Citations
ITEP's Citations Research Priorities
NBC10: Pennsylvania Among States Trying To Balance Rise in Revenue With Gambling Issues
March 17, 2026
“The sports gambling sector is growing fast,” said Nick Johnson, an analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “In a few states, it’s really starting to produce a pretty remarkable amount of revenue.” Read more.
ITEP’s Kamolika Das’ Testimony to the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission
January 11, 2025 • By Kamolika Das
ITEP’s Kamolika Das testified in front of the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission on January 9, 2025. The commission has been charged to examine the city’s overall tax system and propose ways to make it more inclusive, equitable, and growth oriented, and it has been considering changes to the city’s net profits tax and business income […]
New York Times: A Walzonomics Primer
August 7, 2024
It’s been nearly 24 hours since Kamala Harris announced Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, catapulting him into the national spotlight. Unlike other candidates for the position, including Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, the Midwestern politician hasn’t been closely scrutinized — until now. Here’s where he stands on some key business issues.
WTAE: Commitment 2024: Fact-checking Former President Trump’s Claims in Interview
May 13, 2024
PITTSBURGH — During an interview with WTAE's sister station WGAL, former President Donald Trump made claims of getting record-breaking votes in Pennsylvania's 2024 primary, about the future of abortion in the courts, and concerning who benefited most from his tax cuts.
Capital & Main: Extreme Wealth Is on the Ballot This Year — Will Americans Vote to Tax the Rich?
April 3, 2024
On March 7, President Joe Biden reintroduced proposals to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans and the nation’s most profitable corporations. The move virtually ensures that the nation’s extreme wealth inequality — more than one in four dollars in the country is held by a tiny sliver of households with a net worth over $30 million — will be part of the national election debate. But excessive wealth may take center stage in at least 10 states, ranging from Democratic bastions such as California, Hawaii and New York to swing states such as Nevada and Pennsylvania.
ITEP’s Kamolika Das Testifies on Pennsylvania’s Upside-Down Tax Code
March 4, 2024 • By Kamolika Das
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 […]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PNC Bank, PPG Industries Among Companies Paying Less Than the Federal Tax Rate
March 4, 2024
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen Pennsylvania companies — including a handful in the Pittsburgh area — paid less than the 21% federal corporate income tax rate from 2018 to 2022, according to a study released Thursday by a progressive research group.
Keystone Research Center: Fair Taxation Can Help Achieve a More Just Pittsburgh
December 13, 2023 • By ITEP Staff
Over the past several years, federal funding via the American Rescue Plan (ARP) has temporarily boosted City of Pittsburgh revenues and allowed increased investment in affordable housing, workforce training, healthy and accessible food programs, public safety, and public transportation. ARP funds, however, will expire in 2024, leaving a $30.6 million shortfall in the city budget. This […]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Next Tax Debates are Heating Up in Congress
June 26, 2023
Call it the battle of the tax cuts. Western Pennsylvania’s lawmakers are on opposite sides as the U.S. House debates whether — and how — to cut taxes. Read more.
Pennsylvania Capital Star: GOP plan would be a tax hike for 35% of Pa. residents
March 9, 2022
The share of households facing tax hikes would vary across states, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, ranging from a low of about 24 percent in Washington State to high of roughly 50 percent in Mississippi, which is among the poorest states in the country. Read more
Keystone Research Center: REPORT: Why Pennsylvania Needs a State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
August 25, 2020 • By ITEP Staff
If one thing has become clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that workers who do essential things like providing care for the sick, stocking shelves at grocery stores, and cleaning facilities to keep our buildings clean and safe are undervalued in our society. Despite their hard work, many Pennsylvanians earn such low wages that […]
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: A Fair Share Tax Plan for Pennsylvania — 2019 Update
April 15, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
This paper puts forward the Fair Share Tax plan, a major step toward fixing Pennsylvania’s broken tax system and raising the revenues we need to invest in the public goods that are critical to creating thriving communities and individual opportunity in our state: education, infrastructure, protection for our air and water, and human services. The […]
Reuters: Illinois Budget Debate Raises Key Questions on Taxing Retirement Income
February 28, 2019
But the policies of various states are all over the map. Data provided by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that 11 states tax some portion of Social Security benefits, usually mirroring the federal formula. Many others tax pensions and tax-deferred accounts, although some have exemptions that protect lower-income, public sector workers and […]
Third and State: Pennsylvania’s Terrible Tax Code Asks More of You as You Make Less: Hitting Community’s of Color Especially Hard
October 23, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
The Commonwealth once again claims its spot in the “Terrible 10” most unfair tax structures in the nation. The lowest 20% of income earners in the state pays more than double (2.3 times) their share of family income on state and local taxes than the top 1%.
Keystone Research: The State of Working Pennsylvania 2018
August 30, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
“The State of Working Pennsylvania 2018,” Keystone Research Center’s 23rd annual review of the Pennsylvania economy and labor market finds that, nearly a decade into the current national economic expansion, many Pennsylvania workers are still waiting for a raise. The report points to three factors that help explain this.
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 […]
NorthJersey.com: NJ Lottery Operator Northstar Wants $97 Million Raise and Less Money for New Jersey
June 15, 2018
In neighboring Pennsylvania, the Legislature in 2014 approved decreasing the minimum profit margin from 27 percent to 25 percent and projected net revenue would increase by $40 million over the following three to four years. Since the change, Pennsylvania’s net revenues decreased cumulatively by $35 million, according to research by the Institute on Taxation and […]
Bloomberg BNA: Higher Gas Prices May Mean Paying States More in Taxes
May 1, 2018
As a result, a few states will see revenue gains from higher prices because their tax rates are tied to the price of fuel, rather than its volume, Carl Davis, research director for the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told Bloomberg Tax. Those states include California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New […]
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 […]
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