Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Tax hike would hit poor hardest

October 5, 2015

“As a percentage of income, though, the tax would fall hardest on the poor. That’s because they spend a bigger portion of their income on retail purchases.The analysis was prepared in recent days by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., research organization. It was requested by the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a […]

Albuquerque Business First: Ranking the state on taxes: New Mexico’s low by some measures, high by others

October 5, 2015

“According to WalletHub’s 2015 Most & Least Fair Tax Systems report, New Mexico has the 12th “least fair” tax system in the U.S. — a conclusion gleaned from both consumer surveys, as well as data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the U.S. Census Bureau. Data showed that while New Mexico […]

Albuquerque Business FirstRanking the state on taxes: New Mexico’s low by some measures, high by others

October 5, 2015

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Accounting Today: Tax Breaks Make an Impact on Fighting Poverty

October 5, 2015

“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has updated its report on State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools, which examines how refundable Earned Income Tax Credits, property tax breaks, targeted low-income tax credits and child-related tax credits are working in different states. While a number of states such as California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey […]

The Spokesman Review: Idaho tax balance too much for GOP?

October 5, 2015

“At this point, you’ve got to wonder why anyone would still harp about cutting taxes in Idaho. For one thing, the state is hardly overtaxed. Whenever the State Tax Commission looks at tax burdens, it finds Idaho’s near the bottom. By one recent measure, the state is ranked 49th out of the 50 states and […]

Camel City Dispatch: 3rd Shift… Suffer the Little Children… Busting the Budget in this Age of Swine

October 5, 2015

““Middle- and low-income wage earners won’t see a meaningful boost from the tax cuts. But they will feel the bite of an expanded sales tax that applies to the cost of auto and household repairs. And they’ll see a state in decline, its public schools strapped, its public employees stiffed for yet another year and […]

Alternet: Corporations Are Cheating Us Out of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars How does your state stack up?

October 5, 2015

“Some states deserve special mention because of the egregious nature of their disrespect for average taxpayers. Illinois leads the way with by far the highest deficit. Just 10 companies underpaid Illinois $1.4 billion in 2014, more than the entire 2016 Chicago school system deficit. Yet Governor Bruce Rauner recently approved $100 million in new corporate […]

Khon: Hawaii considered to have one of ‘least fair’ tax systems in U.S.

October 2, 2015

  “Current state and local tax systems are, on average, “extremely unfair,” according to the report. While most Americans of all political persuasions think a progressive tax system is most fair, virtually every state has regressive state and local tax structures. Besides survey data, other sources used to create the rankings were obtained from the […]

The Chronicle: Editorial: Investment not shown in state budget

October 2, 2015

“Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates tax fairness, says North Carolina is virtually alone in the nation in giving away the fruits of recovery. “It’s very counter to what we’ve seen in other states where revenue has come back and states […]

Capitol Weekly: The Pope, immigration and Father Junipero Serra

October 2, 2015

“Undocumented Californians pay 3.2 billion dollars in taxes each year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Nine out of 10 undocumented Californians have jobs and spend most of what they earn back into the economy.” Read more  

Wichita Eagle: Did Donald Trump get tax tips from Sam Brownback?

October 2, 2015

“Matt Gardner, the executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sees some similarities between Trump’s tax proposals unveiled this week and the tax changes Brownback ushered into law during his first term in office. Gardner scrutinized Trump’s tax plan in a post on the liberal-leaning think tank’s Tax Justice Blog Wednesday, scrutinizing […]

Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Sales tax increase won’t fix education in Oklahoma

October 2, 2015

“The sales tax increase would add approximately $610 million annually to the state’s education budget. It would cost medium income Oklahomans about $260 a year, according to a data analysis used in an Oklahoma Watch story. The bottom 20 percent of Oklahoma households would chip in $90 more annually. The top 1 percent would pay […]

The Oklahoma Watch: Study: Education Sales Tax Would Cost Average Family $262

October 2, 2015

“As a percentage of income, though, the tax would fall hardest on the poor. That’s because they spend a bigger portion of their income on retail purchases. The analysis was prepared in recent days by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C. It was requested by the […]

Citizen-Times: Legislature revs up tax on car repair, other services

September 28, 2015

  “Here are figures from the N.C. Justice Center’s Budget and Tax Center summarizing the way tax changes in the new state budget bill will affect people at different levels of income. They are derived from a database of information on North Carolina taxpayers maintained by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy. The figures […]

The Oregonian: Would consumers or big corporations pay huge tax hike headed toward Oregon ballot?

