Citations
ITEP's Citations Research Priorities
Stateline: Republican Push To Increase Sales Taxes Would Fall Hardest on Lower-Income Residents
March 19, 2026
Lawmakers consider increasing sales taxes to offset budget cuts to property or income taxes. This will force lower- and middle-income residents, who spend a larger share of their earnings than the wealthy, to foot more of the bill for state services. Read more.
Education Week: How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?
February 19, 2026
As tax season dawns, backlash to a nationwide surge in property-tax bills is spurring states to double down on proposals to diminish one of the main revenue sources for school districts. At least 10 states are pitching the end of one of schools’ chief revenue sources. Read more.
Jacobin: In Washington State, the Left Won a Major Victory for Taxing the Rich
May 14, 2021
Last week, Washington State passed a capital gains tax aimed at the state’s ultra-wealthy. The tax is historic because Washington, despite its progressive reputation, until now had the worst tax code in the nation when it comes to fairness, behind Texas, Florida, and South Dakota. A landmark 2018 report by the Institute on Taxation and […]
Marketplace: High-income taxpayers help some states stay above water
March 1, 2021
However, in 22 states, tax revenue actually increased, with revenue in four states — Idaho, Utah, South Dakota and Colorado — up more than 5%. Revenue fell in the remaining states, with seven down more than 10% —Texas, Oregon, Florida, Nevada, North Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska. This disparity has a lot to do with the […]
Politico Morning Tax: Desperately Seeking Clarity
October 17, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
MOST STATE TAX SYSTEMS REGRESSIVE: No state has more regressive taxes on its citizens than Washington, followed by Texas, Florida, South Dakota and Nevada, according to a distributional analysis of state tax systems that will be released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Most states take a larger share of income from low- and middle-income families than from wealthy families, it said. The 10 most regressive in the rankings tax their residents in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale at rates up to six times higher than the wealthy, while their middle-income families pay a rate up to…
Kiplinger: Online Shopping Could Get Pricier
August 1, 2018
Generally, shoppers who buy from midsize online retailers will be the hardest hit, says Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. South Dakota’s rule requires remote sellers to collect tax if they have at least $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in South Dakota. Other states are imposing similar thresholds. […]
NPR: Supreme Court Ruling Means Some Online Purchases Will Cost More
June 22, 2018
While the court made clear that the states do not have unlimited power to require sales tax collection, “The court blessed South Dakota’s law,” said Carl Davis, research director for the Institute of Taxation and Economic policy. The law specifically protects small businesses from collecting sales taxes if they have less than $100,000 in sales […]
New York Times: Supreme Court Widens Reach of Sales Tax for Online Retailers
June 22, 2018
The decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., was a victory for brick-and-mortar businesses that have long complained they are put at a disadvantage by having to charge sales taxes while many online competitors do not. And it was also a victory for states that have said that they are missing out on tens of […]
Select state coverage of ITEP’s analyses of Republican tax Plans
January 1, 2018
Burlington County Times: Will Phil Murphy raise NJ’s taxes (and 4 other political questions for .. Kaplan Herald: This chart exhibits how the GOP tax plan will hit your pockets Wiscnews: Tax cuts increase inequity Patch.com: MacArthur Touts Tax Reform; Will It Help NJ As Much As He Says? NJ.com: Long lines spring up as […]
Charleston Gazette-Mail: Cutting WV Income Tax Likely to Backfire
April 11, 2017
There are nine states with no income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, New Hampshire and Tennessee. Only Texas has seen job growth — as a result of being the center of the oil industry. The others have not; job growth has trailed population growth in the other eight. This is based […]
South Dakota Budget and Policy Institute: HB 1182 Raising teacher salaries – how much would taxes change for your household?
February 2, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The combination of property tax savings and sales tax increases will affect each household differently. Raising sales tax by 1/2 cent will raise about $107 million dollars. And decreasing property tax will cost about $40 million dollars. But how much will your household pay to support the change? You can figure that out by answering two questions.
Yahoo! Finance: New Jersey just hiked its gas tax by 159%. Is your state next?
