Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Watchdog: No More Free Rides? Oregon Pay-As-You-Go Plan Could One Day Fund Highways

July 20, 2015

“If infrastructure costs rise by a modest 2 percent a year, the tax will lose 18 percent of its value within a decade, leaving the state facing the same long-run imbalance it does today,” said Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a think tank. read more

Huffington Post: Did A Giant Pothole Swallow Your Car? Blame Congress.

July 20, 2015

The issue, said Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, is growing in importance every year that state and federal governments fail to update gas tax rates. “We are reaching a breaking point right now as evidenced by all the gas tax increases we’ve seen enacted in just a little […]

Columbus Dispatch: Budget Doesn’t Do Right by Poor Ohioans

July 15, 2015

One immoral aspect of Ohio’s budget is the ongoing tax shift that blesses the rich and slaps the poor. According to a recent Dispatch article, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, said that the new budget gives the richest 1 percent of Ohioans an average tax cut of $10,236 per […]

State Tax Notes: States Increase Gas Tax in Push for Transportation Funds

July 13, 2015

In the absence of a national gasoline tax increase, states have been raising their gas taxes to fund long-deferred road maintenance and transportation projects. “I think what’s happening now is a lot of states are having to play catch-up. They let their infrastructure deteriorate to a point where it’s an issue that can’t be ignored […]

Decatur Daily: BP Settlement Doesn’t Change Need for Tax Reform

July 13, 2015

The fiscal 2016 budget shortfall has been inevitable since at least fiscal 2010. Rational tax reform would not increase taxes for most Alabamians. Low- and middle-income Alabamians pay more than twice as much of their income in overall state and local taxes as do those with the highest incomes, according to a study by the […]

Michigan Live: Road Repair Needs Trump ‘No Tax’ Mantra in Several GOP States

July 13, 2015

Eight states, all but one of them headed by Republican governors, have either hiked gas taxes or scaled back planned cuts in order to fund road repairs this year, according to a new Stateline report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. “A lot of states realized they couldn’t put off this issue any longer,” Carl Davis, […]

Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems

July 13, 2015

Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds the nationwide average effective state and local tax rates by income group are 10.9% for the poorest 20% of individuals […]

New York Mag: Rick Perry, Republicans, and the African-American Vote

July 9, 2015

Empowering state and local governments would make African-Americans more vulnerable to the whims of the very governments that have served them poorly. The state and local tax base is highly regressive, with Perry’s Texas being among the worst offenders. (The poorest 20 percent of Texans pay 12.5 percent of their income in state and local […]

TI News Daily: Some States Prefer Transportation Over Tax relief

July 8, 2015

To meet infrastructure needs, several states have had to increase other taxes, such as gasoline taxes. These states include Idaho, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah and South Dakota. Four of these states are currently finalizing infrastructure funding increases or are still discussing infrastructure funding raises. “A lot of states realized they couldn’t put […]

Cincinnati Inquirer: Wealthiest Gain Most from New Tax Cut

July 7, 2015

An analysis of these tax changes by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a national group with a sophisticated model of the tax system, shows the top 1 percent on average will see an annual tax cut of $10,236. The middle fifth of taxpayers, who made between $37,000 and $58,000, will see an average […]

The Journal News: Raising the Sales Tax, for Better or Worse

July 7, 2015

The downside, not expressed by City Hall, is that sales taxes are regressive — meaning they hurt the poorest citizens the most. That’s because the tax, obviously, only applies to money spent and not money saved. Since the poor tend to save little or not all, they take a greater financial hit. According to a […]

Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure

July 6, 2015

Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said efforts to raise state taxes to pay for roads and bridges exploded this year. In 2013 and 2014, four states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) increased their gas taxes, while Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island indexed the gas tax to either […]

The Wichita Eagle: Opinion Line Extra

July 6, 2015

“The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy crunched the numbers and found that the poorest 20 percent of Kansans will now pay 1.4 percent more in taxes than in 2012 and the wealthiest 1 percent will pay 1.9 percent less. That’s the Republican way. But it’s wrong.” Read more Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/opinion-line/article26199475.html#storylink=cpy

