Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Bloomberg: Key Democrat Revives Plan to Make Capital Gains Tax Due Annually

April 2, 2019

And Steve Wamhoff, the director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the bill “would certainly slow down the ability of billionaires to accumulate massive fortunes very rapidly.” Capital gains represent a significant portion of the money earned by the wealthiest households, compared to lower-income taxpayers. Sales of […]

The Columbian: Do We Care that the Tax System Is Unfair?

April 1, 2019

While our state is a bastion of progressive politics and liberal activism (for better or worse), it also has the most regressive tax system in the country. In other words, poor people in Washington pay a disproportionate amount of taxes. Last year, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy determined that the […]

The Daily Mail: The States Where Poor Pay Higher Taxes than the Rich

March 28, 2019

Poor Americans pay out a higher share of their income toward taxes than their wealthy counterparts in 45 states, according to a new report. However, rich Americans typically pay a higher dollar amount in taxes compared to their low-income counterparts. Tax season is here – and the state where you live could determine whether you […]

Yahoo! Finance: What Are the World’s Best Tax Havens

March 26, 2019

Media reports on the Paradise Papers have subsided, but no one has forgotten the collection of 13.4 million leaked financial files taken from a combination of offshore service providers and company registries, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The investigation reveals the offshore interests of wealthy and powerful individuals and examines how multinational […]

NBC News: Factory Workers at GM See Layoffs, not Benefits, after Tax Cuts

March 22, 2019

Matt Gardner, a senior fellow with the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan, liberal think tank, said GM’s announcement confirmed economists’ arguments regarding the tax cuts. “Corporations will always base their investment and job-creation decisions on market fundamentals and consumer demand, not on incremental tax giveaways,” Gardner wrote on his blog. “No amount […]

The American Prospect: New Legislation Would Rein in Corporate Offshoring

March 18, 2019

One clue, at least on the international side, might be found in a report issued last year by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). In “Understanding and Fixing the New International Corporate Tax System,” ITEP laid out priorities for a new international tax system that include eliminating the ability for companies to reincorporate […]

GQ: Local and State Taxes Are Making the Wealthy More Rich Now Too

March 12, 2019

According to a new report by the progressive think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), as relayed in the Washington Post, state and local governments that are heavily reliant on sales and excise taxes, rather than income taxes, shift the economic burden onto low- and moderate-income taxpayers. At every level, those who work […]

New York Daily News: Four Ways to Make New York Taxes More Fair

March 12, 2019

But Cuomo hasn’t talked about the benefits of the Trump tax law for ultra-millionaires — the very richest New Yorkers, mainly in Manhattan. Trump and his GOP minions cut taxes substantially for the richest 5%, who get an $8 billion-plus windfall, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Rich folks got lucrative tax […]

KUOW: Why Washington Ranks as the Worst State for Poor Residents

March 12, 2019

Washington ranks as the worst state for low-income earners to live, and it’s notably worse than any other state. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) places Washington, Texas and Florida at the top of the “terrible 10” list in its annual report. The institute says these have the most regressive tax systems, in […]

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White House Budget Fails to Acknowledge Role of Tax Cuts in the Deficit while Calling for Draconian Spending Cuts

March 11, 2019 • By Alan Essig

White House Budget Fails to Acknowledge Role of Tax Cuts in the Deficit while Calling for Draconian Spending Cuts

As expected, the president’s budget would enshrine top-heavy tax cuts into law and finance them by slashing domestic programs. It is time for a course correction.

Crains Chicago: It’s Time to Tax Retirement Income, Illinois

March 11, 2019

On federal returns, income tax is paid on retirement resources that have not been previously taxed—defined-benefit pensions, 401(k)s, and traditional individual retirement accounts. Higher-income seniors also pay taxes on Social Security benefits. Among the states, policy varies. According to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, 11 states tax some portion of Social Security benefits, […]

Philadelphia Inquirer: Why It’s Not as Simple as ‘New Jersey Is a High-Tax State’ or ‘Texas Is a Low-Tax State’

March 10, 2019

A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy analyzed the burdens of state and local taxes across the nation. The results were eye opening, though hardly surprising. Nationally, households in the lowest 20 percent income group spent 11.4 percent of their income on state and local taxes. In comparison, the top 1 […]

