Just Taxes Blog by ITEP

Category: States


  • 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
    Senior State Policy Analyst
    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
    Senior State Policy Analyst
    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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