States and localities could do more to help undo the harmful legacies of past racism and the damage caused by continuing racial bias and discrimination. If state budget and tax policies were better designed to address these harms and create more opportunities for people of color, state economies would be more equitable and likely also would be stronger, which in turn could benefit many state residents of all backgrounds.
ITEP Work in Action
Advocates and policymakers at the state and federal levels rely on ITEP’s analytic capabilities to inform their debates on proposed tax policy changes. In any given year, ITEP fields requests for analyses of policies in 25 or more states. ITEP also works with national partners to provide analyses of federal tax policy proposals. This section highlights reports that use ITEP analyses to make a compelling case for progressive tax reforms.
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ITEP Work in Action November 16, 2018 Advancing Racial Equity With State Tax Policy
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ITEP Work in Action November 3, 2018 Idaho Press: Economic Study Finds That Poor Idahoans Pay More State and Local Taxes Than Rich Ones
The biggest drivers of the inequality in Idaho are the sales and property taxes. In every bracket of income measured by the Institute’s report, the amount that families paid in state and excise taxes went down as their total income increased. The lowest-earning 20 percent spent twice as much of their annual income on property taxes as the highest 20 percent, with an average of 3.3 percent paid on their property compared to 1.6 percent.
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media mention November 3, 2018 The New Orleans Advocate: James Gill: Louisiana’s Tax System Isn’t the Most Unfair in the Nation, But It’s not for Lack of Trying
According to a study just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, Washington State sets the regressive standard, while we rank 14th. If your income is $17,100 or less in Louisiana, you’ll pay 11.9 percent of it in taxes. That number shrinks the further you go up on the income scale and is roughly halved by the time you reach fat-cat territory. Sales and excise taxes take 9.2 percent from the poorest, and 1.2 percent from the richest.
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ITEP Work in Action November 1, 2018 Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News: Financial Watchdog: Pritzker’s Spending Promises Would Raise Taxes on Middle Class
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says Illinois has one of the most regressive taxes in the nation, largely due to its flat income tax. In its annual “Who pays?” report, the institute said the poorest 20 percent of Illinois households pay 14 percent of their income in taxes because of the flat tax in addition to high sales and property taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 30, 2018 Common Dreams: Time for a Tax on Billionaire Wealth Dynasties
The public should also rally to levy a modest tax on wealth over $20 million. A direct tax on wealth paid by the wealthiest one tenth of one percent could generate significant revenue to be reinvested in creating and restoring opportunities for low wealth households to prosper. A 1 percent annual tax on the wealthiest 0.1 percent of households, those with wealth over $20 million, would generate an estimated $1.899 trillion in revenue over the next decade, according to a forthcoming report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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media mention October 29, 2018 NJ Spotlight: GOP Leaders Call on NJ Democrats to Reconsider Middle-class Tax Cuts
The related tax-cut bills — and another that would shield most retirement-savings contributions from state income taxes — were introduced at the start of the year but have not been posted for votes by the Democratic leaders who control the Assembly’s agenda. Bucco suggested a report released earlier this month by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that found middle-income taxpayers in New Jersey pay a higher effective tax rate than any other group — including the top 1 percent of earners — as a reason to begin prioritizing adoption of the GOP bills.
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ITEP Work in Action October 29, 2018 California Budget & Policy Center: Last Year’s Federal Tax Law Exacerbates the Racial Wealth Gap
Much has been written about how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), pushed by Republican leaders in Congress and signed into law by President Trump in December 2017, mostly benefits wealthy households while driving up the federal deficit by $1.9 trillion over the next 10 years. This growing deficit — already 17% higher in the federal fiscal year that ended on September 30 than in the previous year — threatens federal funding for critical investments and services that provide economic security and opportunity for low- and middle-income households.
