Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

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Illinois Voucher Tax Credits Don’t ‘Invest in Kids,’ They Invest in Inequality

June 12, 2023 • By Carl Davis

By allowing their school privatization tax credit to expire at the end of the year, Illinois lawmakers can take a meaningful step toward better tax and education policy, and a clear show of support for our nation’s public education system.

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ITEP Analysis: New Proposed Tax Cuts Would Flow Primarily to Wealthiest Americans and Foreign Investors

June 12, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Contact: Jon Whiten ([email protected]) The trio of tax bills that House Republicans plan on moving forward this week include huge tax cuts that would mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors, according to a new analysis released Sunday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The bills, which are set to be considered […]

New Jersey Policy Perspective: Stay Away from StayNJ: Proposal Cuts Taxes for the Rich, Leaves Low-Income Seniors Behind

June 9, 2023

Housing affordability is one of the most pressing challenges facing New Jersey, but not all policies aimed at making the state affordable are equally effective, efficient, or equitable. When evaluating new proposals and changes to the tax code, it’s critical to consider who stands to benefit, by how much, and who is left behind. In […]

Los Angeles Times: As IRS Funding Shrinks, California’s Wealthiest Can Breathe a Bit Easier

June 9, 2023

California millionaires and billionaires who were set to face the full auditing firepower of a revamped Internal Revenue Service can breathe a bit easier, thanks to congressional Republicans. Read more.

Forbes: House Proposal Would Restore Expanded And Improved Monthly Child Tax Credits

June 9, 2023

A group of U.S. Representatives has introduced the American Family Act, legislation that would make the previously expanded and improved monthly child tax credit permanent. Read more.

Knowledge at Wharton: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap in Retirement Readiness

June 7, 2023

Black and Hispanic Americans are less financially prepared for retirement than their white counterparts for multiple reasons. Participants at the 2023 Pension Research Council Symposium grappled with the underlying causes and suggested reforms. Read more.

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ITEP Statement: American Family Act Prioritizes Tax Credits for Low- and Middle-Income Families

June 7, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Restoring the more robust CTC should be a top priority of all lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. But unfortunately, this bill stands in stark contrast to other tax bills taking shape that would deeply cut taxes for profitable corporations and wealthy families.

South Florida Sun Sentinel: Editorial: Short-Sighted Debt Deal Protects Tax Evaders

June 7, 2023

Not much in the debt ceiling extension deal will have lasting impact. But one significant aspect cuts $21 billion out of the $80 billion the IRS received in new money from Congress last year. Read more.

Route Fifty: Minnesota Takes On Corporate Profit Shifting

June 7, 2023

It has closed a loophole that companies use to create income tax havens abroad, and as overall tax revenue continues to slump, it could be a path other states take. Read more.

The Commonwealth Institute: Cutting Top Personal Income Tax Boosts the Wealthy, Excludes People with Lower Incomes

June 6, 2023

With no budget compromise yet from the Virginia General Assembly, $1 billion in untargeted tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and profitable corporations are still on the table. Read more.

Deseret News: Working Class Voters Want Politicians Who Will Focus on the Economy

June 6, 2023

The most important issue facing the U.S. today is still inflation, according to a new national poll, and this sentiment is being driven by Americans who identify as working and middle class. Read more.

Policy Matters Ohio: A Better Earned Income Tax Credit Will Help Ohio’s Working Families

June 6, 2023

Ohio’s leaders can use the tax system to increase economic stability for every family in the state. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a proven, powerful tool to do just that. In 2021, the federal EITC lifted about 5.3 million people above the poverty line, including nearly 3 million children. Read more.

KALW’s Your Call: Debt Ceiling Agreement Targets the Poor While Protecting the Wealthy

May 30, 2023

ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer appeared on “Your Call” discussing the debt ceiling agreement. Listen here.

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ITEP Statement: Debt Deal Avoids the Elephant in the Room

May 28, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

It’s a relief to see that Congressional leaders and the President have come to an agreement to raise the debt limit and avert an economic disaster. But by instituting work requirements for critical assistance programs and rescinding important funding to crack down on wealthy tax cheats, this deal will rig the economy even more in favor of the most well-off Americans while failing to fix the real structural problems that led to the current debt crisis in the first place.

North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Tax Changes in NC Senate Budget Plan Benefit Richest, Worsen Racial Inequities

May 25, 2023

The NC Senate tax plan will double down on the path to zero income tax — keeping in place the elimination of the corporate income tax and reducing the personal income tax to 2.49 percent after 2029 — to benefit the very wealthy and profitable corporations. Read more.

Governing: What’s Driving This Year’s Ambitious Tax Cuts?

May 24, 2023

Revenues are slowing but lawmakers, at least in red states, have continued to enact major tax cuts this year. Read more.

San Francisco Examiner: $66M Salesforce Program to Close Educational Gaps Has Only Widened Them

May 24, 2023

Ten years ago, Salesforce pledged millions to San Francisco’s public schools to help close an achievement gap between the district’s Black and brown students, who scored lower than their white and Asian peers in math and science courses. But a decade and $66 million later, that gap has only widened. Read more.

Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Will Further Solidify An Unequal Federal Income Tax Structure for Generations

May 23, 2023

A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) predicts that making permanent the temporary provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will cost nearly $290 billion in 2026. H.R. 976, the TCJA Permanency Act, would permanently enshrine the portions of the TCJA that were set to expire in 2025. In Arizona, […]

Washington Post: How California’s Wild Weather Brought the Debt-Ceiling ‘X Date’ Closer

May 22, 2023

As President Biden and lawmakers scramble to strike a debt ceiling deal before the government runs out of money, each day counts — to the tune of about $17 billion. That’s how much the U.S. Treasury spends daily, on average, to keep the government functioning. Read more.

Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center: What’s Race Got to Do With It? Some Tax Proposals Would Widen Racial Inequality, Others Would Advance Equity

May 17, 2023

Lawmakers have proposed a variety of tax cuts, some of which would provide outsize benefits to the most affluent households and widen existing racial and economic disparities. Other proposed tax changes would make the Commonwealth more equitable by targeting benefits to lower-income households who need them the most. Read more.

U.S. Senate Budget Committee: Extending Trump Tax Cuts Would Add $3.5 Trillion to the Deficit, According to CBO

May 17, 2023

According to a report released today by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), extending the Trump tax cuts would add $3.5 trillion to the deficit through 2033. Read more.

Oklahoma Policy Institute: Flat Tax, Tax Triggers Would Make Oklahoma’s Tax System Less Fair, Less Adequate, and less stable

May 16, 2023

With less than two weeks left in the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers have very little time remaining to reach agreement on, reveal, and adopt the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget. Bills that would change tax policy are typically unveiled as part of the budget package. Though they have not yet been introduced, this year’s budget […]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Politics of the Debt Ceiling Fight: A Numbers Game

May 16, 2023

Republicans focus on the size of the federal debt in demanding spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling. Democrats highlight the number of Americans who would lose benefits if those cuts are made. Read more.

The Texas Tribune: Why Tax Policy Experts Fear the Texas House Plan to Lower Property Taxes Could Have Dire Ripple Effects

May 16, 2023

Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners. Read more.

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States Looking to Make Property Taxes Affordable Should Turn to ‘Circuit Breakers’

May 11, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Many state legislatures this year have been considering property tax cuts – but too many are ignoring the solution that speaks more directly to questions of property tax affordability than any other policy option: the “circuit breaker."