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Louisiana Illuminator: Private School Tax Credit is a ‘Charitable Facade’ for the Rich, Study Says
March 9, 2023
A new study found that Louisiana’s private school voucher tax credit is siphoning money from public education and serving as a tax shelter for the wealthy rather than encouraging charitable donations. Read more.
Los Angeles Times: Wall Street Journal Tells Us to Weep for the Plight of the Very, Very Rich
March 8, 2023
Coverage of the richest Americans in publications aimed at their tax bracket tend to fall into two genres. One is stories claiming that income well into six figures doesn’t make them really “rich.” The other involves hand-wringing and whining about their (purportedly) ruinous tax bills. An editorial last week in the (of course) Wall Street Journal may […]
The Why: Matt Gardner on Corporate Tax Avoidance
March 7, 2023
Lured by Promises of Financial Gain, Wealthy Families are Flocking to Voucher Tax Shelters and Eroding Public Education in the Process
March 7, 2023 • By ITEP Staff
Contact: Jon Whiten – [email protected] Lawmakers in several states are discussing enacting or expanding school voucher tax credits, which reimburse individuals and businesses for “donations” they make to organizations that give out vouchers for free or reduced tuition at private K-12 schools, as a new brief released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]
Scripps News: How Billionaires and Corporations Avoid Taxes
March 7, 2023
Across the U.S., some of the nation’s top earners have a toolbox full of mechanisms to build wealth. Read more.
OpenSky Policy Institute: Policy Brief: Consumption Tax
March 3, 2023
The consumption tax proposal in LB 79 would require a rate of 22.1 percent to be revenue neutral, OpenSky analysis conducted with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds. This rate is nearly three times greater than what is proposed in the bill. Further, OpenSky estimates that if the consumption tax were to be […]
New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut Should Keep Corporate Taxes Strong, Extend Surcharges
February 28, 2023 • By Marco Guzman
At a time when corporations are seeing record profits while not paying their fair share of federal taxes, state corporate income taxes can and should play a role in raising sustainable revenue and adding progressivity to state tax codes. Right now, lawmakers in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have a unique opportunity to extend targeted tax changes that have raised billions of dollars from profitable corporations for meaningful public investments.
Dear Ohio: Beware the Flat Tax
February 28, 2023 • By Carl Davis
The flat tax plan and others being discussed that would cut even deeper would be windfalls for the wealthy, and expensive ones at that. Families with incomes over $300,000 per year, for example, could expect to gain, as a group, about a billion dollars annually under the flat tax plan. If you asked Ohio families about their top priorities for this legislative session, it’s a safe bet that very few of them would choose a billion-dollar tax cut for this group over funding for schools, parks, and infrastructure.
Wall Street Journal: New Jersey Is Latest State to Push Tax Relief Despite Economic Uncertainty
February 28, 2023
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday will propose another $2 billion in property-tax rebate checks as part of a $53 billion state budget, a state treasury official said, making it the latest state to push ahead with tax-relief proposals despite recession concerns. Measures under discussion in more than a dozen states vary widely but the trend cuts […]
New York Times: I.R.S. Decision Not to Tax Certain Payments Carries Fiscal Cost
February 27, 2023
More than 20 state governments, flush with cash from federal stimulus funds and a rebounding economy, shared their windfalls last year by sending residents one-time payments. This year, the Biden administration added a sweetener, telling tens of millions taxpayers they did not need to pay federal taxes on those payments. Read more.
Kansas Reflector: Kansas Senate Flat Tax Would Cut $1 for Low-Wage Earners, Hand Windfall to Top 1%
February 22, 2023
A flat tax plan moving through the Senate is structured to provide minimal relief to low-income Kansans while granting a windfall to high wage earners. Read more.
The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year
February 22, 2023 • By Carl Davis
The word “tax” appears 97 times and counting in one recent summary of governors’ addresses to state legislators so far this year. The policy visions that governors are bringing, however, vary enormously. While there's good reason to worry about tax cuts for wealthy families and the flattening or elimination of income taxes, there are at least five great tax ideas coming directly out of governors’ offices this year.
Minnesota Budget Project: Governor Walz Releases FY 2024-25 Budget Priorities
February 16, 2023
The Walz administration’s recently released budget proposal names as their priorities making Minnesota the best state for children, investing in the state’s economic future, and promoting the health and safety of Minnesotans. Read more.
Kansas Action for Children: Flat Tax: Simple Doesn’t Mean Smart
February 16, 2023
The state has seen increased revenue in recent years, with the state budget including millions of dollars in surplus revenue. The temporary, higher receipts have led to several tax cut proposals. Now, some politicians and special business interest groups are proposing to use lingering budget surpluses to tilt the tax code even further in their favor. […]
Fortune: More Than Half of States are Considering Personal Income Tax Cuts This Year
February 15, 2023
State governments are still flush with cash from federal COVID-19 aid dollars and increased revenues. And more than half are considering using those budget surpluses to institute or accelerate tax cuts for residents. Read more.
The No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act Is Needed More than Ever
February 14, 2023 • By Steve Wamhoff
The new corporate minimum tax enacted as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act will address some of the worst corporate tax dodging, but what else is needed? A group of Democrats have answered this question with the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act.
Yahoo Finance: Stock Buybacks Have Surged in the Weeks Since Washington Began Taxing Them
February 13, 2023
A new excise tax on stock buybacks went into effect Jan. 1 and has been followed by what seems to be an unexpected development: corporate share repurchase announcements have exploded. Read more.
Oklahoma Policy Institute: The Needs of Everyday Oklahomans Outweigh Tax Cuts that Benefit the Wealthy
February 13, 2023
As Oklahoma’s 2023 legislative session begins, the perennial push for tax cuts that would shrink state revenue will likely return. In 2022, leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives championed tax cuts – primarily focusing on reducing the personal income tax, the corporate income tax, and the sales tax on groceries. Ultimately, the legislative session ended without any major […]
Michael Ettlinger
February 12, 2023 • By ITEP Staff
Michael is a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. He is also a senior fellow with the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, where he was the founding director, and an independent author. This is Michael’s second tour at ITEP. He was previously the State Tax […]
CBS News: States are Flush with Cash. It’s Setting Off ‘Tax Cut Fever.’
February 11, 2023
Even as the U.S. economy shows signs of slowing down, many states around the U.S. are flush with cash, with their so-called rainy day funds estimated to reach a record high of $136.8 billion this fiscal year. And lawmakers in more than half of states are responding to their new cash cushions with similar proposals: cutting taxes. […]
Why the States Have a Major Role to Play If We Want Tax Justice
February 9, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer
With fears of gridlock in a divided Washington, tax justice champions are building momentum in other places where there's dire need for better tax policy: the states. We can upgrade communities across the country by making 2023 a year to win tax improvements in statehouses.
FiveThirtyEight: Congress’s U-Turn Has States Thinking About Giving Parents Cash
February 9, 2023
Last year, Congress walked away from what looked like one of the most effective fixes for child poverty in a generation. Now, state legislators are trying to walk it back. Lawmakers in at least 10 states are considering some new version of the expanded child tax credit, a federal program that lifted millions of children out of poverty but […]
State of the Union Likely to Continue Progress on Tax Justice
February 7, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer
After decades of Presidents who ran away from taxes, it’s a sea change to have a chief executive who understands that the rich should pay their fair share, extremely profitable corporations should pay their fair share, and the public sector should have revenue to invest in problems – like climate change and healthcare – that will only be solved with pathbreaking public action.
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