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ITEP Work in Action October 27, 2018 Charleston Gazette-Mail: Statehouse Beat: Fake History on Teacher Strike Hard to Fathom
Speaking of the Senate, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy put out its annual “Who Pays” report on tax equity, which found the vast majority of states have tax systems that are inequitable, with lower- and middle-income families paying a larger percentage of income in taxes than upper-income families.It singled out the “Terrible 10” states with the most regressive tax systems, with the common denominator among those states being that they have no or very low income taxes, which they make up through having very high and broad-based sales taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 26, 2018 KUOW: A $40,000 Salary Is no Longer Middle Class in Washington State. Here’s Why.
Look what’s happened to an income of $40,000. In 2015, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), based in Washington, D.C., looked at incomes in Washington state and found that a salary of $40,000 was still middle class. It was smack-dab in the middle of middle-earning incomes in the state.
In 2018, ITEP looked again. This time, $40,000 had slipped a notch, to the second-lowest 20 percent of earners. The reason: More people in the state were making higher-end incomes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 26, 2018 The Olympian: Olympia Went to Court to Block an Income Tax Proposal. Two Years Later, It’s Backing Seattle’s Version.
In 2016, an Olympia household earning $25,000 a year paid about 13 percent of its income in state and local taxes, while a household earning $250,000 paid less than 4 percent, according to the resolution.
A report this month from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country, thanks to its lack of a personal income tax and comparatively high sales taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 25, 2018 Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays? Low and Middle Earners in Massachusetts Pay Larger Share of their Incomes in Taxes
Taxes are the main way communities pay for the things we do together. Taxes pay for essential programs and infrastructure we take for granted, like fire protection, public education, and health inspectors; roads, bridges, and public transit; and the support for people facing hard times. Examining how much people at different income levels pay in taxes is important when considering the fairness of tax policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 25, 2018 News and Tribune: In Indiana and Illinois, Taxes Hit Low-earners Hard
TERRE HAUTE — Low-earning residents of Indiana and Illinois pay a greater share of state and local taxes than those in all other Midwestern states, and those in most states nationally, according to a new study by a non-partisan think tank.
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ITEP Work in Action October 25, 2018 The Garden Island: Gap Keeps Growing Between Rich, Poor
The study finds that those in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum in Hawaii pay 15 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while those in the top 1 percent pay only 8.9 percent, “which exacerbates inequality in our state,” according to a press release about the study.
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ITEP Work in Action October 24, 2018 Real Change: Study: Washington Bottoms Out on US Tax Assessment
Guess what? Washington state’s taxation system continues to be one of the most regressive in the country.
This news comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which did a deep dive into the taxation policies of all 50 states.
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ITEP Work in Action October 24, 2018 The Journal Record: Prosperity Policy: An Upside-down Tax System
A modestly progressive income tax slightly offsets our regressive sales taxes. But Oklahoma lawmakers cut our top income tax rate by nearly 25 percent since 2004, further tipping the scales to the wealthiest households. Then while grappling with massive budget shortfalls caused in part by these tax cuts, lawmakers took aim at measures that primarily benefit low- and middle-income working families by making the state Earned Income Tax Credit non-refundable and freezing the state standard deduction, while leaving cuts to the top income tax rate in place.
