Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

The Ashville Citizens Times: Renewed Attacks on Renewable Energy in Raleigh

May 11, 2015

Okay. Let’s talk about fairness and competition. From 2008 to 2012 Duke Energy paid no federal income tax though making more than $9 billion in profits, according to a report from Citizens for Tax Justice, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center. In fact, the utility got […]

The Enterprise: Momentum Grows for Doubling the EITC

May 11, 2015

Among the states that offer the credit, the average value of the credit is 16 percent of the federal Earned income Tax Credit, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Seven states offer state credits worth more than 25 percent of the federal credit. Read more

Stateline: Illinois “mixed” on taxes for seniors; Iowa “not tax friendly”

May 11, 2015

Despite the trend, Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which surveyed senior tax breaks, said all of the efforts to have “blanket state tax preferences for elderly taxpayers is . a very ill-advised policy.” She also pointed out that states which shield retirement income – Social Security […]

San Antonio Express News: Real Question Is Whether to Cut Any Tax

May 6, 2015

But fairness hasn’t been Texas’ strong suit. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released its annual analysis of the states’ tax systems in January. Texas is in the top 10 most regressive, behind Washington state and Florida. A regressive tax is one that unduly burdens those least able to pay, while the wealthy pay […]

Las Vegas Sun: How Much Taxes Do Undocumented Immigrants Pay?

May 6, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank, studied how much undocumented immigrants contribute to state and local coffers. Researchers examined figures from 2012. Read more

The Columbus Dispatch: Group Again Highlights That GOP Tax Plan Benefits the Wealthy

May 6, 2015

Calling it a “gift to Ohio’s wealthiest,” liberal-leaning Policy Matters released an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy of the tax plan that passed the House last month. It found that the top 1 percent of Ohio earners would save nearly $3,600 on average, while the bottom 80 percent of Ohio taxpayers, […]

Forbes: Immigrants Are Good for Us

May 6, 2015

A terrific report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) says that immigrants who entered the country illegally paid about $12 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. The revenue per state, of course, varies. ITEP found that these immigrants paid about $3 million in Montana (where few live), but over $3.2 billion in […]

The Montgomery Advertiser: Flat Tax Flawed Approach That Pinches the Poor

May 6, 2015

ur state’s place in that ranking would be secured forever under Hightower’s bill, which effectively eliminates any threshold for income tax liability. Put simply, if you have any earnings at all, you’d be subject to the income tax. Who benefits from that? Certainly not lower-income Alabamians. More than half of Alabama families earning less than […]

The Chicago Sun-Times: Reform Illinois’s Tax Code

May 6, 2015

Illinois citizens are not all that prosperous, either. According to the 2013 census, Illinois per capita income is a mere $29,666 prompting the question, “Just where is the average Illinois taxpayer supposed to get the money to pay those prospective tax increases, anyway?”  According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Illinois ranks 5th highest […]

The Portland Press Herald: LePage, Republicans Shift Tactics on Eliminating Maine’s Income Tax

May 6, 2015

Democrats are claiming that their plan is geared more toward middle-income Mainers. An analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning policy group, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, found that the Democratic plan would reduce taxes for the bottom 95 percent of Maine taxpayers. It also […]

The State Journal Register: Illinois Can Choose Revenue over Cuts

May 6, 2015

The people who will most bear the consequences of Rauner’s proposed cuts are those who can least afford to. Children, college students, seniors, the poor, people with disabilities, people with mental illness — all would be hard hit. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of taxpayers in Illinois (average income: $1.9 million) will pay on about $18,000 less in state […]

Huffington Post: GOP Governors’ Proposals Hit Poor Harder

May 6, 2015

Every state already relies on a regressive tax system, although some states depend on sales and excise taxes more than others, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank. A 2015 ITEP study found that the effective state and local tax rate burden was 10.9 percent of income for those […]

Portland Press Herald: Maine Democrats Tout Tax Plan and Middle-Class Economics

May 4, 2015

Democrats have also touted an analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning policy group, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, that compares their tax plan with the governor’s. Read more

