Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Testimony of ITEP’s Neva Butkus Before the Arkansas Senate Revenue and Tax Committee

September 12, 2023

The corporate and personal income tax changes under Senate Bill 8 would cost the state more than $200 million, with 70 percent of the overall cuts benefiting Arkansans in the top 20 percent of households.

Arkansas Advocates for Children: Lawmakers Returning To Work This Week Should Reject Costly Tax Cuts For The Wealthy

September 12, 2023

In a dramatic development, Arkansas lawmakers are returning to work at the state Capitol this week, after Gov. Huckabee Sanders called for a special session of the Legislature last Friday. Top of the agenda? Whether Arkansas should adopt another round of costly income tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy households and corporations, on top of cuts already […]

Vanity Fair: Donald Trump Wants to Give His Favorite Corporations Another Giant Tax Cut in a Second Term

September 12, 2023

Remember when Donald Trump ran for office in 2016, claiming to be a champion of the working class and the worst nightmare of the global elite? And then passed a package of tax cuts that disproportionately benefited corporations and billionaires and was basically a middle finger to American workers? Well, today brings some exciting news for those who think the überwealthy […]

Washington Post: Trump Advisers Plot Aggressive New Tax Cuts for Second White House Term

September 11, 2023

As Donald Trump widens his lead over other Republican candidates in the GOP primary, the former president’s closest economic advisers are plotting an aggressive new set of tax cuts to push on the campaign trail and from the Oval Office if he wins a second term. Read more.

ITEP’s Marco Guzman: Making a More Robust Property Tax Circuit Breaker in Colorado

September 9, 2023

ITEP Senior State Policy Analyst Marco Guzman gave a presentation on property tax circuit breakers to the Colorado General Assembly’s Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Tax Policy on September 7, 2023. Click here for the slide deck.

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How to Better Tax the Rich Men North (and South) of Richmond

September 7, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

When you examine tax policy through the lens of how much working (and poor) people are taxed compared to rich men north (and south) of Richmond, it’s hard not to take Oliver Anthony's runaway hit as a jumping off point to amplify some important facts.

New York Times: New Corporate Minimum Tax Ushers In Confusion and a Lobbying Blitz

September 7, 2023

The new corporate minimum tax was one of the most significant changes to the U.S. tax code in decades. Its logic rested on the idea that rich companies should not be able to find loopholes and other accounting maneuvers in order to pay lower tax rates than their workers. But making the tax operational has become a […]

Mother Jones: The Struggle to Tax the Rich Isn’t Done Yet—In Some States It’s Actually Happening

August 24, 2023

Under an overcast sky, Patty Flores led a group of colleagues to an empty lot in the mobile home park where she lived. A bare patch of grass traced the outline of a home set ablaze in an electrical fire.  She saw it as a symptom of a larger problem, one that connected to her rising […]

Mother Jones: “The Wealthy Tend to Always Look Out for Themselves”—The Attack on State Taxes By Outside Groups

August 22, 2023

Amia Edwards lives here because she wants to make a difference. But in this majority-Black city, long starved for funding by the state’s mostly white Legislature, that’s proved a steep challenge. Read more.

Chicago Fed: Electric Vehicles, Motor Fuel Taxes, and Road Funding in the Seventh District and Beyond

August 17, 2023

State and federal highways are currently funded by a combination of motor fuel taxes (MFTs), general fund transfers, fees, tolls, property taxes, and bond revenues. Read more.

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Does Your State Offer Tax Credits for Private K-12 School Voucher Contributions?

August 15, 2023 • By Carl Davis

Twenty-one states provide public support to private and religious K-12 schools through school voucher tax credits.

Editorial: Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday is Mostly Hype

August 15, 2023

It’s just about back-to-school time, and Gov. Phil Murphy and other Democratic state leaders are showing their love for New Jersey families by offering this special giveaway: 20 cents in sales tax savings off a $3 notebook. Or 13 cents off $2 box of pencils. Wow, right? Read more.