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ITEP Work in Action October 24, 2018 Hawaii Public Radio: Hawaii Tax System Places Larger Burden on Low Income Residents
Low-income residents in Hawaii are paying a higher share of their income in taxes than higher level earners. That is the conclusion of a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy titled Who Pays? The Hawaii tax system is considered highly regressive, due to heavy reliance on the General Excise Tax, or GET. This is despite a progressive, graded state income tax and the lowest property taxes in the nation.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Third and State: Pennsylvania’s Terrible Tax Code Asks More of You as You Make Less: Hitting Community’s of Color Especially Hard
The Commonwealth once again claims its spot in the “Terrible 10” most unfair tax structures in the nation. The lowest 20% of income earners in the state pays more than double (2.3 times) their share of family income on state and local taxes than the top 1%.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Hawai’i Budget & Policy Center: Hawaii’s Tax System Exacerbates Inequality
A new report out from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) provides the vital statistics for each state’s tax system. It lays out, in clear and compelling numbers, the sobering message that Hawaiʻi taxes—and those in the United States on average—increase inequality between rich and poor.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Florida Policy Institute: Amendment 5 Would Lock in the Regressive Policies and Abysmal Funding Levels that Perpetuate Inequality
Florida’s unfair tax system, which forces low-income residents to contribute the most as a share of their household incomes, along with the state’s worst-in-the-nation per-person investment in public services, would be locked in under Amendment 5.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Enid News & Eagle: A Low Tax State for Only Some Oklahomans
While Oklahoma has a reputation as a low tax state, poor and middle-income Oklahomans are actually paying a greater share of their income in taxes than the national average, while the richest 5 percent of households — with annual incomes of $194,500 or more — pay less.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Washington Examiner: Think tank: Texas Isn’t a Low-tax State if You’re Poor
Carl Davis for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: [ M]any states traditionally considered to be “low-tax states” are actually high-tax for their poorest residents. The “low tax” label is typically assigned to states that either lack a personal income tax or that collect a comparatively low amount of tax revenue overall. But a focus on these measures can cause lawmakers to overlook the fact that state tax systems impact different taxpayers in very different ways, and that low-income taxpayers in particular often do not experience these states as being even remotely “low tax.”
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ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2018 Beacon Journal/Ohio.Com Editorial Board: A Taxing Matter Goes Missing in the Governor’s Race
It follows that low- and middle-income Ohioans pay a higher share than the national average, and wealthy Ohioans pay a lower share.
To a degree, that is expected in view of the vastly larger incomes of wealthy Ohioans. At the same time, the state would be well served by altering the shares to make the state and local system more fair, to reflect how new income in recent years, even decades, has flowed largely to households at the highest income rungs.
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ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2018 NorthJersey.com: 2018 Elections: Candidates Taking Wait-and-See Approach to SALT Deductions
A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank, found that a majority of New Jersey taxpayers in every income group will pay less taxes next year than they did in 2017 as a result of last year’s federal tax-code overhaul.
The cap is expected to affect those in high-income brackets the most. Thousands of New Jersey homeowners rushed to prepay their 2018 taxes in December to take advantage of bigger deductions on their 2017 returns before the cap took effect.
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ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2018 NC Policy Watch: North Carolina’s Tax Code Isn’t Helping the State’s Growing Inequality
Despite claims by the architects of North Carolina’s failed tax-cut experiment, policy choices since 2013 have not ensured that middle and low-income taxpayers are paying lower shares of their income in state and local taxes. Instead the richest taxpayers—whose average income is more than $1 million—continue to pay 33 percent less in state and local taxes as a share of their income than taxpayers who have averages incomes annually of $11,000, a threshold that aligns with deep poverty.
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ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2018 Idaho Statesman: Poor Idahoans Pay Largest Share of Taxes, Study Finds
Low-income Idahoans were hit hardest by property and sales taxes, ITEP reported. The lowest-earning segment spent 3.3 percent of income on property tax and 6 percent of income on sales and excise taxes (the latter are sometimes known as “sin taxes”).
