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.
Policy Matters Ohio: The Great Ohio Tax Shift, 2026
February 20, 2026
ITEP’s analysis examines two categories of changes to the Ohio tax code: changes made to personal income taxes and changes made to other types of taxes. Read more.
Mackinac Center: Lawmakers Should Reject Sales Tax Holidays
February 19, 2026
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.
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Should Not Conform to Federal Tax Policies That Reduce State Revenue
February 11, 2026
While the General Assembly should pass a conformity bill related to federal changes made in H.R. 1, Ohio should decouple from sections that reduce revenue without benefiting the state — and that primarily advantage the wealthiest Ohioans. Read more.
Policy Matters Ohio: A Budget for Ohio’s Millionaires
June 13, 2025
The Ohio Senate has passed its state budget bill. Policy Matters Ohio Tax Policy Researcher Bailey Williams issued the following statement:
Policy Matters Ohio: Flat Income Tax Would Gut Ohio’s Budget
March 27, 2025
Ohio’s House Ways and Means Committee today holds its first hearing on HB 30, a bill that would tax the income of everyday Ohioans at the same rate as the state’s wealthiest households. The bill would eliminate the state’s top income-tax bracket of 3.5% on income above $100,000. By tax year 2026, Ohio would be left with a single rate of 2.75% on income above $27,350.
Policy Matters Ohio: The Great Ohio Tax Shift, 2024
September 27, 2024
Major tax policy changes enacted by Ohio lawmakers since Governor Taft’s 2005 State Budget Bill ask families with the lowest incomes to pay more, the wealthy to pay less, and the state to forgo the resources it needs to ensure the prosperity of its residents. Those are the conclusions of a new analysis conducted for Policy Matters by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
Policy Matters Ohio: Income Tax Extremism Is a Gift to the Wealthy. Repairing the Damage Would Cost Us All
June 7, 2024
Ohioans deserve an equitable tax system that supports the public goods and services that enable all of us to thrive. Unfortunately, that is not the system we have today. After two decades of tax handouts to corporations and the rich, our upside-down tax system increasingly perpetuates inequality while failing to adequately fund services like education and health care. This all pales in comparison to the extreme proposal from lawmakers that would eliminate the state’s personal income tax.
Policy Matters Ohio: New Data Show Just How Upside-Down Ohio’s Tax Code Is
January 29, 2024
In 2023, the lowest-paid Ohioans spent more than twice as much of their income on state and local taxes than the highest-paid, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
Policy Matters Ohio: Tax Policy For the People
November 10, 2023
Every family in Ohio should be able to afford healthy food, a safe home, health care and the other elements of a good life. Ohio has the resources to make this a reality. Too often, however, our elected officials choose to use those resources to enrich their already wealthy supporters and do whatever else it […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Needs a Property-Tax Circuit Breaker
October 1, 2023
Sharp rises in home assessment values are bringing property-tax relief to the forefront at the Statehouse in Columbus. While various bills may provide a partial answer to the property tax squeeze being felt by some Ohioans, there is a better solution. It’s one that has been embraced by states across the country: A property-tax circuit […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Legislators Squander Golden Opportunity
July 7, 2023
The operating budget includes a $1-billion-per-year income-tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy, does nothing for Ohioans in the lowest-income 20%, and temporarily increases taxes for some middle-income households. Read more.
Policy Matters Ohio: Senate Tax Plan Pits the Rich Against the Rest of Us
June 15, 2023
The Ohio Senate has voted to weaken the state’s fiscal foundations in order to hand out billions of dollars to wealthy households. The changes to the state’s personal income taxes, currently included in the Senate’s version of the budget bill, will disproportionately benefit the rich, they will lead to temporary tax increases on some middle-income […]
Policy Matters Ohio: A Better Earned Income Tax Credit Will Help Ohio’s Working Families
June 6, 2023
Ohio’s leaders can use the tax system to increase economic stability for every family in the state. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a proven, powerful tool to do just that. In 2021, the federal EITC lifted about 5.3 million people above the poverty line, including nearly 3 million children. Read more.
Policy Matters Ohio: How Ohio’s Income Tax Works – and How the House Budget Would Change It
April 25, 2023
The proposed changes to the state’s personal income tax in the House substitute budget bill are another blow to Ohio’s only tax that is based on the ability to pay, weakening the public programs, institutions, and supports that make the state strong. Read more.
Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 33 Before the House Finance Committee
April 4, 2023
This general assembly has the good fortune of budgeting in a time of surplus. Smart federal policy drove cash to people and businesses so when the worst of covid passed, the economy could rebound. The federal government has also sent crisis dollars to states, propping up potential shortfalls and funding major investments in many areas […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 1 Before the House Ways and Means Committee
March 15, 2023
This bill proposes a substantial rewriting of Ohio’s property and personal income taxes. It is an overly complicated, poorly designed bill that does not achieve what the sponsor claimed it would. It represents a massive wealth transfer from Ohio’s communities to a wealthy few. It is based on unsound economic reasoning and, if passed, it […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Speaker’s #1 priority – Tax cut for the rich
February 23, 2023
One of Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens’ top-priority bills, House Bill 1, is a massive giveaway to the rich, and the first of two such proposals by leading Republicans in Ohio’s House. According to a new analysis by Policy Matters Ohio, HB 1 slashes funding to children and all manner of local services, does nothing […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Increase Family Security and Expand Opportunity in Ohio
November 14, 2022
The expanded federal child tax credit (CTC) improved the lives of millions of children and families. We outline how a simple solution — direct payments to families with children — helped families pay for basic household expenses, relieved parents of stress, and made families more stable and secure. But now, because Congress failed to act, […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Tax Cuts Would Go Mostly to the Very Affluent
June 29, 2021
Instead of using Ohio’s public resources to build strong, resilient communities, the General Assembly approved income-tax cuts that would favor the very wealthiest Ohioans, while providing only modest benefits for moderate-income Ohioans and nothing at all to the state’s poorest. Benefiting especially from the elimination of the top bracket of the tax, the most affluent […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Income-tax Cuts Would Reward the Wealthiest
June 29, 2021
Income-tax cuts approved by the General Assembly in the budget bill would favor the very wealthiest Ohioans, while providing only modest benefits for moderate-income Ohioans and nothing at all to the state’s poorest. Benefiting especially from the elimination of the top bracket of the tax, the most affluent 1% of Ohioans would see an average […]
Policy Matters Ohio: House Budget chooses tax cuts over more support for key public programs
April 15, 2021
The 2022-23 state budget presents Ohio lawmakers with an opportunity to rebuild communities so all people, no matter what they look like or how much money they have, can thrive and succeed. But instead of using all available options to support communities, the Ohio House Republican majority proposed a budget that would cut income taxes […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio’s Tax Structure and Racial Disparities
February 11, 2021
Our success as a state and a nation depends on whether all people, regardless of race, have the opportunity to thrive. From the beginning, American policies and practices oppressed, exploited and excluded Black, brown and Indigenous people, who still face obstacles to good jobs, housing, educational opportunities and health care. As a result, wealth held […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Needs a Corporate Profits Tax
January 12, 2021
Moreover, the 2017 federal tax law has put more money in the pockets of many Ohio business owners. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slashed corporate taxes and provided a big new tax break for owners of partnerships, S Corporations and other businesses known as “passthrough entities” because their profits are taxed under the individual […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Tax Shift Away From the Wealthy: The Pattern Repeats
August 8, 2019
The main tax measures in Ohio’s new budget bills will bring tax increases on average for lower- and middle-income taxpayers, while those at the top of the income scale on average will see cuts. Overall, the bottom 95% of taxpayers with annual income below $208,000 a year will average increases, while those in the top […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Refundability Now
June 4, 2019
The federal credit is so effective that 29 states, including Ohio, have used it as a model for their own EITCs, calculating the state credit’s value as a percentage of the federal one. However, Ohio’s credit leaves out the most important part: refundability.
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