Rapid News Network: Michigan Senate could see road fix funding package today

July 6, 2015

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce today applauded the Michigan Senate for their leadership in passing a comprehensive plan to fix Michigan’s roads. Gas taxes in six other states are to rise Wednesday, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, as legislators in Vermont, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Maryland, Georgia and Idaho, raised gas taxes to make […]

Planetizen: State Gas Tax Changes Effective July 1: Six Up; One Down

July 6, 2015

Carl Davis, Research Director of the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) writes where gas taxes used to fund transportation infrastructure increased, if only by decimal points, and about the aberration—the six-cent plunge in California. “The largest gas tax increases are taking place in Idaho (7 cents per gallon) and Georgia (6.7 cents for […]

Don’t Mess With Taxes: Gasoline, Diesel Taxes Hiked in Seven States on July 1

July 2, 2015

Gas tax cuts stopped in two states: And some drivers who had been expecting lower fuel taxes are disappointed. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), notes on the Tax Justice Blog that automatic gas tax cuts had been scheduled to take place in Kentucky and North Carolina. Lawmakers […]

Iron Mountain Daily News: Meanwhile, in Minnesota

July 2, 2015

Hey, Michigan, look over here. Look west. OK, that’s Ironwood, which is still in Michigan. A little further.  There you go. Hi. Minnesota’s the name. So you’ve got some state budget issues and you want to increase the gasoline tax. In Michigan, families earning from $17,000 to $34,000 pay 9.4 percent of that income in […]

Akron Beacon Journal: Less for Schools While Cutting Taxes

July 2, 2015

The budget includes a 6.3 percent reduction in income tax rates, plus an expansion of additional tax relief for business income. Recall that the Statehouse already has reduced rates 21 percent and then another 10 percent. This new plan for tax cuts skews (again) to the wealthy, resulting in an average reduction of $10,236 a […]

Huffington Post: ITEP’s Carl Davis: Oregon Started a Trend in 1919 with the Nation’s First Gas Tax. Will It Do So Again?

July 1, 2015

In 1919, Oregon lawmakers were looking for a way to fund road construction and kicked off a national movement when they created the country’s first tax on gasoline. Just over a decade later, every state and the federal government had implemented a gas tax, and it eventually became the most important funding source for the […]

Zero Hedge: These Six States Just Raised Their Gasoline Tax

July 1, 2015

According to the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), starting today, six states will increase their gas taxes to help pay for transportation projects. Beginning July 1, drivers in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump as a result of […]

Convenience Store Decisions: Fuel Taxes Increase in Six States

July 1, 2015

Six states raise fuel levy to fund transportation projects to make up for federal deficits. According to the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), in an effort to replace federal transportation funding, six states will be raising the tax on fuel purchases. This tax increase goes into effect […]

City Lab: 18 Reasons America Should Adopt a Per-Mile Driving Fee

July 1, 2015

Oregon’s much-anticipated per-mile driving fee, called OReGO, launches today. Instead of paying the normal gas tax embedded in the price of fuel, OReGO drivers will pay 1.5 cents for every mile on the road. The initial public rollout is limited to 5,000 vehicles, but the implications of the program are vast: if all goes well, […]

WRPRI: These Tax Cuts and Tax Hikes Take Effect in RI Today

July 1, 2015

July 1 is the first day of Rhode Island state government’s new fiscal year, which means a number of tax changes are taking effect as part of the state budget. Rhode Island is one of six states increasing the gas tax July 1, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal research […]

RTT News: Six States Brace for Higher Gas Tax Rates

July 1, 2015

Drivers in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump starting July 1, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. By far the biggest increases are in Idaho and Georgia, where gasoline taxes will jump almost 7 cents per gallon. […]

Market Watch: Gasoline Taxes Going Up

July 1, 2015

Two groups have put together a list of six states in which gasoline taxes will go up beginning Wednesday. Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy say that drivers in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump as a result of new […]