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ITEP Work in Action October 21, 2018 Tulsa World: Political Notebook: Report Says Oklahoma’s State and Local Taxes Among the Most Regressive in the Nation
Oklahoma’s state and local taxes are among the most regressive in the country, according to a report released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 20, 2018 KTVB: Idaho Tax Analysis
Study finds lower income Idahoans paying higher tax rates than those with higher incomes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 CPPP: The Staggering Unfairness of Our State Tax System
Here’s one way to think about it: Families at the top of the income ladder receive 20 percent of all personal income in Texas, but pay only 8.5 percent of all state and local taxes. Families at the bottom of the scale receive only three percent of all income, but pay 5.7 percent of all taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 WVTF: Study: State Taxes Have Disproportionate Impact On Lower Income Virginians
Virginians who make the least amount of money pay 40 percent more taxes as a percent of their income than the wealthiest Virginians. That’s according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which says Virginia’s tax code is upside down.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 WOWK TV: Tax Issues in West Virginia
WOWK TV – Sean O’Leary, of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, talks to Mark Curtis about a new report that shows there’s room improve West Virginia’s upside-down tax system.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 FOX13 SLC: Middle Income Utahns Bear Brunt of State and Local Tax Burden
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a report showing how every state and the District of Columbia use tax policy in regressive and progressive ways.
Their conclusion: all but five states and the District of Columbia have regressive systems, meaning they favor the wealthy over middle and/or low-income earners.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 Eagle Pass Business Journal: Report: Low-Income Taxpayers Pay Most in Connecticut
The report, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and Connecticut Voices for Children, found the state’s lowest-income earners pay 41 percent more of their income in taxes than wealthier residents. According to Jamie Mills, director of fiscal policy and economic inclusion at Children’s Voices of Connecticut, taken as a whole the tax system in the Nutmeg State is upside down – because, as in many other states, the tax on personal income is only part of total tax revenue.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 Florida Phoenix: New Study Says Florida Has the 3rd Most Unfair State and Local Tax System in US
Florida is the third largest state in the country, and according to a new report, has the third-most unfair state and local tax system in the U.S. That data comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonpartisan, nonprofit tax policy organization.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute: Report Shows Higher Effective Tax Rates for Residents with Low Incomes
Most New Hampshire residents with lower incomes pay a higher percentage of the money they earn in state and local taxes than residents with higher incomes do. In a new report released yesterday, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy conducted evaluations of state and local government tax systems in each of the 50 states and modeled their impacts on non-elderly residents. The report concludes that 45 states have tax systems that ask a greater percentage of the incomes of those with low earnings than those with the highest incomes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: New Report Shows Kentucky’s Tax System Worsens Income Inequality
In Kentucky, the income inequality that exists between our poorest and wealthiest residents is magnified by the structure of our tax system. And thanks to the new tax law enacted by the 2018 General Assembly, that problem is getting worse.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: West Virginia’s Upside Down Tax System Grows Inequality
State and local tax systems can be effectively used to boost economic opportunity, create broadly shared prosperity and build equitable state economies. But in most states, including West Virginia, tax systems are upside down and are making inequality worse, as a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 Seattle Met: Report: Washington State Taxes Are Still the Most Inequitable in the Country
In Washington state, the less money you make, the larger your percentage of income goes toward taxes.
A study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released on Wednesday concludes that Washington state still has the most regressive taxes in the U.S., meaning the poorest households pay a disproportionate amount of taxes compared to the richest households in the state.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 NJ Spotlight: New Jersey’s Tax System Ranked Among Fairest in the Country
A report on the fairness of state and local tax policy that was released yesterday by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranked New Jersey among the… -
ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 Message-Inquirer: Tax Study Explores ‘Who Pays?’ in Kentucky
A new study from a national economic policy research group suggests Kentucky’s tax structure has become less equitable since the last General Assembly’s tax reform legislation, putting more tax obligation on poor and middle-class Kentuckians.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 Providence Business Journal: Study Finds the Wealthy Pay a Lesser Share of Their Income Taxes in R.I.
The greater your income in Rhode Island, the less of it you pay in state and local taxes, a new study finds.
The top one percent of Rhode Islanders [those making more than $467,700 a year] pay 7.9 percent of their income in total state and local taxes, while the bottom 20 percent [those earning less than $21,700 a year] pay 12.1 percent of their income in such taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 KRWG: Lowest-Income Taxpayers in NM Pay 1.8 Times the Tax Rate Paid by the Richest New Mexicans
Commentary: A new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that the lowest-income New Mexicans pay a state and local tax rate that is almost double what the state’s wealthiest residents pay as a share of their income.
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ITEP Work in Action October 18, 2018 Rutland Herald: In All Fairness
Anti-tax advocates across the country and in Vermont continue to push for policies that reduce tax rates for the wealthy and businesses, the report finds. However, a movement is growing in opposition to this agenda, as the public realizes that tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations mean less money to fund the things that benefit everyone: schools, parks and public spaces, infrastructure, public safety and other basic services.
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media mention October 17, 2018 NJ BIZ: Report: NJ’s Top Earners Pay Lower Tax Share Than Middle-Income Families
New Jersey’s top earners enjoy vastly more wealth than the majority of New Jersey residents but pay a much lower percentage of taxes than middle-income families in the state. That’s according to a nationwide analysis released Wednesday by New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institution of Taxation and Economic Policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Big Island Now: STUDY: Hawai‘i’s Low-Income Taxpayers Carry 2nd Highest Tax Rate
The main cause of the heavy tax burden on those making the least in Hawaiʻi is the General Excise Tax (GET). Families in the lowest fifth spend 10.5% of their meager incomes on the GET, while the top 1% spend only 1.2% of their large earnings. In other words, those at the bottom spend 8.75 times more of their income on the GET than do those at the top.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Narrowing Income Inequality Through the Tax Code
DC’s tax system stands out in two key ways, according to a new analysis on how state tax policies affect families at different income levels. First, taxes on DC families living on very low incomes–below about $24,000 a year–are lower than in any state in the U.S. That good news is due primarily to income and property tax credits targeted to help residents working hard to make ends meet. But the analysis shows that families with incomes just above that level pay the same share of their income in DC taxes (income, sales, and property taxes) as the District’s wealthiest residents. At a time when the income of the top fifth of DC households is 34 times larger than the bottom fifth ($320,000 compared with $9,000)—and a time of growing income gaps between Black and white residents—the District should be asking its wealthiest residents to pay more to address the city’s inequities.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Maine Center for Economic Policy: Maine Still Has Work to Do in Building a Balanced and Adequate Tax Code
Building an inclusive economy requires tax policy that meets two conditions. The first is that those with the most are asked to pay more, or at the very least pay as great a share of their income in taxes as everyone else. The second is that enough shared resources are raised through the tax code to invest adequately in foundations of a strong economy including good schools, access to health care, and safe and modern infrastructure.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 New Mexico Voices for Children: New Analysis: Lowest-Income Taxpayers in NM Pay 1.8 Times the Tax Rate Paid by the Richest New Mexicans
“Taxes are the way we accomplish great things for our state – build our schools and infrastructure, provide health care and public safety, and more,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which partnered with ITEP on the report release. “These systems and services underpin our economy and improve our quality of life. We all need to do our part to support them, but our current state tax system ensures that those who can afford to pay the most actually pay the least.”
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Michigan League for Public Policy: News Flash: Michigan Taxes Are Still Upside-Down
While no news is often regarded as good news, in this case, it’s not. Michigan’s tax structure is still highly regressive, and taxes Michiganders with low incomes at a higher rate than Michigan’s wealthiest residents, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Oregon Taxes Fall Hardest on Those Who Earn the Least
Oregon’s poorest families pay more in taxes as a share of income than any group of taxpayers in the state, while the richest Oregonians pay the smallest share of any group. That is the conclusion of a new report by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Arkansas Tax System Worsens Economic Inequality
Another key driver of inequality in Arkansas’s tax system is the preferential treatment given to capital gains income. Currently, half of all capital gains income is exempted, or ignored, from income taxes even though nearly no one makes a significant share of their income through capital gains (except for the top 1 percent). According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office, capital gains make up 38 percent of the income of the richest 1 percent of households in this country, compared to just 5 percent of the income for the poorest households.