Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Columbia Basin Herald: District 13 Legislators Oppose Inslee’s Tax Proposal

January 24, 2015

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington state has the most regressive tax structure in the nation. Inslee said the capital gains tax would help make the tax structure more progressive. Read more

Maine Politics: LePage Urges Maine Real Estate Group to Support His Tax Reforms

January 24, 2015

Other groups, like the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy — whose advocacy arm the Center for Tax Justice has criticized the methodology of the Tax Foundation’s tax system rankings — provide a different perspective on tax system rankings. ITEP’s 2015 “Inequality Index” looks only at how the tax system affects people making different incomes, […]

Floyd County Times: Wealthiest Kentuckians Have Lowest Overall Tax Rate

January 24, 2015

A new study released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP) finds that low-income Kentuckians pay 49 percent more in state and local taxes as a share of their incomes than the state’s wealthiest one percent pay. The rate for moderate-income and middle […]

Morning Sentinel: Will Cutting Taxes Make Maine Stronger?

January 24, 2015

We can envision this future by looking at neighboring New Hampshire, which has neither general sales nor income tax, but relies heavily on the regressive property tax. There, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the poorest fifth pay 8.3 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest fifth […]

Wall Street Cheat Sheet: Here’s Proof You’re Getting Screwed on Your Taxes

January 21, 2015

Ever feel like you’re paying more than your fair share when it comes to taxes? If a new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) holds true, then it may be more than just a feeling. According to the ITEP’s study, individuals who earn lower incomes tend to get hit harder and […]

Newsweek: Why Obama Finally Took on the 1%

January 21, 2015

A sweeping attack on wealth inequality might have had more than an icicle’s chance in hell of passing back when Democrats had control of Congress. But Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit, says the administration did push to raise capital gains—every year—without success. It was […]

Tampa Bay Times: Gov. Scott Proposes Cell Phone, TV Tax Cut

January 21, 2015

A better approach, Woodall said, is to cut the communications services tax by the same rate, but replace the lost revenue by plugging some of the more than 200 exemptions to a tax system that the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy called the second-most regressive in the nation. Read more

The Express (Milwaukee): The Explosive Numbers on Walkers Taxes

January 21, 2015

Walker has successfully built a political career on tax-cut politics that many voters believe benefits them when, in reality, the middle class and the poor pay a higher tax rate in Wisconsin than the wealthiest 1%. That’s a real fact everyone should know. It’s documented in a new national study just released by the Institute […]

Chinook Observer: Tax Tale of Two States

January 21, 2015

New study re-emphasizes a longstanding reality: Oregonians have it much better than they imagine when it comes to taxes, while Washington residents ought to be rebelling   Although you’d never guess based on the complaining, Oregon lawmakers and voters have done quite a good job of designing a tax system that meets fundamental measures of […]

Evanston Now: Illinois Tax System Among the Most Regressive

January 21, 2015

A new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says Illinois residents face one of the most regressive state and local tax systems in the nation. The institute — which defines regressive taxation as a system in which lower income people pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those who […]

WWLP (Mass.): Wealthiest Taxpayers Paying Smallest Percentage of Income

January 21, 2015

A new study is showing that both in Massachusetts and nationwide, the highest income residents pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes, compared to lower and middle income taxpayers. The study done by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy looked at four taxes: income, real estate, excise or car tax, and sales tax. […]

The Greensboro News and Record: Taxes’ Low Blows

January 21, 2015

“State legislators opened their 2015 session saying they want to ease the tax burden on “regular folks.” That will be a turnaround. “Regular folks” — those who earn moderate incomes or less — pay a larger share of their incomes in state and local taxes than do the very wealthy in North Carolina. The Institute […]

Newsweek: Obama’s State of the Union. What to Expect

January 20, 2015

The issue most recently pegged by the White House, and the one least likely to gain any traction in Congress, is reforming the tax code. Obama’s plan would raise taxes on the very wealthy to pay for tax cuts for middle- and low-income families. It would do this in three ways: First, it would close […]

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Who Pays? Report Brings out the Red Herring Brigade

January 20, 2015 • By Jenice Robinson

Last week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released Who Pays?, a report that examines the state and local tax system in all 50 states. The analysis concludes that every state’s tax system is regressive, meaning the lower one’s income, the higher one’s tax rate. Not surprisingly, the report ruffled a few feathers. It’s […]

Jackson Clarion Ledger: Poor’s Tax Burden High

January 20, 2015

With Gov. Phil Bryant’s push for a tax cut this legislative session as context, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has released a report that says the tax rate as a percentage of income for poor Mississippians is twice that for the state’s wealthy. The study by Washington, D.C.-based ITEP found lower-income Mississippians pay […]

Honolulu Star Advertiser: Isles Second Highest in Taxes on the Poor

January 20, 2015

Hawaii has the second-highest taxes on the poor and the 15th most unfair state and local tax systems in the country, according to a recent report from a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued its 2015 report “Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems” this week. The report […]

The Oregonian: Pity Washington’s Unhappy Legislators

January 20, 2015

Last week brought another complication for Washington’s tax situation, as the annual report of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in the other Washington, found that once again Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country. Since Washington is so heavily dependent on the sales tax, the poorest fifth of Washingtonians pay […]

Pittsburg Tribune Review: Incoming Gov. Targets Higher Earners

January 20, 2015

The newly released 2015 “Who Pays” report from the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found Pennsylvania has the sixth-most-inequitable tax system in the nation. Combining the total burdens of sales, property and income taxes, the report found the top 1 percent of earners pay 4.2 percent of their income in taxes. The lowest […]

Cherry Hill Post Courier: NJ’s Tax System Fairer Than Most Though Still Unequal

January 20, 2015

New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, but low- and middle-income residents still devote a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy, according to a new study out Wednesday. New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, authors of the study, said that […]

Cherry Hiss Post Courier: NJ’s Tax System Fairer Than Most Though Still Unequal

January 20, 2015

New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, but low- and middle-income residents still devote a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy, according to a new study out Wednesday. New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, authors of the study, said that […]

Chattanooga Times Free Press: She Still Struggles But Now She Has Hope

January 20, 2015

Georgia and Tennessee are not among the 29 states to pass legislation boosting the minimum wage above the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. A report released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Tennessee’s tax rates are among the top 10 most regressive in the nation, meaning the poor […]

The Oklahoman: Tax Burden Is Heave for Many Oklahomans

January 20, 2015

TAX cut opponents often argue that Oklahoma already has a relatively low tax burden. A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows this is not true for many families. The ITEP study — “Who Pays?” — analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major state and […]

Tulsa World: The Poor Pay More

January 20, 2015

The poor pay more. State taxes favor the wealthy. Every state and local tax system is regressive. Those provocative conclusions, reached in a controversial new study, are going to ignite a fiery debate over who’s really the most overburdened by state and local taxes and whether existing tax systems do as much harm as good. […]

Norman Transcript: Report Show Low-Income Oklahomans Pay Highest State Taxes

January 20, 2015

  A new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Oklahoma Policy Institute finds that low- and middle-income Oklahomans pay more than two times more in taxes as a percentage of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The study “Who Pays?” analyzes tax systems in all 50 states […]

Seattle Times: Inslees Capital Gains Tax Pitch

January 20, 2015

“The capital-gains tax on the wealthy — even when combined with a tax credit Inslee has proposed for the state’s poorest families — would not bump Washington from its No. 1 ranking as the nation’s most regressive tax code, according to Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which ranks […]