Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Citations

ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

Mackinac Center: Lawmakers Should Reject Sales Tax Holidays

February 19, 2026 • By ITEP Staff

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues that tax holidays may slightly reduce the regressive nature of sales taxes but produce minimal overall benefit. Read more.

Indiana Capitol Chronicle: Indiana Lawmakers To Weigh Joining Trump’s Tax Cuts

December 23, 2025

One worry with Indiana adopting all the federal changes is that it would further reduce the state’s tax base, said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst for the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That could make the state more dependent on its 7% sales tax — among the highest in the country — that […]

Stateline: Red States Pushed Child Tax Credits This Year, but the Broadest Plans Fizzled

September 24, 2025

But despite initial optimism from sponsors and child welfare advocates, Republican proposals in Indiana and Ohio did not advance this year. Had either measure passed, it would have been the first refundable child tax credit approved in a conservative state. Read more.

ITEP’s Neva Butkus Discusses Property Taxes in Indiana

October 3, 2024 • By Neva Butkus

On September 30, Policy Analyst Neva Butkus discussed Indiana property taxes and how Hoosiers could benefit from a circuit breaker policy at an event hosted by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute and Prosperity Indiana. Check out her slides here, and an article on the panel here.

On January 10, Andrew Bradley, Policy Director at Prosperity Indiana, testified before the State and Local Tax Review Task Force of the Indiana General Assembly. During his presentation, Bradley highlighted Prosperity Indiana’s tax policy priorities and ITEP’s Who Pays? findings. To watch the video, click here (Bradley’s testimony begins at 1:55:40) To read written testimony […]

News and Tribune (Indiana): Editorial: Raising Sales Tax Would Hurt Poor Hoosiers

November 1, 2023

With statewide elections on the doorstep, some 2024 candidates are playing on a familiar ploy in calling for a reduction or an end to Indiana’s income tax. The most popular idea floated by those who are campaigning on the proposal, including current lieutenant governor and gubernatorial hopeful Suzanne Crouch, is to replace a sizable portion […]

Video: Tax Policy Experts Warn Indiana Tax Force Drastic Cuts Could Hurt Lowest-Earning Hoosiers

October 21, 2023

As Indiana seems poised to restructure its tax system in the next few years, some policy experts are urging the State and Local Tax Task Force not to make drastic cuts to the state’s individual income tax. Read more and watch the video featuring ITEP’s Neva Butkus here.

Today ITEP State Policy Analyst Neva Butkus presented to the Indiana State and Local Tax Review Task Force. For a related blog from Neva, click here. For her slide deck, click here. Good morning members of the State and Local Tax Review Task Force, Thank you for providing me the opportunity to share ITEP’s findings […]

WVTF Radio: A gas tax holiday may not lead to savings for Virginia drivers

March 30, 2022

About a third of the savings will go to the oil industry, according to research into how this worked when Indiana and Illinois had a gas tax holiday. But that doesn’t mean Virginians will see the rest of the savings. Carl Davis at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says a quarter of the […]

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.

The new ‘Who Pays?’ analysis follows the Institute’s August report ‘The Status of Working Families in Indiana, 2018’ which found the wealthiest Indiana earners have received an extra $2,446 from combined state income, corporate, and fuel tax changes since 2012, while taxes for the bottom 60% of middle class and working families have increased by an average $36.

Indiana faces a choice of whether to continue down a southward-leading path of low-road policies, or to rebuild its economy for Hoosier families. By adopting a policy agenda for working families that improves Indiana’s jobs with higher wage and labor standards; strengthens protections for Hoosier families including repairing the safety net and crafting consumer and job safeguards; and increases economic mobility through improved access to education, rebalancing the state’s regressive tax and budget structure, and focusing economic development on strengthening Hoosier families and communities, Indiana can reclaim its place as a leader in the Midwest and in the nation.

Marketplace: Tax cuts: Have they benefited Indiana’s economy?

