Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Equipment World: Gas Tax Increases for Transportation Funding Start Today in 6 States

July 1, 2015

The flurry of state gas tax legislation enacted earlier this year now goes into effect for a handful of states across the country, providing an increase in funding for much-needed transportation projects. “While some drivers may view this as an unwelcome development during the busy summer travel season,” said Carl Davis, research director for the […]

Wichita Eagle: Food Sales Tax Adds Up

July 1, 2015

Brownback and the Legislature raised the sales tax rate to help fill a large revenue shortfall created by the 2012 state income tax cuts, which included eliminating income taxes on about 330,000 owners of limited liability companies and Subchapter S corporations. Though a number of lawmakers argued this past session that the business exemption was […]

Washington Post: On July 1, Lower tolls, Higher Gas Tax in Maryland; Higher VRE Fares in Virginia

June 30, 2015

New laws go into effect Wednesday, as do changes that will impact drivers and commuters in the Washington region. Some rail commuters will pay more in Virginia, while drivers in Maryland will pay less at the toll booth and more at the gas pump. Maryland commuters, who started paying higher fares on MTA transit last […]

Roll Call: Gas Tax to Rise in Six States Next Month

June 30, 2015

“On Wednesday July 1, six states will raise their gasoline tax rates. While some drivers may view this as an unwelcome development during the busy summer travel season, the reality is that most of these ‘increases’ are simply playing catch-up with inflation after years (or even decades) without an update to the gas tax rate,” […]

Spokesman Review: Ready For 7 Cents More At Pumps?

June 30, 2015

Six states are scheduled to increase their gas taxes on July 1 to help pay for transportation projects, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The groups said Monday that drivers in Idaho, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump beginning […]

Washington Post: Fill The Tank Today

June 30, 2015

The residents of six states will pay more at the pump starting July 1 as increased gas taxes go into effect. Motorists in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will shell out more to refuel. Californians, on the other hand, will pay less. The analysis comes from Citizens for Tax Justice and the […]

Toledo Blade: Bad State Budget

June 30, 2015

The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the new budget gives the top 1 percent of Ohio taxpayers — those whose annual incomes exceed $1 million — a tax cut of more than $10,000 a year. They get half the total tax relief. By contrast, the poorest 40 percent of Ohio households, […]

Detroit Free Press: Senate Plan for Roads Includes 15-Cent Boost in Gas Tax

June 30, 2015

LANSING – A 15-cent increase in the tax on gasoline, phased in over three years, would be the centerpiece of a funding plan the state Senate is expected to consider this week as legislators scramble to find a way to repair Michigan’s crater-marked roads and bring relief to drivers. Gas taxes in six other states […]

The Hill: Six States Increasing Gas Taxes on July 1

June 29, 2015

Six states are scheduled to increase their gas taxes on July 1 to help pay for transportation projects, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy groups. The groups said Monday that drivers in Idaho, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump beginning […]

Salon: Chris Matthews is a Dope and Doesn’t Understand Bernie Sanders’ Appeal at All

June 29, 2015

There is similar evidence from American states as well. One of the most common mechanisms of redistribution at the state level is the state income tax, which is often the only tax that falls more heavily on those at the top. While conservative ideologues have routinely portrayed income taxes as a hindrance to economic growth, […]

Think Progress: No, Undocumented Immigrants Aren’t A Burden On The Health Care System

June 29, 2015

Undocumented immigrants provided a surplus of $35.1 billion to the Medicare Trust Fund between 2000 and 2011, according to a new Journal of General Internal Medicine study recently published. The findings challenge concerns that undocumented immigrants are financially burdening the health care system. Beyond Medicare, undocumented immigrants incur an estimated $5.5 billion in non-Medicare publicly […]

PT Leader: Taxes-Actually, Our State’s Most Unfair of All 50

June 29, 2015

Washington is not, as we are often led to believe, the cat’s meow when it comes to being liberal and progressive—despite its perceived leading role in a growing movement toward a 15% minimum wage. Time did not dream this all up, but was reporting on a study by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

Garden City Telegram: Wagle’s ‘Win’: Senate President Exhibits More Disconnect With Reality

June 29, 2015

An analysis from the nonpartisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy showed the wealthiest 1 percent of Kansans set to pay 1.9 percent less in taxes than in 2012, with the poorest 20 percent to pay 1.5 percent more. Read more

