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State tax debates have been very active this week. Efforts to eliminate the income tax continue in West Virginia. Policymakers in many states are responding to revenue shortfalls in very different ways: some in Iowa, Mississippi, and Nebraska seek to dig the hole even deeper with tax cuts, while the Missouri House’s response has been […]
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Richard Phillips
Senior Policy AnalystMarch 9, 2017
Debunking the 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth
For years, the number one tax policy talking point from corporate lobbyists has been the claim that the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. The story then goes that this high tax rate is driving away business and Congress should move to dramatically lower it. A new study by the […] -
ITEP Staff
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. New Study Explores the 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth A comprehensive, eight-year study of profitable Fortune 500 corporations […] -
March 8, 2017
State Rundown 3/8: Much Ado About Consumption Taxes
This week brings more news of states considering reforms to their consumption taxes, on everything from gasoline in South Carolina and Tennessee, to marijuana in Pennsylvania, to groceries in Idaho and Utah, and to practically everything in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the fiscal fallout of Kansas’s failed ‘tax experiment’ has new consequences as the state’s Supreme […] -
Misha Hill
Policy AnalystMarch 8, 2017
A Tax Perspective on International Women’s Day
Thursday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. The day draws attention to the progress that has been made and the work that still needs to be done in advancing gender equality. Many campaigns on issues like equal pay or paid family leave acknowledge that economic policies impact women and men differently. But we often overlook […] -
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy AnalystOn Monday, House Republicans released legislation that would repeal or modify many of the most significant portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A central theme of the GOP plan is that it would significantly cut funding for low- and middle-income families’ health care, while eliminating the ACA’s expansion of Medicare taxes on the wealthiest […] -
Misha Hill
Policy AnalystMarch 2, 2017
Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes
A newly updated ITEP report released today provides data that helps dispute the erroneous idea espoused during President Trump’s address to Congress that undocumented immigrants aren’t paying their fair share. In fact, like all others living and working in the United States, undocumented immigrants are taxpayers. They collectively contribute an estimated $11.74 billion to state […] -
ITEP Staff
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. Undocumented Immigrants’ Tax Contributions ITEP today released updated numbers on undocumented immigrants’ tax contributions. Collectively, they contribute $11.74 […] -
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy AnalystDespite some expectations that President Donald Trump would use his address to a joint session of Congress to lay out more details of his plan for tax legislation, the speech was extremely light on details. The few details mentioned were largely misleading or outright erroneous. Below we break down four tax-related statements from President Trump’s […] -
Tax cuts have been proposed in many states already this year, but amid so much uncertainty, it remains to be seen how successful those efforts will be. This week saw one dangerous, largely regressive tax cut proposal move in Georgia, new budget proposals in Louisiana and New Jersey, a new plan to close West Virginia‘s […]
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Lisa Christensen Gee
Director of Special InitiativesFebruary 28, 2017
Return of the Moderate: A Kansas Force Awakens
Before the tea party wave of 2010 that brought Gov. Sam Brownback to power and inspired the disappointing “real life experiment” in tax policy, Kansas was primarily governed by a moderate bipartisan coalition. One thing the last few weeks in the Kansas capital has clearly demonstrated is that this coalition is back and they mean […] -
Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Senior AnalystFebruary 28, 2017
What to Watch in the States: State-Federal Relationship Shifting
So far in this series on tax policy topics to watch in 2017, we’ve covered important state debates in areas such as attempts to weaken or eliminate progressive taxes and needed updates to gas taxes and sales taxes. As if those topics weren’t enough to keep state lawmakers up at night, they will be making […] -
Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Senior AnalystFebruary 27, 2017
States Should Require Combined Reporting of Corporate Income
An important aspect of a 21st century tax code is ensuring that corporate income taxes are easy for corporations to follow, but not easy for them to avoid. As our newly updated policy brief on Combined Reporting of State Corporate Income Taxes explains, “combined reporting” remains an essential tool for states to achieve these goals. […] -
Aidan Davis
State Policy DirectorFebruary 24, 2017
Why, West Virginia, Why?
A recently introduced Senate Bill in West Virginia (SB 335) would ultimately eliminate the state’s personal and corporate income taxes, do away with the sales and use tax, and reduce the state’s severance tax. Under the plan, the revenue lost from this assortment of diverse taxes would be replaced by an 8 percent broad-based general […] -
ITEP Staff
February 24, 2017
Tax Justice Digest: The Problems with a Border Adjustment Tax
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. Regressive and Loophole-Ridden: Issues with the House GOP Border Adjustment Tax Proposal In recent weeks, the Republican congressional […] -
February 23, 2017
State Rundown 2/23: Regressive Tax Proposals Multiplying
This week saw a nearly successful attempt to right the fiscal ship in Kansas; regressive tax proposals introduced in WestVirginia, Georgia, and Missouri; ongoing gas tax fights in Indiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee; and further tax and budget wrangling in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and beyond. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Both […] -
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy AnalystFebruary 22, 2017
The Border Adjustment Tax Creates More Problems Than It Solves
In recent weeks, the Republican congressional leadership’s effort to introduce a comprehensive tax reform bill has increasingly faced opposition from major business groups and skeptical lawmakers from across the aisle. The primary source of dissent thus far is that the most prominent tax framework, the House GOP’s “Better Way” tax blueprint, contains a radical provision […] -
Misha Hill
Policy AnalystThis is the fourth installment of our six-part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. State lawmakers often find themselves looking for ways to raise revenue to fund vital public services, fill budget gaps, or pay for the elimination or weakening of progressive taxes. Lately, that search has […] -
February 15, 2017
State Rundown 2/15: Tax Overhauls Debated Around the Country
This week we are following a number of significant proposals being debated or introduced including reinstating the income tax in Alaska and eliminating the tax in West Virginia, establishing a regressive tax-cut trigger in Nebraska, restructuring the Illinois sales tax, moving New Mexico to a flat income tax and broader gross receipts tax, and updating […] -
Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Senior AnalystFebruary 13, 2017
‘IMPROVE’ Act Fails to Improve Tennessee’s Regressive Tax Code
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposal (dubbed the IMPROVE Act) to raise the state’s gas tax while cutting three other taxes would essentially be a tax cut for the state’s wealthiest residents and a tax increase for the lowest-income Tennesseans. While the gas tax is badly in need of an update to fund maintenance and investment […] -
ITEP Staff
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. What to Watch in the States in 2017 State and federal gas taxes are the cornerstone of our […] -
Misha Hill
Policy AnalystFor more than four decades, supply-side ideologues have promoted the myth that tax cuts for the wealthy are self-financing and the benefits eventually trickle down to everyone else, despite real-life evidence that tax cuts for the rich benefit the rich. Not even the reality of 40 years of widening income inequality or the current economic […] -
This week we bring news of Kansas lawmakers attempting to fix ill-advised tax cuts that have wreaked havoc on the state’s budget and schools, while their counterparts in Nebraska and Idaho debate bills that would create similar problems for their own states, as well as tax cuts in Arkansas that were proven unaffordable within one […]
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Carl Davis
Research DirectorThe most challenging problem that tax-cutting state lawmakers face is dealing with the budgetary tradeoffs that tax cuts require. Should education spending be reduced? Should investments in infrastructure be halted? Should the state cut back on transfers to local governments and require them to pick up the slack? Or should other taxes and fees be […] -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorFebruary 2, 2017
What to Watch in the States: Gas Tax Hikes and Swaps
This is the second installment of our six part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. State tax policy can be a divisive issue, but no area has generated more agreement among lawmakers across the country than the need to raise new revenues to fund infrastructure improvements. The […]
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