November 7, 2016
“Of course, New Jersey isn’t the only state that has or is toying with raising gasoline taxes. Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington upped their gas taxes in 2015, notes the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Louisiana, Tennessee, Alaska, Alabama and Minnesota are contemplating increases in 2017.” […]
Rapid City Journal: SD tax policies model of unfairness
October 5, 2016
“The non-partisan, non-profit Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy says that in 2015, South Dakota had the fourth most regressive tax system in the United States. Poor and middle-income residents paid, respectively, 12 percent and 8 percent of their earnings to state and local authorities, while the wealthiest paid less than 2 percent.” Read more
Industry Week: Is Bipartisan Tax Reform Possible?
May 3, 2016
“Well, we can follow the example of states that have passed bipartisan tax reform to address the problem of getting corporations to pay a fair share of taxes in their state. The solution was “apportionment” of corporate income taxes, where a share of taxes to be paid by a corporation to a state is based […]
The Capital Journal: SD policy institute figures how sales tax increase will affect different households
February 17, 2016
Smolnisky was trying to provide some more context for lawmakers debating the plan, based on an inkling she got months ago about funding an increase in teacher pay using higher sales taxes. “I was sitting next to two teachers and one said, ‘I would like a higher salary, but I don’t want to pay […]
Capital Journal: SD policy institute figures how sales tax increase will affect different households
February 10, 2016
“Smolnisky was trying to provide some more context for lawmakers debating the plan, based on an inkling she got months ago about funding an increase in teacher pay using higher sales taxes. “I was sitting next to two teachers and one said, ‘I would like a higher salary, but I don’t want to pay more […]
South Dakota Budget and Policy Institute: WHO PAYS increased SD sales taxes to raise teacher salaries?
February 8, 2016 • By ITEP Staff
“There is broad consensus in South Dakota that teacher salaries need to be competitive to attract and retain good teachers – but who is going to pay for it? Two options have been floated thus far to fund the increase. Some in-depth fiscal analysis and charting helps clarify the difference between these options.” Read full […]
Bloomberg BNA: Individual Income Tax Insights: Fifty States of Rates – State Tax Systems Don’t Play Fair
September 15, 2015
“All state tax systems are inherently unfair, at least that is the verdict issued by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). ITEP’s 2015 Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States report analyzed state and local tax systems to assess the fairness with which each system is designed […]
Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems
July 13, 2015
Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds the nationwide average effective state and local tax rates by income group are 10.9% for the poorest 20% of individuals […]
TI News Daily: Some States Prefer Transportation Over Tax relief
July 8, 2015
To meet infrastructure needs, several states have had to increase other taxes, such as gasoline taxes. These states include Idaho, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah and South Dakota. Four of these states are currently finalizing infrastructure funding increases or are still discussing infrastructure funding raises. “A lot of states realized they couldn’t put […]
KELO TV: Paying More for Being Poor
February 10, 2015
Being poor in South Dakota is harder than in most other states in the U.S.. A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that South Dakota’s tax structure, along with other factors, make it one of the most difficult states to live in for low-income families. The city of Sioux Falls […]
Slate: Republicans Are Finally Talking About Income Inequality
January 24, 2015
The problem is that this shifts the tax burden from the top to the bottom. In other words, it’s upward redistribution of wealth that harms the least well-off. And while the vast majority of states have tax systems that hit low-income Americans the hardest, these effects are worst in conservative states, where the highest tax […]
Evanston Now: Illinois Tax System Among the Most Regressive
January 21, 2015
A new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says Illinois residents face one of the most regressive state and local tax systems in the nation. The institute — which defines regressive taxation as a system in which lower income people pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those who […]
Salon: Defiant Sam Brownback vows to move toward zero income tax — and make Kansas even more unequal
January 16, 2015
“A study released this week underscores one of the most pernicious effects of such a tax regime: It exacerbates inequality. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that “[v]irtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair,” with state and local taxes eating disproportionately into lower-income workers’ wages. But the effect was far worse in […]
WYSO: In Ohio, Poor People Pay More Of Their Incomes In Taxes Than Rich People
January 16, 2015
“A national report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Ohio 18th in the country for most imbalanced tax systems. In a “regressive” tax system, low- and middle-income people pay a larger balance of their incomes in state and local taxes than high earners. The study finds very few states with “progressive” tax […]
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