Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Bloomberg: New Yorkers Have Four Days to Try to Beat SALT Cap

August 24, 2018

Residents of states that have had charitable tax break programs in effect for some time, such as Georgia and South Carolina, that benefit hospitals or schools, will probably have an easier time writing checks before the new rules go into effect, said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “The reality […]

Washington Post: New Treasury Proposal Would Stop Attempts to Weaken Tax Law

August 24, 2018

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The Hill: IRS Was Correct to Include Private School Credits in New Tax Regulations

August 24, 2018

Following is an excerpt of an op-ed by Carl Davis, ITEP researcher director, regarding the new regulations issued by the Treasury Department: Last year’s federal tax overhaul has cast a bright light on a corner of the tax code that long has needed scrutiny. With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) […]

Reuters: U.S. Treasury, IRS move to block states dodging tax deduction cap

August 23, 2018

Under the proposed rule, however, a New York taxpayer could not receive a federal charitable deduction for the portion of their donation to the fund for which they received a state tax credit, unless the credit was for 15 percent or less. “If you make a donation of $100 and you get a big chunk […]

news release  

Proposed IRS Regulations Would End SALT Workarounds and Rightly Tamp Down on School Voucher Tax Shelters

August 23, 2018 • By Carl Davis

Proposed IRS Regulations Would End SALT Workarounds and Rightly Tamp Down on School Voucher Tax Shelters

The main difference between states that recently passed SALT workaround legislation and states that provide overly generous credits for donations to private schools are their political leanings. Private school supporters were hoping for a special carve out that would allow their tax shelter to remain intact, but the IRS was correct not to pick winners and losers.

New Jersey Online: Trump Administration Rejects Efforts to Save Your Property Tax Break

August 23, 2018

And in New Jersey, more than four in 10 taxpayers claimed that tax break and deducted an average deduction of $17,850 in 2015, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Only residents of New York, Connecticut and California deduct more from federal taxes than New Jerseyans, according the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

The Oregonian: Trump Administration Moves to Stop Oregon, Other States from Circumventing New Tax Law

August 23, 2018

Treasury said it expects that only about 1 percent of all U.S. taxpayers would see a reduction of their tax credits for donations to a private-school voucher fund. Several states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Montana and South Carolina — allow taxpayers who donate to private-school funds to get a 100 percent credit against their state […]

Politico Morning Tax: Still More SALT Intake

August 23, 2018

Carl Davis of the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also pointed out that Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) — who have had staff meet with Treasury and White House officials on the issue — hail from states with generous credits for donations to fund school vouchers. Read more

New Hampshire Business: Winners and Losers Under the New Tax Plan

August 23, 2018

The new law also doubles the standard deduction, making it likely that fewer business owners will itemize on their returns, and that could have a negative impact on things like charitable donations, Burke adds. It also caps the deduction for mortgage interest at $750,000 of home loan value, compared to the current $1 million, leading […]

The Hill: Treasury Issues Rules Taking Aim at Blue-State Workarounds to GOP Tax Law

August 23, 2018

Carl Davis, director of research at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, praised Treasury for taking the same approach to the SALT cap workarounds implemented by blue states and the private school tax credit programs more likely to exist in red states. “All types of charitable credits should be on the same footing […]

CNBC: Upcoming IRS Rules Could Chill These Red-State Tax Credit Programs

August 22, 2018

How the IRS will ultimately proceed remains to be seen, yet experts agree that the agency may take a closer look at programs with generous tax credits. “It’s when you get up and above a 70 percent tax credit — that’s when taxpayers start to view these as not being charitable programs at all but […]

Chicago Tribune: Better Answers, Please

August 22, 2018

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., attempted to calculate all the net effects and concluded that only the top 5 percent of earners would benefit from the elimination of the graduated rate structure. Read more

KPFA: US Treasury Sec Mnuchin Is Planning a $100 Billion Tax Cut for the Wealthy

August 22, 2018

This would very likely be the largest regulatory tax cut in history. While there’s an important place for Treasury regulations in clarifying Congressional intent, that’s not what this is… It’s an unprecedented departure from the traditional roles that regulations have played…. This is a tax cut that would go almost entirely to the best-off Americans. […]