September 28, 2015

“Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said his group – which is associated with the left-of-center Center for Tax Justice – also dislikes gross receipts taxes. They tend to be regressive, complex and unfair to certain kinds of businesses, he said. But Gardner said that because Oregon doesn’t have […]

CNBC: Are Immigrants Really Freeloaders? New Study Backs Trump’s Attacks

September 25, 2015

  “The 50-state analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that about 8.1 million of the 11.4 million illegal immigrants who were employed paid in excess of $11.8 billion in state and municipal taxes in 2012. The implication of the report by the tax analysis foundation was that — amid growing opposition […]

Washington Post: America’s immigration ‘dumping ground’ contributes to vibrancy and growth

September 25, 2015

“Like Ross, Mr. Trump is right in the sense that immigrants — and here we assume Mr. Trump is referring to the illegal variety, though he doesn’t bother much with fine distinctions — are in rough circumstances compared with native-born Americans. On average they are less educated, less wealthy and less likely to become wealthy. […]

The Highland County Press: Report: Tax policy benefits flow heavily to wealthiest Ohioans

September 25, 2015

  “The top 1 percent of Ohioans on average will see a $17,618 annual reduction in state taxes as a result of major tax changes made during the Kasich administration, while the bottom fifth will pay $17 more, according to a new report by Policy Matters Ohio.  The windfall for the wealthy results from cuts […]

Orlando Sentinel: Florida nice to rich, mean to poor, tax survey says

September 25, 2015

  “WalletHub first surveyed over 1,000 Americans on what they consider a fair state and local tax system. The site then used data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and compared the real state and local tax burden of households to what Americans think is fair at various income levels. Most respondents said […]

Newsmax: Illegal Immigration Figures in New Jersey

September 25, 2015

“Most illegal immigrants pay state and federal taxes, although the payments are generally credited to an account other than for the workers. In New Jersey, undocumented workers are believed to pay as much as $613 million annually in taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more

Inlander: FALSENOMICS: Shedding the lies we’ve heard about the state budget will help make a tough problem more solvable

September 25, 2015

“Washington is currently ranked 35th in the country in combined state and local tax rates, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. With our unusual lack of income and capital-gains taxes, we also have the shameful distinction of being the most upside-down tax state in the entire country, according to the Institute on Taxation and […]

The Arizona Republic: Shhhh…don’t tell pope Arizona robs the poor

September 23, 2015

“In Arizona, the most wealthy among us are taxed the least, percentage wise, and the poorest the most. According to a report this month by the non-profit, non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), “While Arizona’s reputation as a “low tax state” is accurate for wealthy households, it bears little resemblance to reality for […]

​Nashville Business Journal: Report: Tennessee’s tax code is kind to the 1 percent

September 23, 2015

  The results of that survey suggest Americans think a tax system is fair when higher-income households pay a greater percentage of their income than lower-income households (or in shorthand, a progressive tax system). WalletHub then compared the tax systems in the 50 states with these results, using estimates from the Institute on Taxation and […]

The News & Observer: An NC budget that chooses decline over investment

September 21, 2015

  “Middle- and low-income wage earners won’t see a meaningful boost from the tax cuts. But they will feel the bite of an expanded sales tax that applies to the cost of auto and household repairs. And they’ll see a state in decline, its public schools strapped, its public employees stiffed for yet another year […]

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: On the roads again

September 18, 2015

“What I describe is generally advocated by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which likes the idea of continuing to base highway money on highway use, which seems fair and appropriate.” Read more