Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

Eater: How Restaurants Hire Undocumented Workers

February 28, 2017

Hille had a similar experience in his 20 years in the restaurant industry. “When politicians say things like ‘immigrants don’t pay taxes, they’re a burden on the system,’ it’s just not the reality. Undocumented people are usually having taxes withheld. They’re paying into a system that doesn’t ever pay them back.” According to The Institute […]

CFO: Planning for Tax Policy Turmoil

February 28, 2017

On top of the then-President-elect’s proposed tax breaks was the prospect of more-permanent and deeply rooted reforms contained in “A Better Way,” the tax-reform “blueprint” issued by House Republicans in June 2016. The reforms, which would likely have languished in Congress under a Hillary Clinton presidency, included elimination of the alternative minimum tax and a […]

Common Dreams: Taking on the Billionaires

February 22, 2017

The result has been to make state and local taxes, on the whole, regressive. The share of income paid by the poorest 20 percent is twice that of the richest 1 percent. Unsurprisingly, the disparity is widest in states without an income tax. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that Washington’s working class […]

Mic: Taxpayers in These Seven States Don’t Pay State Income Tax

February 22, 2017

As a result of Washington’s various consumption taxes, its low-income residents wind up paying a disproportionately higher percentage of their income in taxes than the rich, according to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

Bloomberg BNA: Property Tax Caps–Giving with one Hand, Taking with the Other

February 22, 2017

On the other hand, tax caps on assessed value in particular can lead to tax disparities amongst homeowners in neighborhoods where market values are comparable, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). This disparity is likely to present itself when properties are subject to a change in ownership. In such cases when […]

West Virginia Metro News: Debate Over Repealing W. Va’s Income Tax Begins

February 22, 2017

States best equipped to make a move like this are those that have an influx of wealth, said Carl Davis, an analyst for the national Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “Unless you’re in a situation like Alaska and you manage to stumble onto a huge pot of new tax revenue, income tax repeal involves […]

CT News Junkie: Keep Your Eyes on the CEO Not the Public Employee

February 22, 2017

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Connecticut’s state and local tax system is the 26th most regressive in the nation. That simple fact alone is reason enough to demand real tax fairness. Connecticut’s budget issues cannot be resolved on the backs of middle class families. Nor can they be fixed by […]

The Express Star: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

February 22, 2017

That same paper showed that the ANNUAL lost state revenue because of cuts to the top personal income tax rate enacted since 2005 is $1.022 billion PER YEAR, according to an analysis conducted for Oklahoma Policy Institute by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-partisan national research organization. So it seems like […]

Alaska Dispatch News: Income tax debate heats up as Alaska faces do-or-die moment

February 22, 2017

The proposed bill would cut the dividend to about $1,100 next year and institute an income tax equivalent to 15 percent of a taxpayer’s federal tax bill. A married couple with no kids and gross income of $100,000 would pay about $1,705 in state taxes while collecting about $2,200 in dividends, the sponsors estimate. A […]

Planet Jackson Hole: American Dreams, Undocumented Fears

February 22, 2017

A report published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) in 2016 found that undocumented immigrants contribute around $11.6 billion to the economy annually. Undocumented immigrants in Wyoming contributed $12.7 million in state in federal taxes last year, according to a report from the New American Economy (NAE). And a University of Wyoming […]

The News Wheel: What If We Raised the Gas Tax

February 22, 2017

Now, obviously, raising the gas tax would mean a lot more money going to the government for transportation. As the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) pointed out in a 2013 report, the gas tax is the most important funding source for the government’s transportation budget. Read more

Reuters: U.S. States See Favorable Conditions for Gas Tax Hikes

February 22, 2017

Low gas prices, a desperate need for revenue to fix crumbling roads, and a post-election period that gives politicians the space to tackle controversial issues have breathed life into efforts to raise the taxes, said Carl Davis, research director at the non-partisan Washington D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In all, 21 state legislatures […]

Digital Journal: States to Raise Gas Taxes

February 22, 2017

According to Reuters, Carl Davis, a research director at the non-partisan Washington D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says three factors, including low gas prices, a crumbling transportation infrastructure, and a “post-election period” that allows politicians a little breathing space to take on controversial issues, have given a breath of life to the effort […]

Salt Lake Tribune: Rush to reform taxes has lawmakers hurtling toward bad policy

February 22, 2017

According to figures from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, about a quarter of the estimated $200 million that would be generated by restoring the full sales tax on food would be paid by households making less than $43,000 a year. Read more

Pilot Tribune:

February 14, 2017

An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows the average annual nominal tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent of Nebraskans would be $5,810, while the average nominal cut for middle-class taxpayers would be $39. Read more

The Tennessean: Bill aims to exempt feminine products, diapers, food from sales tax

February 14, 2017

Several organizations have rated Tennessee’s tax system poorly because of the high sales tax and no state income tax. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy rated Tennessee as one of the “Terrible Ten” and among the worst tax structures in the country because it says the tax system is unfairly weighted on the poorest individuals. Read more

The Cinnicinati Enquirer: Kasich budget doubles down on approach that hasn’t worked

February 14, 2017

We asked the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a national nonprofit research group with a model of state and local tax systems, to analyze how the proposal would affect Ohioans in different income groups. The news is not good. ITEP found that: The middle fifth of income earners, who made between $36,000 and $56,000 […]

Omaha World Herald: Ricketts’ tax plan is unfair to average Nebraskans

February 14, 2017

The bottom 80 percent of Nebraska earners pay 9 percent to 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes. The top 20 percent pay less — just 8 percent. The top 1 percent pay least — just over 6 percent, all according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

KPNG: It’s About Time for Tax Fairness

February 8, 2017

An analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., examined the net effect of Amazon collecting the 4.225 percent state sales tax, starting Feb. 1, in Missouri. He says this could mean $30 million to $34 million annually in new tax revenues, based on revenue generated in other states. Read more

The Denver Post: 19 states have raised gas taxes since 2013. In Colorado, Republicans want to cut them

February 8, 2017

“This is highly unusual, what’s being talked about in Colorado right now,” said Carl Davis, research director with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. And it can largely be explained by one thing: TABOR. Read more  

Bloomberg: Texas Prepares to Battle Its Sanctuary Cities

February 8, 2017

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that undocumented immigrants in Texas pay about $1.5 billion in state and local taxes. (Texas has no state income tax, but it has a 6.25 percent state sales and use tax.) Read more

ABC News: Without Immigrants, the U.S. Economy Would Be a Disaster

February 6, 2017

According to Meg Wiehe, the director of programs for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, “Undocumented immigrants contributed more than $11.6 billion in state and local taxes each year. And if the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants here were given a pathway to citizenship or legal residential status, those tax contributions could rise by […]

American Prospect: Republican Governors, Trickle-Downers of the Week

February 3, 2017

In fact, most low- and middle-income residents already pay more in consumption taxes than they do in incomes taxes, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic policy. When flat-tax rates are instituted, most taxpayers end up paying more while the upper brackets get a tax cut. Read more

Alternet: It’s Time to Take America’s Billionaire Class Head on

February 3, 2017

The result has been to make state and local taxes, on the whole, regressive. The share of income paid by the poorest 20 percent is twice that of the richest 1 percent. Unsurprisingly, the disparity is widest in states without an income tax. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that Washington’s working class […]

Crain’s Detroit Business Journal: In bid to eliminate Michigan income tax, fears of another Kansas

February 3, 2017

Critics of these tax cuts note that states with no income tax tend to put a higher share of the tax burden on low-income residents. According to a 2015 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan research organization, five states with no income tax are ranked among the top 10 most […]