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.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Five Budget Time Bombs Facing the Next Governor
January 16, 2026
Without sustainable and equitable revenue sources, incoming governor Mikie Sherrill is inheriting a state budget full of fiscal threats. Read more.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Freedom from Want: An Economic Guarantee for New Jersey’s Kids
September 11, 2025
All children in New Jersey deserve the freedom to grow up safe, healthy, and free from poverty.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Course Correction: Preserving Senior Housing Affordability While Cutting Costs
June 18, 2025
Renters also have significantly less wealth than their home-owning peers, and nearly 1 in 4 senior renters in New Jersey report it is “very likely” they will lose their home to eviction. Read more.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in New Jersey
May 21, 2025
In 2022, people who are undocumented paid an estimated $1.3 billion in New Jersey state and local taxes.[3]
New Jersey Senator Singleton and Senate President Scutari Resolution Condemning Federal Efforts to Cut Funding
March 4, 2025
In response to the recent passage by the House of Representatives of a budget resolution that seeks to cut hundreds of billions in funding for programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee has passed a resolution from Senator Troy Singleton and Senate […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Extending Trump Tax Cuts Would Benefit the Wealthiest New Jerseyans
February 3, 2025
Fair tax policy depends on prioritizing the well-being of all households, not just the wealthiest. New Jersey, and the nation as a whole, cannot afford to hand special tax breaks to the most affluent residents by slashing essential services such as health insurance for working families. New analysis of the Trump administration’s plan to make tax breaks from the 2017 tax law permanent shows that the proposal would do just that. It would make the wealthiest New Jerseyans even richer while cutting programs and support for families who need help affording basic necessities like food and health care.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Fair and Square: Changing New Jersey’s Tax Code to Promote Equity and Fiscal Responsibility
November 14, 2024
Reforming New Jersey's tax system would reduce income inequality and provide revenues needed for public investments to make the state more affordable.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Taxing “Super Luxury” Home Sales Could Make New Jersey Affordable for More Residents
September 10, 2024
As the cost of housing in New Jersey continues to soar, making it increasingly unaffordable for many residents, the market for “super luxury” homes – properties with exceptionally high price tags – continues to rise at a faster rate than all other homes. Applying a higher fee to the sale of these expensive homes could generate hundreds of millions in revenue, helping to make the state more affordable for low-income and middle-class residents. Crucially, this tax would be targeted exclusively to the wealthiest households.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: New Immigrants Drive Economic Growth in New Jersey
April 15, 2024
New Jersey’s fundamental strength lies in the rich tapestry of people who call the Garden State home, reflecting a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds. Nearly one in four residents (2.2 million) are immigrants,[i] who play a pivotal role in shaping the state’s identity. Immigrants bring a wealth of skills and talents that enrich New Jersey’s arts, cuisine, and entertainment, add to the intellectual achievements across various fields, and play essential roles in the private and public sectors. Across the state, immigrants make significant contributions to their local communities and the broader economy through their labor, entrepreneurial endeavors, and tax contributions.
ITEP’s Marco Guzman Testifies in Favor of Tax Fairness Bills in Connecticut
March 11, 2024
Good afternoon, Senator Fonfara, Representative Horn, and members of the Committee, and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Marco Guzman and I'm a senior policy analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, and we’re a nonprofit research organization that focuses on state, local, and federal tax policy issues.
ITEP’s Kamolika Das Testifies on Pennsylvania’s Upside-Down Tax Code
March 4, 2024
Below is written testimony delivered by ITEP Local Policy Director Kamolika Das before the Pennsylvania House Finance Subcommittee on Tax Modernization & Reform on March 1, 2024. Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Kamolika Das, I live in South Philly, and I’m the Local Tax Policy Director at […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: StayNJ 2.0: Senior Tax Cut Still 2 Regressive and 2 Expensive
June 28, 2023
Updated StayNJ senior tax cut proposal would still send the biggest benefits to already-wealthy households. Read more.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Stay Away from StayNJ: Proposal Cuts Taxes for the Rich, Leaves Low-Income Seniors Behind
June 9, 2023
Housing affordability is one of the most pressing challenges facing New Jersey, but not all policies aimed at making the state affordable are equally effective, efficient, or equitable. When evaluating new proposals and changes to the tax code, it’s critical to consider who stands to benefit, by how much, and who is left behind. In […]
Testimony of ITEP’s Amy Hanauer Before the D.C. Tax Revision Commission
May 3, 2023
The written testimony of ITEP Executive Director Amy Hanauer is below the embedded video of the hearing. Dear D.C. Tax Revision Commission, Thank you for inviting me to testify last week on the research of my colleagues at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. We’re grateful to have our perspective included and as a […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: How an Expanded Child Tax Credit Would Help More Hard-Working New Jersey Families
January 31, 2023
Doubling the maximum credit amount would help hundreds of thousands of children and their families pay for basic needs. Read more.
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Making New Jersey Affordable for Families – The Case for a State-Level Child Tax Credit
February 23, 2022
A state-level child tax credit would recognize the unique costs of raising children and the support that most families need to care for their kids and set them up for success. When families can pay for basic expenses and save for their children’s futures, it improves child well-being immediately by reducing key costs like food […]
The Rockefeller Foundation: The Untold Benefits of State EITCs on Child Welfare
June 16, 2021
With the passing of the American Rescue Plan in March, more than 5 million children are projected to be lifted out of poverty this year, cutting child poverty by more than half, through Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansions. But what about state tax codes? What can states do to […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Blueprint to Secure a Just Recovery
April 24, 2021
In 2017, New Jersey Policy Perspective released the Blueprint for Economic Justice and Shared Prosperity. It charted a course forward for the state after decades of short-sighted policymaking that exacerbated racial disparities, spread economic inequality, and weakened our ability to address emergent problems. Now, as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Unemployment Insurance Taxes Paid by Undocumented Workers Top $1 Billion
June 17, 2020
Over the past ten years, unemployment insurance taxes paid based on undocumented immigrants’ work in New Jersey added more than $1.36 billion to state and federal unemployment insurance trust funds, according to a recent analysis conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Fiscal Policy Institute. In addition to contributions to unemployment […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Road to Recovery: Reforming New Jersey’s Income Tax Code
June 9, 2020
A sensible way to address revenue shortfalls and an unfair tax code is to raise income taxes on the state’s wealthiest households. By reforming New Jersey’s income tax, our recovery can be strengthened by reducing the tax burden that low-paid and middle class families pay, while generating more revenue for public programs and services that […]
NJ Spotlight: GOP Leaders Call on NJ Democrats to Reconsider Middle-class Tax Cuts
October 29, 2018
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.
NorthJersey.com: 2018 Elections: Candidates Taking Wait-and-See Approach to SALT Deductions
October 22, 2018
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.
NJ Spotlight: New Jersey’s Tax System Ranked Among Fairest in the Country
October 18, 2018
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 U.S. states with the most equitable tax systems. Read more
NJ BIZ: Report: NJ’s Top Earners Pay Lower Tax Share Than Middle-Income Families
October 17, 2018
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.
Insider NJ: New Analysis: Middle Class Taxpayers in New Jersey Still Paying More Than Tax Rate Paid by Richest 1 Percent of New Jerseyans
October 17, 2018
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) finds that New Jersey’s middle class families pay more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents.
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