Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

Congress should oppose efforts to increase tax breaks for wealthy Americans and highly profitable corporations this year, 56 organizations across Alabama wrote in a letter sent to Alabama’s congressional delegation Wednesday. Lawmakers instead should seek to boost tax credits that expand opportunities for working people and families, the letter said.

Bloomberg: Did You Pay Your ‘Fair Share’ of Federal Income Tax This Year?

March 31, 2022

And according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the impact would have a definite geographic tilt. The states where more than 40% of residents would face tax increases are largely in the South, including Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Florida. read more

Democracy Now!: Alabama Amazon Workers Vote in 2nd Union Election as Amazon Dodges $5 Billion in Taxes

February 10, 2022

Meanwhile, a new report found Amazon was able to dodge over $5 billion in federal income taxes in 2021. Amazon reported record revenue of $35 billion last year but benefited from a federal income tax rate of just 6%, thanks to corporate tax breaks. The report was issued by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

Two bills in the 2022 regular session would end the state grocery tax while protecting school funding. The graph below shows how millions of Alabamians would benefit. Untaxing groceries quickly and responsibly would boost economic and food security for all Alabamians. That means replacing revenue for public schools in a way that doesn’t harm struggling […]

How to untax groceries without costing education a dime It’s crucial to replace the grocery tax revenue without hurting the people who would benefit most from the tax’s elimination. Fortunately, Alabama has a way to untax groceries while protecting both struggling families and education funding. That solution would be to end an unusual tax loophole […]

Bloomberg: Gas Tax for Infrastructure Sparks Fears of Political Backlash

May 1, 2019

Some 30 states have raised their fuel taxes since 2003 -- including Republican-led Ohio, Arkansas and Alabama this year -- according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States tack on an average tax of nearly 29 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Wyo File: Why Are We Footing the Bill for Billionaires?

November 16, 2018

he question, then, will be: Who pays? That question — “Who pays?” — is also at the center of a report released last month by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The report, Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, looks at the different tax rates […]

Low-income Alabamians pay twice as much in state and local taxes as a share of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents, according to a study released Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. The study, Who Pays?, analyzes major state and local taxes in all 50 states, including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales and other excise taxes.

The Journal News: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Anti-Trump Tax Plan Crumbling in Face of IRS Regulations

September 11, 2018

Similar programs give state tax credits on 100 percent of the donations in states such as Alabama, Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina. It’s a system that has proved profitable for savvy taxpayers, said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

The Montgomery Advertiser: IRS Proposes Regulations that Could Impact Alabama Accountability Act Donors

August 24, 2018

Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, said the regulations “make a lot of sense as far as what is charity and what isn’t.” The graphic shows how the donations to the Alabama Accountability Act benefit donors. The fundamental problem, he added, was that deductions exceeded the […]

CNBC: Cutting SALT–It Could Be the Last Day for This Tax Saving Strategy

August 24, 2018

There are 18 states with private school voucher tax credits, including programs in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina. A number of them offer credits to contributing taxpayers on a dollar-for-dollar basis. “In a perverse situation, you donate $100 and you get back $137 in the form of state tax credits and deductions,” said Carl Davis, […]

The Oregonian: Trump Administration Moves to Stop Oregon, Other States from Circumventing New Tax Law

August 23, 2018

Treasury said it expects that only about 1 percent of all U.S. taxpayers would see a reduction of their tax credits for donations to a private-school voucher fund. Several states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Montana and South Carolina — allow taxpayers who donate to private-school funds to get a 100 percent credit against their state […]

The Bond Buyer: Where SALT Workarounds Are Being Promoted

July 5, 2018

he $10,000 federal cap on the deductibility of state and local taxes has led to a flurry of activity in red states to promote tax credits for taxpayers’ efforts to make charitable donations to get around that cap. That’s the finding of a survey by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy that highlights the […]