May 11, 2018

As for the potential long-term consequences, the richest Indiana taxpayers will receive the largest average tax cuts in 2027 (with an average cut of $4,840), while taxes would go up slightly for the poorest 20 percent (with an average increase of $160), according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

CNN: How Trump’s Policies Could Hurt the Rust Belt

October 25, 2017

Rust Belt states Ohio, Michigan and Indiana are not home to large populations of $1 million household income earners. Rather, they’re in the middle or bottom of the pack, according a summary from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States with a higher percentage of millionaire earners voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 […]

Washington Examiner: Indiana’s Tax Cuts Haven’t Led to Higher Paychecks

October 17, 2017

Carl Davis for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: In announcing a tax cut framework in Indianapolis that was negotiated with House and Senate leaders, President Trump said, “Indiana is a tremendous example of the prosperity that is unleashed when we cut taxes and set free the dreams of our citizens … In Indiana, […]

Select State News Coverage of ITEP’s 50-State Analysis of the GOP Tax Proposal

October 10, 2017

The Sentinel: Trump Tax Even in Harrisburg Will Feature Truckers The Columbus Dispatch: 15% of Ohioans Could See Tax Increase Under GOP Plan KGW Portland: Richest Oregonians Benefit Most from Proposed Tax Cuts Raleigh News & Observer: The Racial Wealth Divide Could Grow with Tax Changes Northwest Indiana Times: Hoosiers Would Lose in Trump Tax […]

A new analysis of the Trump tax plan from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy shows that Indiana would only get an 87% share of tax cuts relative to the state’s ratio of the U.S. population. This is the 23rd-smallest share among states. In part because the plan is aimed at high-income households and Indiana is a poorer state, no matter how you slice it, Indiana gets shortchanged compared to the average state by Trump’s plan.

The corporate tax cuts described above mean profitable businesses chip in less for the public services that help them succeed. And the result of less reliance on income and inheritance taxes is clear (see graph below): those at the top in Tennessee and Indiana pay an even smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than the wealthiest Kentuckians do, and their lowest-income residents pay an even higher share than the poorest Kentuckians.

Governing: Raising the Gas Tax Is No Longer Taboo in Many States

May 7, 2017

Already this year, governors in California, Indiana and Tennessee signed laws to raise fuel taxes, meaning a total of 22 states have passed laws imposing higher gas taxes in the past five years. Chances are also good that the list will grow even longer this year. “It is such an unusual thing to see nearly […]

  Ensuring Indiana has funding needed to adequately repair its roads and bridges over the next several years is a top priority among lawmakers this legislative session. Among the proposed infrastructure improvement plans is HB 1001, which would raise the state’s gasoline tax by 4 cents per gallon, the tax on diesel fuel by 7 […]

USA Today: 7 states will have higher gas taxes Jan. 1

December 28, 2016

“Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida will each see modest gas tax increases of less than a penny per gallon, based on automatic adjustments in those states, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Two states — New York and West Virginia — will have slight reductions based on automatic adjustments, according to […]

The Atlantic: Why It’s So Hard to Know What to Make of the Carrier Deal

November 30, 2016

“Additionally, some economists say that it’s bad policy for states to offer up tax breaks for companies who agree to locate plants or other operations in certain communities, a practice that is widespread, with states and municipalities already providing $50 billion in location-incentive tax breaks every year—that’s money that could be used for schools or […]

Indianapolis Business Journal: Senate report: Illegal immigration costs state $131M

May 27, 2016

“Indiana Immigrants who are here illegally paid $108.9 million in state and local taxes in 2010, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. But were they to have legal status, they would have paid $141.7 million in state and local taxes, according to the group.” Read more

CNBC: Pothole season brings little new funding to fix them

April 5, 2016

  Other states, including Indiana, South Carolina and West Virginia, have considered similar moves. But so far, those measures haven’t gotten very far, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax research group. “Legislators in all three states embraced partial solutions or punted entirely, preferring short-term fixes at the expense of other […]

USA Today: Study: 58,000 U.S. bridges found to be ‘structurally deficient’

February 22, 2016

“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy counts nine states seriously considering motor fuel tax increases: Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, and South Carolina. “Most of the gas tax increases under discussion right now would help restore at least some of the purchasing power they lost while being frozen in time […]