Marketwatch: Trump’s Tax Cuts Are Punishing States that Voted for Clinton

March 7, 2019

MarketWatch looked at the calculations conducted by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, an independent Washington, D.C. think-tank. Bottom line: States that voted for Trump will get 56% of the tax cuts, or an extra $35 billion. Yet according to the Internal Revenue Service’s most recent data, those states were only paying 48% of […]

The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio House Members Want Some Answers before Voting on DeWine’s Gas Tax Hike

March 6, 2019

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 27 states have raised their gas taxes since 2013, including every state adjacent to Ohio. The gas tax affects what people pay at the gas pump, but the effect is not always obvious. Read more

Washington Post: State and Local Tax Laws Are Making the Rich Richer

March 6, 2019

State and local taxes effectively redistribute national income from the poor to the very rich, according to data released this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive think tank. Many state and local governments are heavily reliant on sales taxes, rather than income taxes. Lower-income households tend to spend a greater […]

The Hill: Time Is Long Overdue for Congress to Address Marijuana Banking

March 6, 2019

According to tax data compiled by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, tax revenues in 2018 derived from state-sanctioned recreational sales surpassed $1 billion — a 57 percent increase over 2017 levels. Yet there remains a significant regulatory hurdle facing players and consumers who engage in this market. Read more

Law 360: Mich. Gov. Offers 45-Cent Gas Tax Hike For Urgent Road Fixes

March 5, 2019

Since 2013, 27 states have approved gas tax increases, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more (subscription)

CBS News:Some of America’s Biggest Companies Paid Little to No Federal Income Tax in 2018

March 4, 2019

Its 10-K estimates its federal income tax liability at $-22.176 for 2018 — hence ITEP’s conclusion that it won’t pay the government any money for the year. “When I say they paid zero, really what I mean is they reported a $22 million income tax rebate, so they have a negative income tax,” Gardner said. […]

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Tax Avoidance Might Make Financial Sense, but Is It Fair?

March 1, 2019

One feature of sales taxes is that they cost lower-income people a bigger chunk of what they take in than is the case for more affluent people. In Minnesota the bottom 20 percent of taxpayers by family income only pay about 8.7 percent of their income in state and local taxes. In Florida the poorest […]

Bloomberg: Democrats In the Home of Hedge Funds Are Divided Over Tax Plans Sparing Rich

March 1, 2019

“Most public finance experts will tell you if you have sales tax it should be applied to a broad base,” said Carl Davis, the research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. “If people are no longer going to Blockbuster and now they’re downloading movies, that’s created a gap in the […]

Fortune: Why Amazon May Pay No Federal Income Taxes This Year

March 1, 2019

Amazon’s expected tax avoidance comes despite it nearly doubling its U.S. profits to $11.16 billion in 2018, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonpartisan tax policy-focused think tank. In fact, instead of paying any federal income taxes, the company received a $129 million tax rebate from the government. The data […]

Vox: Undocumented immigrants pay millions of dollars in state taxes — even in the reddest states

March 1, 2019

While it’s impossible to get the exact numbers because of the limited data available, researchers at the left-leaning Institute for Taxation & Economic Policy estimate that undocumented workers paid a total of $11.7 billion in state and local taxes in 2014, the most recent year of data, according to their 2017 report. That includes $7 […]

Miami Community Newspapers: Marijuana Justice Act Introduced in Both Houses of Congress

February 28, 2019

Specifically, a 2017 report estimates that over 149,000 Americans are now working full-time in the cannabis industry. According to tax data compiled by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, tax revenues in 2018 derived from state-sanctioned recreational sales surpassed $1 billion – a 57 percent increase over 2017 levels. Further, numerous studies have identified an association between cannabis […]

New York Times: Betsy DeVos Backs $5 Billion in Tax Credits for School Choice

February 28, 2019

Carl Davis, the research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, noted that the new tax credit would be extremely generous in providing a 100 percent tax break, especially because the new tax law eliminated some incentives for charitable giving. “Now they want to put a supersized one back into the code,” he […]

Marketplace: Devos Proposes $5B in Tax Credits for Scholarship Donations

February 28, 2019

This new segment features ITEP’s research director Carl Davis: