ITEP Work in Action
Maine Center for Economic Policy: New Tax Relief Plan Will Disproportionately Benefit Wealthy Seniors
August 30, 2022
This year, lawmakers included a tax change in the state’s budget that will significantly expand tax benefits for pension recipients in Maine. Beginning in 2023, pension recipients will be allowed to exempt up to $25,000 in pension income from state income taxes, and that amount will increase to $35,000 for tax years 2025 and after. […]
Missouri Budget Project: Special Session Tax Proposal Leaves Out 1/3 of Missouri Taxpayers, Weighted to Benefit Wealthiest
August 28, 2022
Governor Parson’s recently released tax proposal would leave out about one-third of Missourians, including many of those who pay the highest proportion of their income in state & local taxes, and set the state up for a Kansas-like budget bomb that would require significant cuts to schools, public safety, healthcare, and other critical needs. Read […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: New Tax Plan Risks State’s Long-Term Fiscal Health, Worsens Income and Racial Inequities
May 27, 2022
House Bill 1437, signed into law by Gov. Kemp after a final version emerged during the last hours of Sine Die 2022, sets Georgia on course to make fundamental changes to its income tax that primarily benefit the state’s highest earners at an annual cost greater than $2 billion when fully implemented. Beyond adding to […]
Arizona Center for Economic Progress: $2 Billion Tax Cuts for the Rich are Irresponsible
May 13, 2022
Last year, the legislature passed huge tax cuts whose benefits will only be seen by the richest Arizonans. Once these new tax cuts go into effect, they will reduce state revenues by an estimated $2 billion a year. The state approved a flat tax that will not result in a meaningful tax cut for most […]
DC Fiscal Policy Institute: DC’s Earned Income Tax Credit – The Most Generous in the Nation, but not the Most Inclusive
April 6, 2022
The DC Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a powerful tool for advancing racial, gender, and economic equity. Modeled after the federal tax credit by the same name, DC’s EITC goes to families and individuals earning low and moderate incomes to help them keep more of what they earn and meet basic needs. It is claimed […]
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis: Gas Tax Proposal Misses the Mark
March 29, 2022
Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a new policy proposal to suspend the state’s 26-cents per gallon gas tax for three months and to cap gas tax rates in future years. If enacted, this policy is likely to miss the mark on helping families in Virginia who are struggling with higher costs, while […]
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute: Expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit in New Hampshire
March 23, 2022
Prior to the temporary expansions, nearly one in five likely eligible Granite Staters did not claim the EITC, and approximately 7,745 children were estimated to be eligible for the CTC while the credit was not claimed on their household’s tax return. The potential under enrollment in key assistance programs, along with underutilization of the EITC […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: House Proposes Massive Tax Cuts for Wealthiest, Slashing State Revenues
March 14, 2022
Members of the Georgia General Assembly are considering legislation that would fundamentally change the structure of the tax code and result in disproportionately large tax cuts for the wealthiest while hundreds of thousands of families would see tax increases or few benefits. This is due to the package’s proposed flat personal income tax rate and […]
California Budget & Policy Center: California’s Tax & Revenue System Isn’t Fair for All
March 10, 2022
Californians need quality public health and schools, access to affordable housing and clean water, and safe roads and neighborhoods along with many more services to live and thrive – no matter one’s zip code. Accordingly, the state’s tax and revenue system must raise adequate revenue to cover the services provided by state and local governments and make […]
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 […]
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: House Personal Income Tax Cut Plan Largely Benefits Wealthy, Not Fiscally Sustainable
February 15, 2022
The West Virginia Legislature has introduced a bill to cut and eventually eliminate the state’s personal income tax. The House Finance Committee voted to advance that bill to the House floor with no discussion or questions asked. Like previous attempts to eliminate the state’s income tax, HB 4007 would lead to major revenue losses for the […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Strengthening the Grocery Tax Credit Would Provide Fiscally Smart Tax Relief to Working Oklahomans
February 14, 2022
Oklahoma can effectively eliminate the state and local sales tax on groceries for most low-income families by strengthening the Sales Tax Relief Credit. At a time when many Oklahomans are struggling to put food on the table and are at risk of eviction, a more robust Sales Tax Relief Credit can help put money back into the pockets […]
Common Good Iowa: New Income Tax Cuts – a Recipe for Disaster and Inequity
February 10, 2022
Iowa lawmakers have repeatedly cut taxes over the last three decades in ways that provide the greatest benefits to the highest-income taxpayers while ratcheting down investments that historically made the state attractive to raise a family or do business — including public schools and public health. Now, within months of passing tax cuts that when […]
Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy: HB 436 Tax Cuts Benefit Wealthy Idahoans