Washington Post: Biden Wants Rich Companies to Pay Higher Taxes. Some Are Fighting Back.

August 14, 2023

It was a simple idea: Major U.S. corporations should pay at least a 15 percent tax on their income, ending an era when some of the country’s most profitable firms owed the federal government little or nothing at all. Instead, the policy championed by President Biden remains bogged down in Washington amid growing legal uncertainty […]

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Celebrating One Year Since the Landmark Inflation Reduction Act

August 14, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

The Inflation Reduction Act was a course correction from decades of tax cuts that primarily went to the richest Americans and left the rest of us with budget shortfalls that conservative lawmakers now seek to plug with cuts to Social Security and Medicare. For the first time in generations we are finally asking those who have benefited the most from our economy to contribute back.

City of Seattle Revenue Stabilization Workgroup: Final Report

August 10, 2023

Seattle strives to support a social safety net for people in need and to uplift our diverse communities. Those services are too often financed by putting a disproportionate burden on those least able to afford it. Washington State ranks as having the most regressive tax system in the country. It doesn’t need to be that […]

Video: ITEP’s Carl Davis Presents ‘Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality’ at UPenn’s Wharton School

August 8, 2023

ITEP Research Director Carl Davis presents “Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality,” coauthored with ITEP’s Brakeyshia Samms, at the 2023 Pension Research Council Symposium “Diversity, Inclusion, and Inequality: Implications for Retirement Income Security and Policy.”

New York Times: What’s the Matter With Miami?

August 4, 2023

For a couple of years after the pandemic struck, there was considerable buzz to the effect that much of the financial industry might leave New York for Miami. After all, state and local taxes on the richest one percent are much lower in Florida than in New York — about nine points lower as a percentage of income, according […]

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Gimmicky Sales Tax Holidays to Cost States & Localities $1.6 Billion This Year

August 3, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Sales tax holidays are bad policies that have too often been used as a substitute for more meaningful, permanent reform.

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A Lot for A Little: Gimmicky Sales Tax Holidays Are an Ineffective Substitute for Real Sales Tax Reform

August 3, 2023 • By Marco Guzman

This year, 19 states will forgo a combined $1.6 billion in tax revenue on sales tax holidays—politically popular, yet ultimately ineffective gimmicks with minimal benefits and significant downsides.

Chalkboard News: Some States Offer Back-to-School Tax Holidays. Do They Work?

August 2, 2023

As back-to-school shopping is expected to cost consumers an all-time high, some states have implemented sales-tax holidays aimed at providing some relief. Read more.

Charlotte Observer: NC Republicans Aren’t Worried About the Effects of Tax Cuts. You Should Be.

July 28, 2023

In mid-summer, the state capital is experiencing an odd mix of anxiety and content. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is warning that plans by Republican state lawmakers to expand private school vouchers and further cut income taxes have forced our public schools into a state of emergency. Read more.

The Lever: The Magical Math Behind Disney’s Content Purge

July 26, 2023

As Hollywood actors and writers strike together for the first time since 1960 over pay, working conditions, and job security, Disney has purged dozens of original TV shows and movies from its streaming platforms, in a move that hurts workers and gives subscribers fewer options to watch. Disney claims it needs to destroy the content […]

Video: How Google, UPS & Amazon Avoid Paying Billions in Taxes

July 19, 2023

ITEP Senior Fellow Matt Gardner appeared on The Freedom Side to discuss corporate tax breaks and "bonus depreciation."

Video: ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer Featured on The Young Turks Segment on Social Security

July 17, 2023

This Young Turks segment on Senator Ron Johnson's comments on Social Security features his exchange with ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer as well as ITEP data.

The Hill: Progressive Groups Tell Dems To Back Out of Debt Ceiling Handshake Deal

July 17, 2023

Progressive groups are arguing a handshake agreement on spending struck by Republicans and Democrats while raising the debt ceiling is null and void. Read more.