Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A sorry story of transit and taxes: State legislators support the wealthy over the many who need mass transit

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) April 18, 2012 12:00 am By Natalia Rudiak We are the wealthiest nation in the world. So why are we struggling to maintain basic public services? It seems that Allegheny County’s transit system is in crisis every year, but this year the crisis looks potentially terminal: Without adequate funding from our state government, […]

South End Patch: Massive Tax Day Rally Envelops Financial District

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Hundreds of concerned citizens took to the streets of the Financial District Tuesday to protest “tax-dodging” corporations. By Andrew Jeromski     A Massive group of protesters took to the streets of Boston’s Financial District late yesterday afternoon to demand major corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans pay their fare share of […]

The Wichita Eagle: League of Women Voters speaks out against Kansas income tax plans

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By BRENT D. WISTROMEagle Topeka bureau Published Saturday, April 21, 2012, at 5:33 p.m. TOPEKA — The League of Women Voters of Kansas, usually noted for their opposition to laws they feel create barriers to voting, stepped out late last week against the two income tax reduction bills being debated by House and […]

Press TV: No fair share for war taxes

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:29PM GMT Frida Berrigan, Waging Nonviolence I am big fan of the post office in general and of my local post office in particular. I go there as often as I can (honestly, I do). But, when I needed stamps on Monday, I was not prepared for the line […]

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Missouri can’t afford to leave $400 million on the table

December 17, 2012

Monday, April 23, 2012 | 10:21 a.m. CDT BY St. Louis Post-Dispatch Forty-four of the 50 states in the nation don’t allow it. Missouri does, and in 2011, the practice denied state agencies nearly $400 million that Missourians desperately needed for health care, education, infrastructure and other essential services in every part of the state. […]

Business Week: A Tax Windfall From the Housing Bust

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By Amanda J. Crawford on April 26, 2012 As Karen Jacobs, an economist in Arizona’s Department of Revenue, was reviewing income tax data for 2010, she came across a puzzling trend: Refunds were down and tax liability was up even though the state’s unemployment rate peaked that year, at 10.8 percent. “My first […]

Fairfield County Business Journal: Corporations dodge taxes, hand small biz the bill

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) by Janice Kirkel The amount the average American small business had to pay in 2011 to cover the cost of corporate abuse of tax havens was $2,116.The amount an individual tax filer had to pay was $426. Both are the findings of a report by U.S. PIRG, the federation of state public interest […]

Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming ranks high again for economic growth

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Sunday, April 29, 2012 10:00 am CHEYENNE — Wyoming again ranks fourth among states for best economic growth and outlook, largely because of the state’s low total tax burden, according to a nonprofit group’s report. The American Legislative Exchange Council ranked Wyoming fourth for the […]

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa.’s tax dodgers don’t deserve a break

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Posted: Tue, May. 1, 2012, 3:00 AM Sharon Ward For too long, big companies have benefited from Pennsylvania lawmakers’ refusal to close tax loopholes. They have been free to use aggressive avoidance schemes to shield their income from state taxes and shift the cost of public services to families and other businesses. After […]

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Aches, pains and oil taxes: The weaknesses in governor’s plan were coming out

December 17, 2012

by Richard Fineberg May 06, 2012 The legislative special session ended early, saving Alaska from misguided petroleum legislation. Conflicting information on oil and gas revenue issues confounded deliberations, suggesting that Alaska should add the letter “H” to ACES. This change would convert the acronym for “Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share” to ACHES: “Alaska’s Confusing, Hidden […]

The Hutchinson News: DC group criticizes Kan. plan for cutting taxes

December 17, 2012

Published: 5/8/2012 10:01 PM | Last update: 5/8/2012 10:01 PM TOPEKA – A Washington think tank says a tax-cutting package in the Kansas Legislature would shift part of the tax burden to the state’s poorest residents. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy is a research group that advocates for progressive tax codes. The group […]

Topeka Capital Journal: Senate poised for vote on tax bill

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Posted: May 9, 2012 – 11:44am By Tim CarpenterTHE CAPITAL-JOURNAL The Senate takes up a controversial income-tax reduction compromise Wednesday labeled by Republicans as a fair piece of legislation and by Democrats as damaging to the working poor. The measure pending before the Senate would drop individual state income tax rates and phase […]

Chicago Tribune: New Jersey gas tax unchanged as transportation costs rise

December 17, 2012

Brian Ianieri The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J. 11:35 a.m. CDT, May 8, 2012 New Jersey’s gasoline tax was designed to fund roads and bridges but, with it unchanged after more than 20 years, it now cannot fully cover interest payments on past loans to fix them. Like many states, New Jersey faces a […]

Associated Press: Kan. Senate leaders expect close vote on tax cuts

December 17, 2012

By John Hanna Associated Press / May 9, 2012 TOPEKA, Kan.—Members of the Kansas Senate expected their vote to be close Wednesday on proposed income and sales tax cuts, with critics pointing to a national think tank’s analysis that the plan would shift part of the state’s tax burden from its wealthiest residents to its […]

The Colorado Independent: Denver protest targets Wells Fargo

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Man facing foreclosure meets with bank executivesBy Scot KersgaardWednesday, May 09, 2012 at 4:31 pm A couple of dozen people gather on a busy downtown street with signs and bullhorns, and the question that bystanders and reporters alike want to ask is always the same: “What do you want to accomplish?” It was […]

CBS News: Kan. lawmakers pass tax cuts, but more work seen

December 17, 2012

May 10, 2012 11:10 AM TOPEKA, Kan. — Massive tax reductions cleared the Kansas Legislature on Wednesday, but even as Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative Republican allies marked a political victory, they scrambled to start containing possible future budget problems. The House narrowly approved a bill to cut income and sales taxes by an […]

South Maryland News: O’Malley reflects on gas tax, transportation funding

December 17, 2012

Friday, May. 11, 2012 by Danielle E. Gaines, Staff Writer The following story was updated at 2:50 p.m. May 11. Gov. Martin O’Malley reiterated the need for increased transportation funding in the state this week, while acknowledging that his gas tax proposal was a long shot politically. “There is no revenue proposal more unpopular in […]

Wall Street Cheat Sheet: Uncle Sam Must Love These 30 Companies

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By Eric McWhinnie May 15 2012 Forget Tax-mageddon, Washington already has tax issues it is avoiding. Last year, Citizen for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued a report on federal income taxes paid or not paid by large corporations. Despite the U.S. corporate tax rate being 35 percent, […]

Southtown Star: Should supermarkets solicit charitable donations?

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By David McGrath May 18, 2012 10:22PM Tell me you haven’t been there. You’ve filled your grocery cart, are feeling pretty good about many of your purchases being on sale and you have a stack of coupons for discounts on several other items. At checkout, the cashier is friendly, even remarking on all […]

Associated Press: Kan. governor signs massive income tax cuts bill amid debate over potential for budget crisis

December 17, 2012

JOHN HANNA  Associated Press Last Updated: May 22, 2012 – 5:18 pm TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed massive income tax cuts into law Tuesday, expressing confidence they would boost the economy and not create future budget problems or shift the state’s tax burden to the poor. “Today’s legislation will create tens of […]

Bloomberg: IRS Finds One in 189 High Earners Paid No 2009 U.S. Tax

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) By Richard Rubin – May 29, 2012 3:53 PM ET The percentage of U.S. taxpayers reporting adjusted gross income exceeding $200,000 who paid no U.S. income taxes increased in 2009 to 0.53 percent from 0.51 percent, meaning that one in 189 high earners avoided taxation, an Internal Revenue Service study found. The filers […]

Chicago Tribune: Tax distortions

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) June 08, 2012 This is in response to “Illinois shouldn’t adopt progressive tax; Take it from an ex-Californian” (Perspective, June 8), by Lawrence J. McQuillan, chief economist at the Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think tank. I was alarmed by the way McQuillan’s op-ed distorts both the Illinois and California tax systems. He […]

Truthout: States to Residents- Forget Promises to Restore School Funding

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) Saturday, 09 June 2012 11:12 By Mike Alberti, Remapping Debate | News Analysis When Wichita Public Schools Superintendent John Allison learned that, thanks to rising revenues, Kansas was projected to have a budget surplus of more than $300 million at the end of the year – the state’s first surplus since the recession […]

Newsroom New Jersey: GOP’s Bush tax cuts will not help New Jerseyans in need

December 17, 2012

Wednesday, 20 June 2012 11:20 Bottom 60 percent of earners would see higher tax bills, while richest 1 percent would get tax break of $71,960 a year Middle-income and low-income New Jerseyans would pay more in taxes under the Congressional Republicans’ plan to extend the Bush tax cuts than they would under President Obama’s plan, […]

NJ Biz: Federal tax cut extension would be welcome news to business owners

December 17, 2012

(Original Post) June 20. 2012 1:29PM By Katie Eder If all the George Bush-era tax cuts are extended under the Congressional Republicans’ proposal, New Jersey’s highest earners would pay significantly less taxes in 2013, while middle- and low-income taxpayers would pay nearly the same amount they do today, according to an analysis today released by […]