Sacramento News&Review: U-Turn on Taxes

August 16, 2018

In 2015, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that heavy reliance on sales taxes is a characteristic of the most regressive tax systems. The half-cent sales tax increase would bring Sacramento’s sales tax rate to 8.75 percent, on par with the city of Isleton for the highest in the region. […]

Gannette: NJ Suit Over SALT Deduction Would Help the State’s Richest 1.5 Percent the Most

August 15, 2018

That reality has led some who joined Democrats in complaining about way tax cuts were distributed to criticize efforts to overturn the SALT cap. “The Trump tax law gives away the store to the rich. Why pile on and make the situation worse?” said Steve Wamhoff of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. This may be a moot […]

CNBC: Tax Holidays May Not Be the Bargain You Think They Are

August 9, 2018

Everyone loves a bargain. Except when the bargain doesn’t really save you money. It may feel great not to pay tax for back-to-school clothes and backpacks, but the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says sales-tax holidays do little to help students, teachers and public schools. The lift on taxes can last an entire week […]

Kiplinger: Online Shopping Could Get Pricier

August 1, 2018

Generally, shoppers who buy from midsize online retailers will be the hardest hit, says Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. South Dakota’s rule requires remote sellers to collect tax if they have at least $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in South Dakota. Other states are imposing similar thresholds. […]

The Courier Journal: Three More Reasons the Tax Cut Is Bad for Kentucky

August 1, 2018

Reason No. 2: HB487 raises very little “net” revenue. The nearly $900 million in new taxes will only net the state about $180 million per year because the rest is being given back in tax cuts and credits. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that the top 5 percent of earners will receive net tax […]

The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio’s tax-free shopping weekend is Friday through Sunday

August 1, 2018

But the tax holiday isn’t necessarily as much of a plus for everyone as its proponents say, said Dylan Grundman of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that works on state and federal tax policy issues. “One of the key problems is, the benefits are so dispersed beyond the […]

The Tennessean: Where Are The Tax Cuts Going?

July 30, 2018

So where has the money gone? Many companies won’t say or are scant on specifics. Several publicly traded companies in Tennessee have issued press releases announcing bonuses or minimum wage increases, but few have offered details on the size and scope of those raises. Meanwhile, privately held companies in Tennessee have been reticent to share any of their […]

The Hill: Tax Breaks for Wealthy Paid for with Deep Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security

July 30, 2018

They say that we don’t have a choice and can’t afford these earned benefits for Americans on a fixed or limited income without making drastic cuts. A recent report by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy points out why they are scrambling to take away these benefits: they have already given the money […]

Washington Post: IRS Outsources Debt Collection to Private Firms, and the Poor Feel the Sting

July 23, 2018

“The private firms appear, at least in some cases, to be ignoring this constraint,” said Matt Gardner, an analyst at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “When they farm this out to private debt collectors, those debt collectors are not legally bound by the same standards. It’s utterly inconsistent.” Read more

WAMU: Amazon Doesn’t Need the Money

July 19, 2018

But analyses by nonpartisan think tanks Brookings Institution and the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research — as well as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which studies the impact of tax policy on working people — suggest incentives can come at a large public cost. That cost can be obscured when incentives take the form of foregone tax revenue, not line items on a budget. Read […]

Vermont Business: Auditor Can’t Quantify Benefit of Economic Incentives

July 15, 2018

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Vermont’s tax system as one of the most progressive in the country because of the steeply graduated income tax, the State earned income tax credit, and the income-sensitized education property tax. But our reliance on regressive sales and municipal property taxes means that higher income Vermonters pay […]

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Tax Cuts Can’t Ease Trade Fears

July 14, 2018

That’s likely because, as a report published Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes, income inequality has soared, and such measures are making it worse. The wealthy are far head of everyone, while the upper-middle-class is widening a gap between itself and the working class and poor. The latest tax cut is […]