Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Oklahoma Policy Institute: Tax Proposals This Session Fail to Deliver Inflation Relief, Jeopardize State’s Long-term Fiscal Health

April 6, 2023

With $10.8 billion in recurring revenue and at least $1.6 billion in one-time funds, the Oklahoma Legislature has significant fiscal decisions to make this session. Oklahoma leaders have repeatedly stated their intentions, including House Speaker Charles McCall who wants to provide “inflation relief” and Gov. Kevin Stitt who heralds a commitment to “fiscal discipline.” However, most of […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 33 Before the House Finance Committee

April 4, 2023

This general assembly has the good fortune of budgeting in a time of surplus. Smart federal policy drove cash to people and businesses so when the worst of covid passed, the economy could rebound. The federal government has also sent crisis dollars to states, propping up potential shortfalls and funding major investments in many areas […]

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It’s the Revenue Shortfall, Stupid

April 3, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

Lawmakers have repeatedly stepped on the same rake of slashing tax rates and expecting revenues to magically go up. Now they want middle-class Americans to be the ones who get hit in the face. The con is getting tired. If Congress wants to reel in the debt then it’s time to raise taxes on the wealthy.

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Minnesota’s Tax Code Should Be Based on Ability to Pay, Not Year of Birth

March 31, 2023 • By Carl Davis, Eli Byerly-Duke

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a carveout that would treat seniors much more favorably than young families. The proposal would fully exempt all Social Security income from state income tax, even for seniors with exceptionally high incomes.

Arkansas Advocates for Children: Vital Services At Risk With Income Tax Elimination

March 31, 2023

We all want to live in a state with great schools, well-maintained infrastructure, thriving communities, and strong families. But Arkansas’s Governor and many legislative leaders have expressed their support for sharply cutting – or even eliminating – our personal income tax, which would undermine our ability to ever achieve this goal. Read more.

New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute: Households with High Incomes Disproportionately Benefit from Interest and Dividends Tax Repeal

March 30, 2023

New analyses of the elimination of New Hampshire’s Interest and Dividends Tax show that the reduction in tax revenue disproportionately benefits individuals and households with high incomes while significantly reducing revenues available for public services. Read more.

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Better Local Tax Policy Can Help Communities Thrive

March 30, 2023 • By Kamolika Das

From dedicating new taxes to fund climate action and public health to vacancy and “mansion” taxes, many local leaders are already exploring ways to make their tax systems more progressive and sustainable. ITEP is committed to helping local leaders and advocates build on this work by advancing knowledge about local tax solutions.

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ITEP Launches Local Tax Team

March 30, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Contact: Jon Whiten ([email protected]) For decades, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has played a role in shaping equitable and sustainable tax systems at the federal and state level. From the beginning, we have collaborated with advocates, policymakers, and others to advance policies that can foster expansive, inclusionary, and racially equitable tax systems. […]

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Impacts of Proposed Income Tax Rate Reduction

March 30, 2023

House and Senate Republicans are demanding income tax cuts be part of the budget, and Democrats in the legislature were right to make sure they didn’t have the tools to threaten a state shutdown to get them. As the legislature prepares to pass a current services budget to avoid a stalemate in June that could […]

Time: No One Is Talking About What Ron DeSantis Has Actually Done to Florida

March 29, 2023

Media coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s all-but-announced candidacy for president is already in full frenzy, and so far the script is exactly as his handlers would like it to be. Read more.

Oregon Center for Public Policy: How to Pay (PAE) for It? Enact Complete Reporting

March 29, 2023

Making Oregonians more economically secure requires investing in our well-being: housing, education, child care, and more. One fair way to pay for these investments is to fight corporate tax avoidance by enacting complete reporting. Read more.

OpenSky Policy Institute Webinar: Data Shows Child Tax Credits Benefit Hardworking Families

March 27, 2023

New evidence on child tax credits at the federal level has shown “stunning” results in lifting children out of poverty throughout the country and a state-level policy could continue that momentum, benefiting a broad range of families, panelists including ITEP State Policy Director Aidan Davis said in a February 8 webinar.

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Race-Conscious Tax Policy Discourse is Shifting the Conversation About the Tax Code

March 27, 2023 • By Brakeyshia Samms

As we look ahead to what comes next in our journey to a more race-conscious tax policy debate, it’s worth reflecting on how we got here and what we’ve learned along the way.

Washington State Supreme Court: Opinion Upholding Capital Gains Excise Tax

March 24, 2023

In 2021, the Washington Legislature enacted a capital gains tax, levied at a rate of seven percent on the sale or exchange of certain long-term capital assets. Read more. (See pages 4 and 11 for ITEP citations)

Deseret News: Biden Wants to ‘Tax the Rich.’ Does a Tax Hike Make Sense?

March 23, 2023

The U.S. had about 720 billionaires at the start of his presidency, President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union speech. “Now we have about 1,000,” he said. He went on to unveil his administration’s proposal to increase taxes on wealthy Americans — to include millionaires and billionaires — to fund other government […]

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Costly and Poorly Targeted Senior Tax Subsidies Widen Economic, Racial, and Generational Inequalities

March 22, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

Contact: Jon Whiten – [email protected]  Costly and Poorly Targeted Senior Tax Subsidies Widen Economic, Racial, and Generational Inequalities State lawmakers should focus on improving overall tax fairness, not creating special carveouts based on age Lawmakers in several states are currently considering tax subsidies for senior citizens, even though these breaks are costly and poorly targeted. […]

Massachussets Budget & Policy Center: Taking Measure of the Governor’s Tax Plan

March 21, 2023

Governor Healey’s tax relief proposal would reduce state revenue available for future investments by $986 million annually. Three proposed tax credits would be progressive, meaning the benefits for lower-income households would be a larger percent of their income than the benefits for higher-income houseolds..1 The Governor also proposes two highly regressive tax cuts, meaning richer, higher-income households would receive […]

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Effects of President Biden’s Proposal to Expand the Child Tax Credit

March 16, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

In his latest budget proposal, President Biden proposes enhancing the Child Tax Credit (CTC) based on the temporary credit that was in effect for 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. In this report we analyze how that proposal would help children and families.

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 1 Before the House Ways and Means Committee

March 15, 2023

This bill proposes a substantial rewriting of Ohio’s property and personal income taxes. It is an overly complicated, poorly designed bill that does not achieve what the sponsor claimed it would. It represents a massive wealth transfer from Ohio’s communities to a wealthy few. It is based on unsound economic reasoning and, if passed, it […]

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Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich

March 14, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

As one of the most prosperous countries in human history, we have enough resources for our collective needs. By better taxing corporations and the wealthiest, we can generate revenue to improve family security, strengthen our communities, and reduce the debt too.

Kansas Legislators’ War on the Poor Opens Worrisome New Front: School Vouchers and Tax Avoidance

March 13, 2023

Kansas legislative leaders have declared war on the poor. They have pushed bills penalizing those receiving government assistance through the House Welfare Reform Committee. They have advocated a flat tax plan that benefits the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. We have watched these proposals unfold in recent weeks, watched and heard the disdain. Yet the war has […]

Vox: Biden’s Plan to Tax the Rich, Explained

March 10, 2023

Billionaires in the US pay a tiny proportion of the wealth they accrue in taxes compared to the cut ordinary Americans pay from their wages. Now, President Joe Biden wants that to change: His just-unveiled budget for fiscal year 2024 contains a tapestry of tax hikes with a laser-beam focus on billionaires, multi-millionaires, and large corporations, all aiming to […]

MarketWatch: Biden’s Tax Hikes for the Rich are Unlikely to Pass. The Bigger Debate: Trump-era Tax Cuts that End in 2025.

March 10, 2023

For five years, most Americans have seen lower income-tax rates and tapped a bigger standard deduction, but without congressional action before the end of 2025, the rules could still revert to levels set long before the pandemic blindsided households and inflation raged. Read more.

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ITEP Statement: President Biden Lays Out a Bold Vision for Tax Justice in Proposed Budget

March 9, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

President Biden’s budget proposal presents a bold vision for what tax justice should look like in America. The provisions would raise substantial revenue, fund important priorities and increase tax fairness.

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Politifalse: A Fact-Checker Does Biden an Injustice on Taxes Paid by Billionaires

March 9, 2023 • By Michael Ettlinger

Most Americans pay more in Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes than they pay in federal personal income tax. So just looking at the personal income tax for comparison misses most of the taxes middle-income Americans pay. That is not true for billionaires because a much, much smaller proportion of their income is subject to the federal payroll taxes.