Just Taxes Blog by ITEP

Category: States


  • Lisa Christensen Gee
    Lisa Christensen Gee
    Director of Special Initiatives
    May 14, 2021

    State Tax Codes & Racial Inequities: An Illinois Case Study

    Earlier this year, ITEP released a report providing an overview of the impacts of state and local tax policies on race equity. Against a backdrop of vast racial disparities in income and wealth resulting from historical and current injustices both in public policy and in broader society, the report highlights that how states raise revenue to invest in disparity-reducing investments like education, health, and childcare has important implications for race equity.  
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    May 12, 2021

    Arizonans Voted to Tax the Rich. Now Lawmakers Want to Undo Most of That.

    In 2018, Arizona teachers took part in a national wave of teacher walkouts, protesting inadequate education funding and some of the lowest teacher pay in the nation—direct results of the state’s penchant for deep tax cuts and its decision to levy some of the lowest tax rates in the country on high-income families.
  • Steve Wamhoff
    Steve Wamhoff
    Director of Federal Tax Policy
    July 17, 2020

    SALT Cap Repeal Has No Place in COVID-19 Legislation: National and State-by-State Data

    The Trump-GOP tax law enacted at the end of 2017 includes a $10,000 cap on the amount of state and local taxes (SALT) that people can deduct on their federal tax returns, and this is one of the few limits the law places on tax breaks for high-income people. Unfortunately, it is also the provision that some Democrats are most determined to remove.
  • Marco Guzman
    Marco Guzman
    State Policy Analyst
    June 26, 2020

    Beyond SCOTUS: States Recognize Need for More Inclusive Immigrant Policy

    The U.S. Supreme Court last week halted an effort by the Trump administration that would have stripped DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients of their lawful status in the country. The 5-4 ruling is a significant victory for immigrant rights advocates and over 643,000 Dreamers—as they’re known—who were brought here as children and have […]
  • Meg Wiehe
    Meg Wiehe
    Deputy Executive Director
    July 18, 2019

    Many States Move Toward Higher Taxes on the Rich; Lower Taxes on Poor People

    Several states this year proposed or enacted tax policies that would require high-income households and/or businesses to pay more in taxes. After years of policymaking that slashed taxes for wealthy households and deprived states of revenue to adequately fund public services, this is a necessary and welcome reversal.
  • Aidan Davis
    Aidan Davis
    State Policy Director
    October 17, 2018

    New Report Finds that Upside-down State and Local Tax Systems Persist, Contributing to Inequality in Most States

    State and local tax systems in 45 states worsen income inequality by making incomes more unequal after taxes. The worst among these are identified in ITEP’s Terrible 10. Washington, Texas, Florida, South Dakota, Nevada, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Wyoming hold the dubious honor of having the most regressive state and local tax systems in the nation. These states ask far more of their lower- and middle-income residents than of their wealthiest taxpayers.
  • Steve Wamhoff
    Steve Wamhoff
    Director of Federal Tax Policy
    May 21, 2018

    Debate Over New Jersey’s Millionaires and ITEP’s Data

    New Jersey’s new governor, Phil Murphy campaigned on a promise to raise state income taxes on millionaires, a proposal that is supported by 70 percent of the state and was, until recently, backed by New Jersey’s Senate President, Steve Sweeney. In recent months, Sweeney changed his position on the proposed millionaires tax and called for an increase in New Jersey’s corporate tax instead. The idea of hiking taxes on corporations is not a bad one, particularly since corporations received a windfall from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But Sweeney’s new opposition to an income tax hike for the state’s richest residents seems to be based on an erroneous reading of ITEP’s data.
  • Aidan Davis
    Aidan Davis
    State Policy Director
    May 15, 2018

    NC Teachers’ March on Raleigh and the Tax Cuts that Led Them There

    Once again, public school teachers are taking a stand for education and against irresponsible, top-heavy tax cuts that deprive states of the revenue they need to sufficiently fund public services, including education.
  • Lisa Christensen Gee
    Lisa Christensen Gee
    Director of Special Initiatives
    August 10, 2017

    The Many Reasons for the Seattle Income Tax

    A month ago, the Seattle City Council passed an income tax measure, which has garnered a lot of attention as well as volumes of supportive and opposition commentary. Haven’t had a chance to dive into the details yet? We’ve got you covered. What is the new income tax law and who does it impact? The […]
  • Carl Davis
    Carl Davis
    Research Director
    May 17, 2017

    Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit

    A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being used as profitable tax shelters by high-income taxpayers. By exploiting interactions between federal and state tax law, high-income taxpayers in nine states are currently able […]

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