Bloomberg BNA: Fix’ for Federal Cap on State Tax Deduction? K-12 Tax Credits

June 27, 2018

But the very same charge can be made against the tax credit programs for private K-12 schools, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in its report. These programs are now being openly promoted by tax advisers and accountants as a way to sidestep or circumvent the SALT deduction cap, according to ITEP. “In […]

Wall Street Journal: As Treasury Targets Workarounds to Tax Law, Impact May Extend Beyond High-Tax States

June 27, 2018

Tax experts say the federal government will find it difficult if not impossible to write rules to stop the workarounds in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut without also limiting existing tax credits in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and elsewhere. According to a recent paper from law professors, 33 states currently have more than 100 […]

Politifact: Scott Dawson distorts Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s Grant Funding

May 25, 2018

But Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said there is a distinction between tax dollars and taxpayer dollars. “User fees are, technically, not ‘tax dollars’ in that they are not the product of our tax system,” Gardner said. “But the broader claim that these are not ‘taxpayer dollars’ doesn’t […]

New York Times: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap

May 24, 2018

Carl Davis, the research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, said that Alabama provides a 100 percent state tax credit for taxpayers who donate money to organizations that give children vouchers to attend private school. Under its new law, New York gives an 85 percent state tax credit to residents […]

Politifact: The Facts Behind Trump’s Jabs at Amazon on Taxes, USPS and Lost Retail Jobs

March 30, 2018

Amazon paid $957 million in income tax in 2017, according to regulatory filings. Amazon paid nothing in federal taxes this year thanks to tax credits and, in large part, Trump’s new tax law. But the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Amazon is either not collecting local taxes or is charging a lower […]

Fortune: President Trump Claims Amazon Pays “Little or No Taxes.” Here’s Where He’s Wrong

March 30, 2018

Where Trump is correct: Amazon doesn’t collect taxes on behalf of third-party vendors, and it still may not collect some local taxes, giving it an advantage over some traditional retailers, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a think tank. According to an analysis from the ITEP, the gap between the tax rate […]

Bloomberg Law: Trump’s Amazon Tweet Comes at Eventful Time for State-Local Taxes

March 30, 2018

Meanwhile, Amazon may not be paying its share of local sales taxes. A report released March 26 by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said Amazon either doesn’t collect and remit local sales tax or is charging a lower sales tax rate than traditional retailers in seven states: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, […]

Dallas Morning News: Texas Was Tougher Than Other States in Dealing with Amazon on Sales Taxes

March 30, 2018

When a Dallas resident or shopper in College Station or Lubbock makes a purchase from Amazon or any other online retailer with a physical presence in Texas such as Wayfair and RH.com, the state gets its 6.25 percent. The cities get their local sales taxes too. In Dallas, that’s an additional 2 percent for a […]

Bond Buyer: Why Cities in Some States Aren’t Getting E-Commerce Taxes from Amazon

March 28, 2018

Local governments in seven states are not getting a share of the sales taxes Amazon is collecting for e-commerce transactions because of gaps in state and local laws, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Amazon began collecting sales tax in all 45 states that have statewide sales taxes as […]

Seattle Times: As Amazon steps up tax collections, some cities are left out

March 27, 2018

Thanks in part to a series of deals with state governments in recent years, Amazon is collecting sales tax in every state that has one. But those deals do not always extend to taxes assessed by local governments. The company still is not collecting sales taxes in dozens of cities, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Cedar […]

Bloomberg BNA: Tax Breaks Plentiful for Second Amazon HQ Even Without Bids

March 27, 2018

Amazon also benefits at the state and local level when it comes to sales tax, according to a report released March 26 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy based in Washington, D.C. In seven states—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania—Amazon is either not collecting local taxes or charging a lower […]

Bloomberg BNA: States in Pickle Over Deductions for Federal Taxes

January 31, 2018

Iowa lawmakers attempted in vain to repeal the deduction last year, and Alabama has considered repeal efforts as a way of offsetting the revenue loss that would occur if the state repeals its tax on groceries, according to a blog post by Dylan Grundman, senior policy analyst with the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic […]