Millionaires’ taxes can help address this problem. They can raise substantial revenue for public services by asking more of those at the top, a group that’s disproportionately white. White families are three times likelier than Black and Latinx families to be in the top 1 percent, according to a report by Prosperity Now and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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 March 15, 2019 State Millionaires’ Taxes Can Advance Racial Justice
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media mention February 20, 2019 Truck-Only State Tolls Roil Industry That Favors Fuel-Tax Hike
Two dozen states have raised fuel taxes since 2013, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which encourages states to take the lead in fixing their roads. All but 11… -
media mention February 20, 2019 Hawai’i Public Radio: Corporate Tax Loophole Costs Hawaii $38 Million Annually
Hawaii lawmakers are missing out on millions in potential tax revenue. That is the conclusion of a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The ITEP found that a loophole… -
media mention February 14, 2019 Urban Milwaukee: Republicans Discover the Middle Class
An analysis of all the tax breaks in Wisconsin from 2011 through 2016 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found the average tax reduction was $10,015 for the top 1 percent of taxpayers, and $1,806 for the next 4 percent of taxpayers versus $379 for the middle 20 percent of taxpayers and just $175 for the bottom 20 percent of taxpayers.
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media mention February 14, 2019 Maine Free Press: Mills Budget Provides More School Funding, Fails to Fully Fund Revenue Sharing & Keeps LePage’s Tax Cuts
The liberal-leaning Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) praised Mills for her support for Medicaid expansion, but criticized the proposal for failing to reverse LePage’s income tax cuts for the wealthy. Last year, MECEP and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released a report that found that tax cuts passed during the LePage administration will cost the state $864 million in revenue this biennium. About half of the tax breaks went to the top 20 percent of earners while the bottom 20 percent received less than 5 percent of the benefit, the analysis found.
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ITEP Work in Action February 5, 2019 Wrong Priorities: It Doesn’t Make Sense to Give a Tax Cut to the Rich While Arizona Asks Children in Public Schools to Wait
Arizona stands to gain $130 million to $230 million in General Fund revenues if it conforms the Arizona tax code to the federal tax changes enacted in 2017. Rather than directing those additional revenues to better prepare for the next economic downturn or toward increased investments in our public schools, SB1143 and HB2522 will direct the additional revenues toward a tax cut that will benefit the wealthiest Arizonans.
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ITEP Work in Action February 5, 2019 Montana Budget & Policy Center: House Bill 300: Sales Tax Proposal Makes Montana’s Taxes More Regressive and Reduces State Revenue
Replacing property taxes with a sales tax is both impractical and unfair for Montana families. HB 300 would make Montana’s tax system more regressive, increasing the taxes paid by families… -
ITEP Work in Action January 24, 2019 Law360: Montana Mulls Statewide Sales Tax To Replace Property Taxes
Montana could become the first state in the nation to eliminate residential and commercial property taxes in exchange for creating a new 2.5 percent statewide sales tax…
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ITEP Work in Action January 22, 2019 Time to restore fairness to the personal income tax and break the boom-or-bust cycle
Our citizen legislators have lots of choices to make when they meet for the annual legislative session every January – how to prioritize spending on public services like education, health care and public safety, which laws to enact, and whether to make changes to our state’s tax code.
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ITEP Work in Action November 28, 2018 The EITC Boosts Opportunities for Communities of Color
State and local taxes play an important role in shaping economic opportunity. These tax revenues pay for the schools, roads, parks, and libraries that create a foundation for thriving communities. Yet we know that Virginia’s state and local tax system is upside down. In Virginia, households with low and modest incomes pay a higher share of their incomes toward state and local taxes than the highest-income households. In tax policy terms, this is known as a regressive system. And since historical and present-day barriers for communities of color have resulted in stark differences in income by race, this means these taxes particularly hit Black and Latinx families who are more likely to be paid low wages and struggle to make ends meet.
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ITEP Work in Action November 16, 2018 Advancing Racial Equity With State Tax Policy
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.
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ITEP Work in Action November 15, 2018 The Governor’s Proposed Personal Income Tax Cut: Who Wins and Who Loses?
Governor Asa Hutchinson proposed a personal income tax cut as part of his balanced budget plan for the 2019 legislative session, released on November 14.
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ITEP Work in Action November 12, 2018 Tax Proposals Target Benefits to Those at the Top, Corporations
The Arkansas Legislative Tax Reform and Relief Task Force’s recommendations would make the state’s tax system even more regressive than it already is. According to a new analysis by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy, the net overall impact of the combined recommendations would actually raise taxes on the neediest Arkansans. At the same time, it would target a bigger share of the decrease to those with the highest incomes.
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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 2, 2018 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: Kansans of Color Often Pay More Than Their Fair Share of Taxes
Kansans believe in fairness. However, a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Kansas Center for Economic Growth finds that the lowest-income Kansans are… -
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 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Measure 105 Would Set Oregon Back
Immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, give the economy a boost. In Marion County alone, undocumented immigrants pay more than $14 million in taxes every year to local and state…