Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

News and Observer: Problems with NC Legislation to Cap Taxes, Reduce Spending

August 13, 2015

Colorado has struggled with its TABOR, with declines in the percentage it has spent on education, including secondary and elementary schools, and on higher education. Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the country in higher education funding as a share of personal income, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more […]

Ohio Watchdog: Is Sales Tax Holiday Good or Bad for Ohio?

August 11, 2015

Bill sponsor Rep. John Patterson Jr., D-Jefferson, thinks passage of the measure would generate activity in retail stores and help create excitement that could rival the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday sales. Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says such thinking is noble but is poor tax policy. “Anything that reduces […]

Toledo Blade: Ohio Readies for First Break on Sales Tax

August 11, 2015

Carl Davis, a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit nonpartisan Washington think tank, said that while tax holidays help retailers, they don’t accomplish much else. “I think the major takeaway with sales tax holidays is they’re high profile and they get a lot of favorable attention for politicians, because […]

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio’s Sales-Tax Holiday Gets Mixed Reviews

August 11, 2015

Ohio’s first sales-tax holiday is in the books, and whether there will be one next year remains a matter of speculation. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy conducted a study that found that tax holidays tend to shift shoppers’ spending habits rather than increase overall spending. Read more

The Atlantic City Lab: Even Doubled, America’s Gas Tax Would Be Low by World Standards

August 11, 2015

The U.S. rate of 53 cents a gallon reflects the federal gas tax as well as the average state tax. Adding Carper’s 16 cents wouldn’t budge the U.S. position way back of the pack—nor would doubling the entire 53 cent average. As the numbers stand, lawmakers would have to raise the average gas tax at […]

Press Examiner: Day Back To School Sales Tax Holiday Underway

August 10, 2015

“So states that are not doing sales tax holidays, they’re certainly not missing out”. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales-tax holidays cost states about $300 million annually. Read more

KSWO: Oklahoma Retailers Expect Soaring Sales on Sales Tax Holiday

August 10, 2015

Oklahoma retailers are stocking their shelves as they prepare for the state’s annual sales tax holiday on back-to-school clothing and shoes. But tax policy analysts say it’s little more than a gimmick. Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says sales tax holidays provide no long-term tax relief to consumers. […]

TJC News: State Sales Tax Holiday Begins Friday

August 7, 2015

“Paying more to skip the crowds is a back to school shopping strategy some embraced Thursday before the start of the Texas Sales Tax Holiday weekend. A few examples of exempt items include clothing, shoes, school supplies, backpacks, computers, printers, bedspreads and linens. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales-tax holidays cost […]

Washington Times: Oklahoma Retailers Expect Soaring Sales on Sales Tax Holiday

August 7, 2015

“The bottom line is that whatever policy goal you want to achieve through a sales tax holiday, there are probably better ways to achieve those goals,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Gardner said sales tax holidays provide no long-term tax relief to consumers. The institute believes greater […]

Canton Repository: Tax-Free Days Give Shoppers a Break

August 5, 2015

A 2013 analysis on the impact of a tax holiday in Ohio by the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati found that while retail sales would increase close to 5 percent in the month of a tax holiday, that increase would be offset by losses in sales in other months, like July and September, […]

LA Times: Conservatives are Trying to Prove Income Inequality is a Myth — and Failing

August 4, 2015

Taxes? Feldstein employs a familiar sleight-of-hand by limiting his analysis to federal taxes, which are still progressive. Factor in state and local levies, and the middle- and working classes are getting socked. The average share of family income paid in those levies was sharply regressive overall, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]

Morrow County Sentinel: Sales Tax Holiday: What Does it Mean for Ohio?

