s budget and schools, while their counterparts in Nebraska and Idaho debate bills that would create similar problems for their own states, as well as tax cuts in Arkansas that were proven unaffordable within one […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich Budget Shifts Taxes Again

February 7, 2017

New analysis for Policy Matters Ohio by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, a national nonprofit research institute with a sophisticated model of the state and local tax system, shows the governor’s tax plan raises taxes for many Ohioans. It reduces state income tax rates and cuts the number of brackets from nine to five.

ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 2237

February 7, 2017

ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering income tax rates and exempting business pass-through income from taxation (see Figure 1). While the state subsequently made up some of these revenue losses through […]

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State Rundown 2/1: 2017 State Tax Debates Getting Real

February 1, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week’s Rundown brings news of tax cuts passed in Arkansas and advanced in Idaho, proposals to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales taxes in Nevada and Michigan, revenue shortfalls forcing tough choices in Louisiana and Maine, and more governors’ state of the state addresses and budget proposals setting the stage for yet more tax […]

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Refugees, Immigrants Important to Kentucky and the Economy: An Overview of the Research

February 1, 2017

From the promise to build a wall paid for by tariffs on Mexican imports and uncertainty about what will happen to DACA (which allows undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them to the U.S. as children to apply for a renewable reprieve from deportation), to a 120-day ban on refugee admissions and an indefinite ban for […]

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Stands to Lose Millions from Crackdown on Young Immigrants

February 1, 2017

The potential for harsher federal immigration policies under the new presidential administration poses special concern for young Georgians whose parents brought them to the United States as children. A new federal crackdown threatens to wreak havoc in the lives of tens of thousands of young Georgians who now enjoy some limited legal protections that allow […]

Crain’s Detroit Business: In Bid to Eliminate Michigan Income Tax, Fears of Another Kansas

February 1, 2017

According to a 2015 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan research organization, five states with no income tax are ranked among the top 10 most regressive in tax structure. In reaching its conclusion, the report compared the share of personal income paid at different income levels in state and local […]

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Young Immigrants Vital to Georgia’s Workforce, Healthy Economy

February 1, 2017

Potential harsher federal immigration policies under the new presidential administration pose special concern for young Georgians whose parents brought them to the United States as children. A new federal crackdown threatens havoc for tens of thousands of young Georgians who now enjoy some limited legal protections which allow them to work, go to school and […]

New Mexico Voices for Children: NM’s Working Families Tax Credits

January 30, 2017

As a group, those who claim the EITC and WFTC pay a large share of their incomes in taxes. In fact, in addition to the federal payroll taxes they pay, New Mexico’s lowest-income households pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than the households in every other income group. Those […]

Open Sky Policy Institute: Some facts about LB 337 — the governor’s tax plan

January 30, 2017

Below are some facts regarding, LB 337, the governor’s income tax cut plan: The example middle-class Nebraska taxpayer used to roll out the plan would not receive a tax cut under LB 337. Once the standard deduction is applied, this taxpayer, who earns $29,831, would not pay the top tax rate on any income, and therefore would […]

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What to Watch in the States Series: Tax Policy 2017

January 27, 2017 • By Lisa Christensen Gee

Over the next few weeks we will be blogging about what we’re watching in state tax policy during 2017 legislative sessions. In this “What to Watch in the States” series, we will look at the following: State responses to short- and long-term revenue deficits Boosting funding for infrastructure, though sometimes at the expense of other […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Common Sense Reform for Working Ohio

January 27, 2017

Tax modeling from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a national organization with a sophisticated model of the state tax system, shows that Ohio’s current EITC reaches only about 8 percent of the state’s neediest working families and 11 percent of middle income workers. A 20 percent, refundable, non-capped, EITC would extend the […]

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An Overview of State Tax Trends in 2017

January 26, 2017 • By Meg Wiehe

Since the 2007-2009 economic crisis, rising income inequality and the role our public policies play in aiding or easing this trend have been an ongoing part of the public discourse. In spite of what we know about the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us, federal and state policymakers continue to sell […]

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State Rundown 1/25: Revenue Shortfalls and How to Avoid Them

January 25, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

This week brings more news of states facing budget crunches, a new state looking to eliminate income taxes, and plans to raise gas taxes to fund transportation projects.  Be sure to check out the What We’re Reading section for a look at how repealing federal health reform could add to those crunches and a review […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Tax Cuts Help Create Ohio’s Revenue Crunch

January 25, 2017

In 2015, the General Assembly approved a two-year budget lasting through this June that cuts taxes by nearly $1.9 billion. When legislators approved those cuts, Policy Matters Ohio asked a respected national policy group with a model of Ohio’s tax system to review them. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the top […]