The Bond Buyer: LSU Bond Deal Was Victim of State’s Woes

May 1, 2015

“The collapse of LSU’s bond offering mirrors a trend we’re seeing across the nation: state leaders are avoiding making tough budget decisions by pushing these decisions down to the local level,” Matt Gardner, Executive Director Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told The Bond Buyer. “When state lawmakers seek to balance their budgets by cutting […]

Decatur Daily: Concerns raised about flat-tax bill; hearing today

May 1, 2015

Forrister said his group asked the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal non-profit, to examine Hightower’s proposal. “They found that the only income group that would pay more on average would be the bottom 20 percent, those making less than $18,000,” Forrister said. By contrast, the state’s highest earners — the top 1 […]

AL.com: Sen. Bernie Sanders, the latest presidential hopeful, issues dire warning to Alabama

May 1, 2015

“I’m sharing this data with you in the hope you can work with your Congressional delegation and other leaders in your state on behalf of a budget that works for all Americans,” Sanders wrote. The data came from the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Economic Policy Institute and the Institute on Taxation […]

Daily Journal: Indexes unveil winners, losers under tax policy

May 1, 2015

We’re less familiar with a different ranking of state taxes by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It ranks state tax systems based on their effects on the distribution of income. It doesn’t like Indiana very much. We’re 42nd on the 2015 list. According to the institute, in every state lower-income people pay a […]

The Nation: How Cities’ Funding Woes Are Driving Racial and Economic Injustice–And What We Can Do About It

May 1, 2015

Many towns have resorted to privatizing formerly public responsibilities such as trash collection, sewage, roads and parks, and introducing new fees to force residents to foot the bill directly. These fees and taxes are often extremely regressive, because as everyone is forced to pay a flat rate, poor people end up paying a higher percentage […]

Alternet: Tax Cuts for the Rich Made Kansas Broke–So Now States Move to Raise Taxes on the Poor

April 28, 2015

In its 2015 edition of “Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy counts Kansas among the 10 states with the “most regressive state and local tax systems.” Taxes eat up 11.1 percent of income for the poorest 20 percent of Kansas residents. […]

Stateline: States Try More Tax Breaks for Seniors

April 28, 2015

Despite the trend, Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which surveyed senior tax breaks, said all of the efforts to have “blanket state tax preferences for elderly taxpayers is … a very ill-advised policy.” She also pointed out that states which shield retirement income — Social Security […]

Shelby (NC) Star: Tax Season Brought Some Sticker Shock

April 28, 2015

Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that in all 50 states, the wealthy tend to pay a lower percentage of their incomes in taxes than low- and middle-income taxpayers. The institute says states are relying largely on sales taxes, which hit poor and middle-income families especially hard because they spend a bigger […]

Norther Voices Online: Undocumented Immigrants Contribute $12B in Taxes

April 28, 2015

The study was conducted by very respected Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. The study concluded after thorough analysis that average effective state and local tax rate by undocumented immigrants in 2012 was estimated at 8 percent, higher than the 5.4 percent effective tax rate by the top 1 percent of taxpayers. Read […]

Michigan AP: Michigan Households Would Pay Hundreds More in Taxes under Prop 1

April 28, 2015

The average tax hike for the middle fifth of Michigan households — those making $40,000 to $64,000 a year — would be $267, or $22 a month, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for the Michigan League for Public Policy, an advocacy group in Lansing focused on poverty. […]

Wonkette: You Won’t Believe How Kansas is Paying for Rich People’s Tax Cuts

April 28, 2015

Among the fifth of the Kansas population with the lowest incomes, the average person pays 11.1 percent of what they make in state and local taxes, including sales taxes. Among the wealthiest one in every 100 Kansans, the average tax bill is just 3.6 percent of annual income, according to a recent report from the […]

The Hill: Sanders Warns All 50 Governors about Effects of GOP Budget

April 28, 2015

Sanders told Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) that approximately 1.6 million people would lose health coverage next year. About 141,000 jobs could be eliminated by 2017, and 3.5 million people could be at risk of losing nutrition assistance because of food stamps cuts, Sanders said. The data was based on analyses of the GOP budgets […]