August 4, 2015

Research from the University of Cincinnati Economics Center estimates an almost five percent boost in sales during a sales tax holiday, with average families saving about $38. But according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales tax holidays cost states about $300 million annually. Read more

Chattanooga Times Free Press: Back to School Goods are Tax-Free This Weekend in Georgia

July 31, 2015

Another critic of sales tax holidays is Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization with offices in Washington D.C., North Carolina and Wisconsin. “These holidays aren’t all they’re cracked up to be,” said Gardner. Sales taxes make up about half of all states’ income, […]

The Herald News: Sen. Michael Rodrigues: Why I Oppose the Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday

July 29, 2015

It is that time of year again on Beacon Hill, when the Legislature debates and ultimately passes a sales tax holiday for a weekend in August. Let’s be clear, the tax holiday enables elected officials to break for summer recess on a high note, with something to tout to their constituents. The Institute on Taxation […]

Hawaii News Now: Film Tax Credits Attract Productions to Hawaii

July 28, 2015

The filming is almost finished for a new movie being shot entirely Hawaii. The state’s film tax credits are bringing in big productions like “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” but not everyone is a fan of the incentives. The tax credits are a waste of money, according to critics. “The closest thing to a […]

NBC: Sales Tax Holidays Complex, Controversial, But Popular With Shoppers

July 28, 2015

Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax holiday […]

Sun Herald: Sales Tax Holiday Weekend Arrives July 31

July 27, 2015

“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., believes sales tax holidays are poorly targeted, providing tax breaks to the wealthiest taxpayers and offering less assistance to the elderly or families without children who don’t have back-to-school needs. The Institute also said many low-income taxpayers spend most or all of their money on […]

CNBC: Tax-Free Shopping Ahead for These States

July 24, 2015

Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, however, contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax […]

CNN Money: States Raise Sales, Cigarette Taxes

July 24, 2015

Faced with a $1 billion budget gap, Connecticut this year adopted an array of tax changes, including increasing the top income tax rate to 6.9% and adding a 6.99% rate for couples earning more than $1 million. But it also eliminated the sales tax exemption on clothing purchases of up to $50. That move, coupled […]

CNBC: Is Your State a Gas Tax Winner–Or Loser?

July 22, 2015

As states from Connecticut to California scramble to find money to fix crumbling highways, Congress once again is expected this week to put a short-term patch on the nearly insolvent federal highway trust fund. To make up the shortfall, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from other tax revenue over the past five years, […]

The Beacon Journal: Anxieties of the middle class

July 20, 2015

“The Kasich tax cuts produce the opposite effects. An analysis of the recently passed two-year state budget by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, of Washington, D.C., for Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland think tank, showed tax changes benefitting the rich. Ohio residents in the top 1 percent of the income scale would see […]

Herald Sun: Letter to the Editor

July 20, 2015

Let’s step aside from heated immigration debate for a moment and pragmatically deconstruct the merits of House Bill 328. The “Highway Safety/Citizens Protection Act” provides an avenue for undocumented immigrants with non-criminal backgrounds to obtain state-issued driver’s licenses. Opponents argue this legislation incentivizes illegal immigration, which could further deplete already sparse state resources. The Institute […]

The Times-Picayune: Why Aren’t the Governor’s Candidates Discussing Poverty?: Robert Mann

July 20, 2015

Speaking of inequality, it’s not bad enough just to be poor in Louisiana. You can also count on state and local governments taxing you twice as much as the wealthy. A 2013 study of states by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Louisiana families earning less than $16,000 a year paid an […]

Daily Leader: Sales Tax Holiday Presents Dilemma

July 20, 2015

“Sales tax holidays are advertised as a way to give people a break from paying the sales tax, typically during the “back to school” shopping season. Superficially this sounds good, however, many tax and economic experts and officials believe the benefits are minimal. They say public officials cash in more on the good publicity than […]

Sun Sentinel: Businesses Getting Bigger Breaks to Move or Expand

July 20, 2015

Broward and Palm Beach counties have awarded millions of taxpayer dollars for company relocations or expansions in recent months, including two major deals completed in just the past two weeks. Critics contend that the amount of money spent to lure employers is out of line. A 2013 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]