Columbus Dispatch: Gov. Kasich Praises Ohio Budget but Plans to Veto Some Measures

June 29, 2015

Flanked by two men who were not enamored of some of his highest-profile initiatives, Kasich praised Ohio’s new $71.2 billion, two-year budget as “good stuff” on Friday. The latest analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says the tax package will provide an average annual tax cut of $10,236 for the top 1 […]

NJ Today: Lesniak & Greenstein Propose Legislation to End Corporate Welfare

June 23, 2015

To close a loophole that has allowed multistate corporations to evade their fair share of taxes in New Jersey, Senator Raymond Lesniak and Senator Linda Greenstein today introduced legislation to enact a “combined reporting” tax law to put an end to the “corporate shell game” that costs the state hundreds of millions of dollars in […]

KCUR: Analysis Questions Fairness Of Kansas Tax System

June 23, 2015

Kansas already had the ninth-most regressive tax system in the nation, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The tax increase signed last week by Gov. Sam Brownback to balance the budget and end the longest legislative session in state history will make the system less fair to low- and middle-income Kansans, said […]

Newark Advocate: Tight Budget Deadline Leaves No Time for GOP Feuds

June 22, 2015

But Senate Republicans did add an extra income tax cut for about 1 million business owners. They wouldn’t have to pay income taxes on their first $250,000 in profits and would pay a 3-percent tax on income above that. Senators also added a 40-cent increase on a pack of cigarettes and increased taxes on other […]

Corvallis Gazette-Times: Driving Change: Oregon Will Start Rolling Out an Experimental Road User Fee Next Month

June 22, 2015

Both Congress and state legislatures have been reluctant to increase tax rates. Oregon last raised its gas tax in 2011, while the federal gas tax has been unchanged since 1993. At the same time, transportation construction costs have risen sharply — according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, they’re up 63 percent since […]

Vox: Bobby Jindal and Sam Brownback’s Ridiculous Tax Gimmicks, Explained

June 22, 2015

Brownback has been defiant. “Some would have you believe this bill represents a tax increase, and that is not accurate,” the governor said last week. “When looked at in totality, from 2012 to 2015, as I said at the outset, Kansans are paying less in taxes and continuing to move off income taxes to consumption-based […]

The Atlantic: Where Republicans Went Wrong in Kansas

June 22, 2015

Ask any fiscal expert, and Kansas’s budget crisis demanded a reckoning—either with its tax code or its longterm spending structure. But its government wasn’t up to it. Aligned with conservatives in the Senate, Brownback steadfastly refused to consider a direct reversal of the original tax plan, insisting that the state continue on its path toward […]

Washington Post: States are Racing to See Who Can Give Rich People a Bigger Tax Break on Their Yachts

June 22, 2015

It’s true that lower taxes might bring new customers into the market, which would be great for the yacht industry. Yet every dollar spent on new boats is a dollar that a rich customer isn’t spending on something else. Favoritism for yacht manufacturers and dealers helps them only at the expense of all the other […]

Sun Journal: A North Carolina Tax That is Too Taxing

June 22, 2015

Republican leaders in the state Senate are betting on sales-tax revenues to keep North Carolina’s government afloat for the next few years. It’s a bad bet for most ordinary Tar Heels. According to the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, folks making $40,000 or less per year already pay between 5 and 6 percent […]

Toledo Blade: Race to Budget Bottom

June 22, 2015

The three budget plans are competing to see which can offer the biggest, most unnecessary, and most unfair tax cut. The $71.3 billion budget bill approved this week by the Senate includes $1.7 billion in net income tax reductions for individuals and small businesses — more than the House budget provides, but less than Governor […]

Littleton Independent: Momentum Grows for Earned Income Credit

June 19, 2015

More than one in seven Massachusetts families benefits from the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the impact is even greater in many urban communities. The current state Earned Income Tax Credit in Massachusetts is worth 15 percent of the federal credit, up to $921 for income-eligible taxpayers with three or more children. Among the states […]

The Topeka Capital-Journal: Gov. Sam Brownback: Tax Package Not a Tax Increase

June 18, 2015

The Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which is critical of the policy, said according to its analysis the poorest 20 percent of Kansans will pay about $197 more in taxes in 2015 than they would have without both the 2012 tax cuts and 2015 tax hike. In addition, the analysis found that the […]