ITEP Work in Action
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 […]
Montana Budget & Policy Center: What Proposed Tax Cuts Really Mean for Montanans
February 3, 2021
The 2021 Montana Legislature has the opportunity to address longstanding inequities in Montana’s tax code that have made life harder for many families. Previous legislatures have chosen to balance the budget by cutting needed services for our seniors, Montanans with disabilities, and those struggling with mental health instead of finding common-sense solutions to fairly increase […]
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Tax Policy Options: Maine Needs Progressive Revenue Solutions to Build a Stronger, Fairer Future
January 27, 2021
Generally, the sales tax is regressive. The poorest one-fifth of families pay a share of their income in Maine sales taxes that is nearly nine times larger than the top 1 percent. Poorer households pay larger shares of their income in sales taxes than wealthy households in part because wealthier households save a larger percent […]
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 […]
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Improved State Taxes on Wealth, High Incomes Can Help Fuel an Equitable Recovery
December 10, 2020
Families’ access to wealth has played a large role in determining how the pandemic has affected them. The worst of the economic and health effects have largely bypassed wealthier, higher-paid families — which are disproportionately white — but have been far more prevalent among lower-income families and those of color. Amid sizeable state budget shortfalls […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Advancing Economic Justice Through Tax Reform
December 8, 2020
Connecticut Voices for Children released a new report, “Advancing Economic Justice Through Tax Reform,” which proposes a tax restructure so that the system is fair for all residents. The report provides an overview of economic injustice in Connecticut, Connecticut’s regressive tax system and shows that it is a key contributor to the economic injustice in the state, […]
Florida Policy Institute: 2021 Legislature Must Prioritize Revenue-Raising Solutions, Not Budget Cuts, To Bolster Post-Pandemic Recovery
November 18, 2020
Through smart investments, it is possible to make up billions of dollars without cuts. FPI proposes initiatives to close corporate loopholes such as “combined reporting”— already implemented by 28 states and D.C.— and the “throwback rule”— adopted by 22 states and D.C. — that would generate more than $500 million in general revenue. Read more […]
Florida Policy Institute: Florida Would See an Extra $577 Million in Sales Tax Revenue Under Amendment 2
October 30, 2020
As Florida Policy Institute and many others have demonstrated, gradually increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026 would help lift households out of poverty and reduce pay inequities long experienced by women, people of color, and immigrants. Additionally, a new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that Amendment 2 […]
South Strong: Racial Equity and Taxes in Southern States
August 26, 2020
Southern states have a particularly egregious record on tax equity, rooted partly in racism. Lawmakers baked some of the most egregious and anti-democratic tax policies into southern state constitutions, such as supermajority requirements to raise taxes in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, income tax rate caps in North Carolina and Georgia, and the recent elimination of […]
Keystone Research Center: REPORT: Why Pennsylvania Needs a State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
August 25, 2020
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 […]
Revenue for Rhode Island: An Equitable Path Forward
August 18, 2020
We propose raising revenue for Rhode Island by adding one new tax bracket for the top 1% of earners – from 5.99% to 8.99% on adjusted gross income above $475,000. The average adjusted gross income for those impacted is $1 million dollars per year. This proposal will have no effect on Rhode Islanders outside of […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Supporting Racial Equity and a Robust Recovery with a Corporate Income Tax Rate Increase
August 10, 2020
By returning the state corporate income tax to pre2010 rates, the Commonwealth could raise $375 million to $500 million a year to help fund a racially equitable, economically just, and robust recovery. As is now clear, low-income communities and communities of color have been hurt far more deeply by the COVID-19 pandemic than wealthier and […]
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 […]
Washington State Budget and Policy Center: It’s time to include undocumented immigrants in state response to COVID-19
May 21, 2020
In addition to state and local taxes, new estimates show that the labor of undocumented workers in Washington state has resulted in nearly $400 million of contributions to the state and federal unemployment trust fund over the past ten years. Yet these workers are systematically denied protection when they become unemployed. Read more
Fiscal Policy Institute: Unemployment Insurance Taxes Paid for Undocumented Workers in NYS
May 14, 2020
In the midst of a pandemic, there has been a growing call for undocumented immigrants, who make up five percent of the New York State labor force, to be covered by some form of unemployment insurance. What is often overlooked in discussions of unemployment insurance is the extent to which undocumented immigrants are already part […]
New Mexico Voices for Children: Essential But Excluded
April 30, 2020
Immigrants pay taxes and are important contributors to New Mexico’s economy. Nationwide, immigrants pay hundreds of billions of dollars in federal, state, and local income and other taxes. New Mexico immigrants – both legal residents and those who are undocumented – contribute more than $996 million in federal, state, and local taxes that help support […]
Community Change: End the Tax Penalty Against Immigrant Workers
April 30, 2020
The Earned Income Tax Credit is a powerful path out of poverty in America, but millions of immigrant households are barred from receiving it, even though they would otherwise qualify based on their work and earnings. Allowing all working families who qualify to receive the credits they earn would strengthen all communities and boost the […]
GBPI: Implement Immigrant-Inclusive Policies During the COVID-19 Crisis
April 15, 2020
Immigrants represent one in 10 Georgians and are critical to Georgia’s economy, with 31 percent of main street businesses owned by foreign-born Georgians and undocumented Georgians contributing $352 million in state and local taxes in 2017. Immigrants are key leaders in our communities and contribute to the state’s cultural and linguistic diversity. During this public […]
NC Policy Watch: Those Federal COVID-19 Checks: What They Mean and Who Might Get Left Out
April 2, 2020
In a replay of how aid checks were dispensed during the Great Recession, the CARES Act reveals giant holes in how we get cash to people in desperate need. Without federal, state, and local policy action, many of the North Carolinians who need aid most urgently will be the last to get it or won’t […]
Colorado Fiscal Institute: Protection From a Pandemic: The Federal Response to COVID-19 in Colorado
April 2, 2020
The federal response contains important provisions designed to help individuals and families, businesses, and state and local governments respond to this unprecedented event. This report aims to provide a summary of these provisions and how they will affect Colorado specifically. Read more
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: House Income Tax Plan Benefits Wealthy and Could Punch Large Holes in State Budget
March 2, 2020
Once the fund reaches “an amount equal to or exceeding 2.5 times the total net reduction in personal income tax revenue collections that would have been received in that fiscal year if the income tax rates for that fiscal year had been reduced by 0.25 percent” it triggers a reduction in the state’s personal income […]
Chicago Resilient Families Task Force: EITC Expansion and Modernization
February 28, 2020
Expanding and modernizing the Earned Income Tax Credit will put more money back in the pockets of the people who need it most. Recent polling suggests such policies would be popular, with 70% of respondents supporting a modernized EITC statewide and 80% supporting such an effort in Chicago. Read more
Commonwealth Institute: State Funding Proposals Include Regressive Tax Increases – Many without Offsets
February 21, 2020
Although many significant state (Virginia) tax policy bills filed for this year did not move beyond the committee level, several proposals remain under consideration. A large transportation funding package (HB 1414 and SB 890) and several standalone regional transportation funding bills have advanced from their respective chambers in the Virginia General Assembly. In addition, proposed […]
Hawai’i Budget and Policy Center: Hawai’i’s Earned Income Tax Credit: Next Steps
February 20, 2020
In 2017, Hawaiʻi passed legislation to create a state EITC.11 The new law allowed qualified taxpayers to claim a state tax credit beginning in 2018. The state tax credit amounts to 20 percent of the federal EITC but, unlike its federal counterpart, Hawaiʻi’s tax credit is not refundable. That is, if the filer owes less […]
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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