Years of efforts to reform Louisiana’s regressive and overly complicated tax code have run aground in the state Legislature. The result: Louisianans pay the second-highest sales taxes in the nation, while the tax code is riddled with costly exemptions and deductions. The state’s broken tax structure is a major reason why the state lurched from budget crisis to budget crisis over the last decade and has struggled to fund critical programs and services like higher education and health care. The Advocate’s editorial board shares its thoughts on the latest report from 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 November 15, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Tax Code Is Holding Louisiana Back
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ITEP Work in Action November 9, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Race Equity and Taxes in Louisiana
Louisiana’s upside-down tax structure means the highest income-earners pay less than the poorest families, when measured as a percentage of income. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s “Who Pays” report lays this out in careful detail, and the latest edition breaks down the tax distribution by race. The conclusion: Black households pay a higher percentage of their income in state and local taxes than white households. Louisiana has work to do to make the tax structure fairer and reduce racial inequalities.
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ITEP Work in Action November 5, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Louisiana’s Regressive Tax Structure
Poor and middle-income families in Louisiana pay state and local taxes at a higher rate than the wealthiest families. That’s the key takeaway from the latest state-by-state breakdown of tax distribution by income groups from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Louisiana’s tax structure is the 14th most regressive in the nation.
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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 October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Louisiana’s Tax Code is Still Regressive
The wealthiest households in Louisiana continue to pay state and local taxes at a lower rate than those in the middle class and below, according to a new analysis that breaks down the tax rates by income brackets in every state. The report, Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States found that households with incomes in the lowest 20 percent pay nearly twice as much of their income in taxes as households in the top 1 percent. Louisiana has the 14th most regressive tax code in the country, according to the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Who Pays Taxes in Louisiana?
When it comes to paying for government services, Louisiana asks a lot more of those with the fewest resources than it does of its wealthiest citizens, according to new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Thanks to a heavy reliance on sales taxes and tax exemptions that favor the wealthy, the less you earn in Louisiana, the more of you pay in taxes as a percentage of income.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Analysis: Louisiana’s Regressive Tax Structure Disproportionately Affects Low-income Residents
A new study released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Louisiana Budget Project finds that Louisiana has the 14th most unfair state and local tax system in the country, with the lowest-income Louisianans paying almost two times more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents.
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ITEP Work in Action October 12, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Federal Tax Cut Worsening Racial Wealth Divide
While President Trump and Republicans in Congress heralded the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 as a major tax cut for the middle class, the numbers don’t bear that out. A new analysis by researchers at Prosperity Now and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reveals just how much of the federal tax cut benefits went to the highest income earners, and the crumbs that were left over for low and middle-class households.
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ITEP Work in Action May 18, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Black households would bear disproportionate burden of sales tax renewal
Lawmakers can address this imbalance by expanding Louisiana’s EITC. An increase of the state EITC from 3.5 percent to 7 percent of the federal EITC would offset a half-cent cent… -
ITEP Work in Action March 5, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: On the Brink of Collapse
The backbiting and bitterness surrounding the revenue debate in Baton Rouge is wildly disproportionate to the effect on Louisiana families. As The Advocate’s Tyler Bridges reports, none of the tax bills would cost any Louisiana family more than 1 percent of their income per year. What’s really at stake in the tax debate – besides trying to fill a $1 billion hole in the budget – is whether to continue relying on a regressive sales tax, or if the burden should be shifted slightly to high-income taxpayers.
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ITEP Work in Action April 19, 2017 Louisiana Budget Project: Most would get tax cut under Gov. John Bel Edwards’ tax plan
Louisiana is $440 million short of the revenue needed to fund state government at current levels in next year’s budget. The problem gets much worse in the 2018-19 fiscal year,… -
ITEP Work in Action March 6, 2017 Invest in Louisiana: Moving from Budget Cuts to State Investment
Louisiana’s tax system is broken. It doesn’t bring in enough revenue to pay for the things that allow communities to thrive- strong schools, good hospitals and public safety. It taxes… -
ITEP Work in Action January 9, 2017 Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development: Sustainable Solutions for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure in Louisiana
The Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment is an 18-member Task Force established by Governor Edwards to recommend community-driven solutions for Louisiana’s transportation infrastructure investment needs. The Task Force submitted its formal… -
ITEP Work in Action December 19, 2016 The Governor’s Task Force on Infrastructure Investment: Sustainable Solutions for Multimodal Transportaion Infrastructure in Louisiana
Pursuant to the charges of JBE 2016-23, the Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment (Task Force) worked diligently over a six-month period to determine what must be done to… -
ITEP Work in Action December 18, 2016 Report to the Louisiana Governor: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN LOUISIANA
Pursuant to the charges of JBE 2016-23, the Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment (Task Force) worked diligently over a six-month period to determine what must be done to… -
ITEP Work in Action May 5, 2016 Louisiana Budget Project: The federal deduction needs reform
“There are two key questions confronting Louisiana officials as they grapple with the most serious budget crisis in a generation: How much new tax revenue does Louisiana need in order… -
ITEP Work in Action February 3, 2016 Louisiana Budget Project: A stronger EITC can mitigate sales tax increase
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) calculates that the poorest 40 percent of Louisiana households paid 10 percent of their family income in state and local taxes… -
ITEP Work in Action January 16, 2015 Louisiana Budget Project: Taxing the Poor
In less than three months, Louisiana legislators will convene for their annual session. It’s an odd-numbered year, which means it’s a two-month “fiscal” session that’s supposed to be focused on… -
ITEP Work in Action May 22, 2014 Louisiana Budget Project: Increasing EITC improves tax fairness, reduces poverty, invests in children
Efforts to modestly raise the minimum wage in Louisiana failed this legislative session — even though the wage isn’t high enough to keep a full-time worker with a child out… -
ITEP Work in Action March 19, 2013 Louisiana Budget Project: Eliminating Louisiana’s Income Taxes Will Hurt the State’s Economy
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to abolish Louisiana’s income taxes is based on a flawed economic analysis and is likely to hurt the state’s economy rather than boost it, according to… -
ITEP Work in Action January 15, 2013 Agenda for Children: Building a Better Tax Cut: Alternative to SB87 Would Cut Taxes for Twice as Many Louisianans – at Half the Cost
On Wednesday, May 14, 2008, the House Ways and Means Committee approved SB 87, a measure originally sponsored by Senator Buddy Shaw and now backed by Governor Bobby Jindal. The… -
ITEP Work in Action January 14, 2013 Louisiana Budget Project: Eliminating State Income Tax: Good for Whom?
Several bills introduced in the current regular legislative session would eliminate Louisiana’s state income tax, without mandating any replacement revenues. Adoption of any of these measures would be detrimental to… -
ITEP Work in Action January 14, 2013 Louisiana Budget Project: Louisiana at the Crossroads- Responsible Responses to Louisiana’s Fiscal Crisis
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ITEP Work in Action December 17, 2012 Louisiana Budget Project: Louisiana’s Earned Income Tax Credit: A Smart Investment in Working Families and Children
“With poverty on the rise in Louisiana, especially among children, policymakers should expand the state’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—a tried-and-true tax benefit for families that work,…