February 7, 2022
The tax cuts proposed in HB 436 would benefit wealthy Idahoans the most. The bill would also collapse the state’s five tax brackets to four, and would lower the income tax rate on the wealthiest tax bracket from 6.5% to 6%. Read more
Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy: Idaho Families Would Benefit From Move to Include More Children in State’s Child Tax Credit
February 7, 2022
From housing to child care, hard-working Idaho families face high costs in our growing state. Since 2018, Idaho’s tax code has supported families through the state Child Tax Credit (CTC). In the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress approved a temporary change to expand the definition of “child” to include 17-year-olds in tax year 2021. […]
Hawai’i Budget & Policy Center: Expanding Economic Opportunity with the Hawai’i EITC
February 7, 2022
Hawai’i’s working families continue to struggle with the nation’s highest gap between median earnings and the cost of living, and this difficult reality has only been made harsher by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, more than a third of Hawai’i households had at least some difficulty paying for their monthly expenses in December of 2021. […]
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Tax Cut Plan Even More Expensive, Skewed Toward The Wealthy
February 7, 2022
The likely proposal for the long-discussed special session seems to have settled, and its main feature would be to cut the top personal and corporate income tax rates. This disproportionately benefits the wealthy, and the corporate income tax cut will largely be captured by out-of-state shareholders, meaning the revenue will leave the state economy entirely. […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Tax Shift Would Hike Taxes for People with Low Incomes and Give a Big Tax Cut to the Top 1%
February 7, 2022
Last month, an influential group of lobbyists released a proposal to raise Wisconsin’s sales tax to 8%, making it the highest state sales tax in the country, and eliminate the state individual income tax, Wisconsin’s biggest source of revenue. The plan would result in the largest tax cuts going to white households, with households of color […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Youngkin Administration’s Proposals Would Sharply Reduce State Resources, Largely Exclude Working Families with the Lowest Incomes
February 7, 2022
The Youngkin administration’s tax plan would leave out nearly 80 percent of the over 800,000 taxpayers in Virginia who have incomes below $24,000. Gov. Youngkin’s proposed changes would also sharply reduce state General Fund revenues — the portion of the state budget over which lawmakers have the most discretion and which primarily goes toward funding […]
One Voice: Eliminating Individual Income Tax is Bad for Mississippi
February 7, 2022
House Bill 531 would eliminate the state individual income tax. Eliminating the income tax is bad for Mississippi, especially the state’s working families, communities of color, and retirees. While some lawmakers are suggesting that Mississippi’s revenue system is sound enough to support this tax cut, due to the current surplus, this couldn’t be further from […]
Alabama Arise: Eliminating State Grocery Tax Would Make Life Better for Alabama Families
February 7, 2022
Two bills in the 2022 regular session would end the state grocery tax while protecting school funding. The graph below shows how millions of Alabamians would benefit. Untaxing groceries quickly and responsibly would boost economic and food security for all Alabamians. That means replacing revenue for public schools in a way that doesn’t harm struggling […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Most Nebraskans Left Behind by Income Tax Cut Bills
February 4, 2022
Non-Nebraskans, corporations and wealthy residents would be big winners under the latest income tax cuts proposed in in LB 938 and LB 939. Meanwhile, the bills – which would ratchet the state’s top corporate and personal income tax rates to 5.84% over four and three years respectively – offer most Nebraskans little tax savings while depleting revenue needed […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Steps to a Fairer Tax System
February 1, 2022
Although Connecticut has the second highest level of per capita personal income in the US, making it exceptionally wealthy overall, many families consistently struggle because Connecticut also has the second highest level of income inequality and a substantial racial income gap, meaning a small, disproportionately white portion of the population primarily benefits from the state’s […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Tax Proposals Would Reduce Resources for Education, Transportation, and Other Priorities
December 8, 2021
The incoming Youngkin administration and state lawmakers have proposed several major tax proposals to reduce taxes for individuals and businesses. These include one-time tax rebates, dramatically increasing the state standard deduction, eliminating the state and local sales tax on groceries, and pausing the recent increase to the fuels tax. While some of these policy ideas […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: A Budget and Tax Roadmap for Oklahoma
October 27, 2021
A more just tax system will level the playing field for all Oklahomans, providing more opportunity to save and build wealth. It will also benefit the economy, as equal opportunity for individuals expands the economy as a whole. The state must continue providing and expanding shared services that are often lifelines for low-income individuals, but […]
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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