Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

OpenSky Policy Institute: Proposed Property Tax Breaks Benefit Wealthy While Restricting School Revenue

May 11, 2023

The Legislature on Wednesday and Thursday will consider property tax breaks and corresponding income tax cuts that together would restrict the revenue that’s available to fund important programs that all Nebraskans rely on for years to come. Read more.

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Voters Could Approve Local Capital Gains Tax in Oregon

May 10, 2023 • By Kamolika Das

At nearly every turn, Oregon’s tax policies widen inequality; as a result, the top 1 percent pay less state and local taxes as a share of income than the poorest residents. Taxing capital gains at the local level is an important and exciting move in the other direction – to tax income from wealth and use it to address crucial needs.

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The House’s Debt Ceiling Smoke Screen: The GOP Budget Plan Gives Cover for Tax Cuts for the Rich

May 9, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

While it isn’t reasonable in the first place for Congress to debate whether it will pay the bills it has already incurred, some of the same lawmakers who are holding the economy hostage to exact budget cuts have decided to make the conversation even more irrational by proposing to increase deficits with tax cuts that enrich the already rich.

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Minnesota Poised to Enact Landmark Loophole-Closing Corporate Tax Reforms

May 7, 2023 • By Matthew Gardner

With Minnesota poised to enact worldwide combined reporting of corporate income taxes, business lobbyists are pulling out all the stops to make state lawmakers believe the apocalypse is upon them.

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Extending Temporary TCJA Provisions: A Windfall for the Wealthy with an Enormous Price Tag

May 4, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

The push by Congressional Republicans to make permanent a series of tax laws that expire at the end of 2025 would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

Testimony of ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Before the D.C. Tax Revision Commission

May 3, 2023

The written testimony of ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer is below the embedded video of the hearing. Dear D.C. Tax Revision Commission,  Thank you for inviting me to testify last week on the research of my colleagues at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. We’re grateful to have our perspective included and as a […]

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The GOP is Finally Ready to Raise Taxes. (Or, When a Tax Hike is Not a Tax Hike.)

May 3, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

House Republicans recently voted to rescind the green energy and electric vehicle tax credits that were enacted last Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. This newfound willingness to raise taxes stands in contrast to the recent position of almost the entire House Republican Caucus.

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Minnesota Lawmakers Re-Envision State Tax System to Center Equity

May 3, 2023 • By Neva Butkus

Minnesota’s House, Senate and Governor’s office have each proposed their own vision as to how the state should maximize its $17.5 billion surplus and raise new revenue, and these tax plans make one thing clear: Minnesota lawmakers are serious about using tax policy to advance tax equity and improve the lives of Minnesotans.

Arkansas Times: A Decade of Tax Cuts for the Rich (and Pretty Much Nothing for You or Me)

May 2, 2023

Taxes help pay for the public services that many of us take for granted — most of our state budget goes to funding education and health services that benefit us all, whether we personally use them or not. But there are better and worse ways for a state to raise revenue. Read more.

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Taxes Save Babies’ Lives

May 1, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

A compelling new examination over multiple years and multiple states found that infants are more likely to survive to age one in states that raise more revenue and raise it from those most able to pay. Generating taxes from rich people and corporations can help babies make it to their first birthday.

Policy Matters Ohio: How Ohio’s Income Tax Works – and How the House Budget Would Change It

April 25, 2023

The proposed changes to the state’s personal income tax in the House substitute budget bill are another blow to Ohio’s only tax that is based on the ability to pay, weakening the public programs, institutions, and supports that make the state strong. Read more.

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

April 25, 2023

Bashing New York City has long been a popular pastime on the right. Conservatives routinely portray the Big Apple as a dystopian wasteland. And the bashing has reached a fever pitch since Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, announced multiple charges against Donald Trump. Read more.

The New Republic: The Future of the Expanded Child Tax Credit Is With the States (for Now)

April 25, 2023

Congress failed to renew the wildly successful measure, but state lawmakers across the country are working to bring it back. Read more.

The Lever: Joe Manchin’s Tax Hike On The Working Class

April 25, 2023

Despite representing one of America’s poorest states, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) decided in 2021 to kill legislation to extend expanded child and antipoverty tax credits that were helping the working class. The expiration of the expanded tax credits resulted in more than three million kids being thrown into poverty. New data shows it also resulted in a massive regressive tax increase […]

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Racial Justice Requires Tax Justice: Our Analysis Helps Deliver Both

April 24, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

ITEP’s analytical approach, our comprehensive microsimulation model, and our unique state-level capacities enable us to do pioneering analyses that enrich the debate on racial justice in tax policy that no other entity can do.

The Hill: The Racial Wealth Gap Won’t Budge: There’s a Tax for That

April 24, 2023

The racial wealth gap is one of the most glaring injustices in the U.S. today. Hundreds of years of structural and legal barriers excluded and prevented Black households from being able to accumulate and hold onto wealth — and policies continue to perpetuate those barriers today. While the civil rights movement brought changes that narrowed the gap, […]

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We Can Create a Fair, Feminist Tax Code

April 14, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

Everything! Taxing wealthy people and corporations and using the revenue for paid leave, child care, education, health care and college would transform America for girls and women of every race and family type, in every corner of this country.

Oxfam: Tax Wealth, Tackle Inequality

April 14, 2023

Wealth inequality in the US is more extreme and dangerous than income inequality; and we need to change our approach, so we effectively tax wealth as well as income. We offer five reasons why a wealth tax makes sense. Read more.

The American Prospect: The Taxman Cometh

April 14, 2023

Last week, with Tax Day right around the corner,​​ the IRS released a highly anticipated strategic operations plan, explaining how the agency intends to operate over the next decade. Flush with $80 billion in additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ordered the IRS last year to develop a plan on […]

Nevada Current: ‘The Tourists Pay It’ is a Lousy Excuse for Punishing Nevadans with a Regressive Tax System

April 14, 2023

What type of business generates the most sales tax revenue in Clark County, home of the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip? If you guessed “food services and drinking places” ding ding ding you are right. Read more.

Arkansas Times: Making Arkansas Worse Again

April 13, 2023

With the 2023 legislative session blessedly at its end, Arkansas progressives (plus moderates and anyone to the left of the Proud Boys) know what complete and utter political defeat looks like. Read more.

Video of ITEP’s Amy Hanauer at Bloomberg Government’s 2023 State Policy Breakfast

April 12, 2023

On April 12, ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer joined Bloomberg Government’s 2023 State Policy Breakfast to discuss current legislative trends and developments in State Houses across the country. You can watch the video here.  

Testimony of ITEP’s Marco Guzman Before the Nevada Assembly Committee on Revenue

April 10, 2023

For a video of Marco’s testimony, click here. Thank you, Assemblywoman Anderson, and thank you chairman and members of the Assembly for the opportunity to speak on the topic of Nevada’s state tax system. My name is Marco Guzman, and I am a Senior State Policy Analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]

The Oklahoman: Sen. Kirt: Tax Credits are a Reverse Robin Hood, Robbing Public Schools of Needed Resources

April 7, 2023

Private school voucher proposals have moved through both the House and Senate over the last few weeks. Now we cannot be sure what final deal may come out of negotiations and whether it will stall or move forward to the governor’s desk. Read more.

Oregon Center for Public Policy: Beyond the Water’s Edge: Oregon Can Make it Harder for Corporations to Hide Profits Overseas

April 6, 2023

Oregon can clamp down on multinational corporations shifting profits overseas, create a more level playing field for Oregon businesses, and raise millions in revenue by enacting “complete reporting” by large corporations. Read more.