Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

KNWA: Arkansas Receives Negative Mark On Taxing Residents

January 16, 2015

“A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) puts Arkansas among the most unfair tax systems in the country. According to the study, Arkansas’s tax system is unfair, or regressive, because the lower someone’s income, the higher their tax rate. This is in part because Arkansas, like most other […]

The Edmond Sun: Low, middle-income Oklahomans pay highest taxes

January 16, 2015

“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, a new study finds. On Wednesday, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Oklahoma Policy Institute released “Who Pays?” The study analyzed state tax systems and factors in all […]

New Jersey Online: N.J. low- and middle-income families pay larger share of income in state taxes,

January 16, 2015

“New Jersey’s poor and middle-class families pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the rich, but the tax structure is more progressive than three-quarters of the states, according to a study released today. While the state’s progressive income taxes charge the wealthy a higher rate, property, sales and gasoline taxes consume a […]

The Tampa Bay Times: Florida taxes second-most regressive in US

January 16, 2015

  Florida’s tax system poses a larger burden on poorer residents than almost any other state, according to a report released Wednesday by policy researchers at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.  In its “Who Pays?” report, ITEP found Florida’s to be the second-most regressive tax system, after the state of Washington.  “Florida’s tax […]

The Oregonian: Oregon’s tax system one of fairest in nation for lower income

January 16, 2015

“A new study by a liberal think tank says Oregon’s tax system is one of the least regressive in the country as the result of the lack of a sales tax and its refundable income tax credit for lower-income citizens. The Washington, D.C. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that only two states — […]

News & Record: Tax policy makes the poor poorer

January 16, 2015

“The lower your income, the greater share of it you pay in state and local taxes, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports today. This is true all across the country. North Carolina is about average, but ongoing “tax reform” is making our system more regressive.” Read more

Greenwich Time: State ranks 26th for regressive taxes

January 16, 2015

Connecticut ranks 26 in a study that judges the fairness of state tax systems. According to the study, states with regressive tax structures have negative tax inequality indexes, meaning that incomes are less equal in those states after state and local taxes than before. Read more

Arkansas Matters: AR Ranks 11th Nationally for Tax Burden on Poor

January 16, 2015

“Arkansas ranks eleventh in the nation when it comes to taxing the poor. The poorest Arkansans, those making under $9,600 per year, pay two times more in taxes as a percentage of their income than wealthy Arkansans who make over $209,800 per year. A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

Lawrence Journal-World: Kansas has ninth most regressive tax code

January 16, 2015

Lower-income people in Kansas are taxed at more than twice the rate as upper-income people, according to a new report released Wednesday. The fifth edition of the “Who Pays?” study from two think tanks, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Kansas Center for Economic Growth, says the poorest 20 percent of […]

KSN: Kansas among “Terrible Ten” states for regressive tax systems

January 16, 2015

The 2015 report, entitled Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, claims to assess the “fairness” of state and local tax systems “by measuring the state and local taxes that will be paid in 2015 by different income groups […]

The Birmingham News: Alabama taxes poor more heavily than rich, study finds

January 16, 2015

“Poor Alabamians continue to pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than upper-income earners, but the state no longer is among the “Terrible Ten,” according to a report released Wednesday. The fifth edition of “Who Pays?” by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy pegs Alabama as the 12th most […]

Democrat Examiner: Our Regressive Tax System

January 16, 2015

“Americans assume their tax system is progressive and fair, with the wealthy paying a greater percentage of their income to support government than the poor and middle class. Many Americans also assume the government takes money from the rich and redistributes it to the poor (the Joe the Plumber syndrome). Those assumptions are wrong. A […]

WJBC: Illinois among most unfair tax states

January 16, 2015

“The Illinois system is the fifth most unfair in the nation, in terms of low-income people paying the highest proportion of their income in taxes vs. the wealthy paying the lowest, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Executive director Matt Gardner explains the consequences: “When you have a tax system that decides, […]

Middlesboro Daily News: Wealthiest Kentuckians have lowest overall tax rate

January 16, 2015

“A new study released today 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 class […]

Times Argus: Vt. taxes least regressive but still skewed

January 16, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has released a study looking at tax systems across all 50 states and found that Vermont leans less on the poor and middle class than do the other states; however, when looking at taxes as a percentage of income, the poor and the middle class are still paying […]

News & Observer: Despite claims, GOP policies aren’t spurring the NC economy

January 16, 2015

“The ballyhooed tax cuts have choked state revenue to the point where it will not be enough for even an austere budget. Current projections call for a $199 million shortfall, but it could go higher. Meanwhile, the cuts have increased economic inequality by shifting the tax burden downward. A new report from the Institute on […]

Harlan Daily: Wealthiest Kentuckians have lowest overall tax rate

January 16, 2015

“A new study released today 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 class […]

Governing: Lower Wage Workers Pay More Than the 1% in State, Local Taxes

January 16, 2015

“When it comes to the taxes closest to home, the less you earn, the harder you’re hit. That is the conclusion of an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that evaluates the local tax burden in every state, from Washington, labeled the most regressive, to Delaware, ranked as the fairest of them […]

Esquire: This Week in the Laboratories of Democracy

January 16, 2015

“And we conclude, as usual, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Schist Stirrer Friedman of The Plains draws our attention to the fact that it’s better to be rich than to be poor. In Oklahoma, the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers (households earning less than $89,000 a year) are paying between 8.6 […]

Salon: Defiant Sam Brownback vows to move toward zero income tax — and make Kansas even more unequal

January 16, 2015

“A study released this week underscores one of the most pernicious effects of such a tax regime: It exacerbates inequality. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that “[v]irtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair,” with state and local taxes eating disproportionately into lower-income workers’ wages. But the effect was far worse in […]

Marketplace: Not all taxes are created equal

January 16, 2015

“A new study published on Wednesday finds that local taxes are hitting low-wage earners much harder than wealthy individuals. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the poorest 20 percent of Americans pay an average of 10.9 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the top one percent pay 5.4 […]

Forbes: State With World’s Richest Man Has Most Regressive Taxes (But Don’t Blame Bill Gates)

January 16, 2015

“A new analysis of state and local taxes for 2015 shows that despite changes in Kansas and other states that have reduced taxes on the rich, Washington State continues to have the most “regressive” tax system in the country—meaning its taxes hit poor families the hardest, compared to rich ones. Overall, the bottom 20% of […]

Science 2.0: Now That Prices Have Dropped, Hiking Gasoline Taxes Is Back On The Table

January 16, 2015

“Index the fuel taxes to the rate of increase in highway construction costs, an approach proposed by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In this case, Congress would not need to adjust the tax since it would be done automatically on an annual basis, similar to the way Social Security benefits are adjusted annually […]

The Louisville Courier-Journal: Kentucky facing consequence of gas tax tied to price

January 16, 2015

“Most states — 32 — levy a fixed-rate per-gallon tax no matter what the price of gas, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax watchdog group. But 15 states, including Kentucky, gauge it to the price per gallon, which makes it function more like a sales tax. Florida and Massachusetts levy […]

Go Local Providence: RI Ranks 5th Worst For Taxes on the Poor

January 16, 2015

“A study released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Economic Progress Institute shows that the lowest income Rhode Islanders pay 12.5 percent of their income towards state and local taxes compared to the state’s wealthiest residents who pay 6.3 percent. Rhode Island now ranks 5th worst in the country […]