Citations
ITEP's Citations Research Priorities
Forbes: Immigrants Are Good for Us
May 6, 2015
A terrific report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) says that immigrants who entered the country illegally paid about $12 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. The revenue per state, of course, varies. ITEP found that these immigrants paid about $3 million in Montana (where few live), but over $3.2 billion in […]
The Montgomery Advertiser: Flat Tax Flawed Approach That Pinches the Poor
May 6, 2015
ur state’s place in that ranking would be secured forever under Hightower’s bill, which effectively eliminates any threshold for income tax liability. Put simply, if you have any earnings at all, you’d be subject to the income tax. Who benefits from that? Certainly not lower-income Alabamians. More than half of Alabama families earning less than […]
The Chicago Sun-Times: Reform Illinois’s Tax Code
May 6, 2015
Illinois citizens are not all that prosperous, either. According to the 2013 census, Illinois per capita income is a mere $29,666 prompting the question, “Just where is the average Illinois taxpayer supposed to get the money to pay those prospective tax increases, anyway?” According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Illinois ranks 5th highest […]
The Portland Press Herald: LePage, Republicans Shift Tactics on Eliminating Maine’s Income Tax
May 6, 2015
Democrats are claiming that their plan is geared more toward middle-income Mainers. An analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning policy group, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, found that the Democratic plan would reduce taxes for the bottom 95 percent of Maine taxpayers. It also […]
The State Journal Register: Illinois Can Choose Revenue over Cuts
May 6, 2015
The people who will most bear the consequences of Rauner’s proposed cuts are those who can least afford to. Children, college students, seniors, the poor, people with disabilities, people with mental illness — all would be hard hit. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of taxpayers in Illinois (average income: $1.9 million) will pay on about $18,000 less in state […]
Huffington Post: GOP Governors’ Proposals Hit Poor Harder
May 6, 2015
Every state already relies on a regressive tax system, although some states depend on sales and excise taxes more than others, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank. A 2015 ITEP study found that the effective state and local tax rate burden was 10.9 percent of income for those […]
Portland Press Herald: Maine Democrats Tout Tax Plan and Middle-Class Economics
May 4, 2015
Democrats have also touted an analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning policy group, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, that compares their tax plan with the governor’s. Read more
The Bond Buyer: LSU Bond Deal Was Victim of State’s Woes
May 1, 2015
“The collapse of LSU’s bond offering mirrors a trend we’re seeing across the nation: state leaders are avoiding making tough budget decisions by pushing these decisions down to the local level,” Matt Gardner, Executive Director Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told The Bond Buyer. “When state lawmakers seek to balance their budgets by cutting […]
Decatur Daily: Concerns raised about flat-tax bill; hearing today
May 1, 2015
Forrister said his group asked the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal non-profit, to examine Hightower’s proposal. “They found that the only income group that would pay more on average would be the bottom 20 percent, those making less than $18,000,” Forrister said. By contrast, the state’s highest earners — the top 1 […]
AL.com: Sen. Bernie Sanders, the latest presidential hopeful, issues dire warning to Alabama
May 1, 2015
“I’m sharing this data with you in the hope you can work with your Congressional delegation and other leaders in your state on behalf of a budget that works for all Americans,” Sanders wrote. The data came from the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Economic Policy Institute and the Institute on Taxation […]
Daily Journal: Indexes unveil winners, losers under tax policy
May 1, 2015
We’re less familiar with a different ranking of state taxes by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It ranks state tax systems based on their effects on the distribution of income. It doesn’t like Indiana very much. We’re 42nd on the 2015 list. According to the institute, in every state lower-income people pay a […]
The Nation: How Cities’ Funding Woes Are Driving Racial and Economic Injustice–And What We Can Do About It
May 1, 2015
Many towns have resorted to privatizing formerly public responsibilities such as trash collection, sewage, roads and parks, and introducing new fees to force residents to foot the bill directly. These fees and taxes are often extremely regressive, because as everyone is forced to pay a flat rate, poor people end up paying a higher percentage […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: A Flatter State Income Tax Would Take a Toll on Wisconsin
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
A proposal to change Wisconsin’s tax system could cut taxes for high earners, even though the well-off already pay a smaller share of their income in state taxes than lower-income taxpayers. Various lawmakers are proposing cutting or “reforming” the state’s income tax code, and a special committee staffed by the Legislative Council will be reviewing […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Do All Taxpayers Get the Same Benefit from the Governor’s Income Tax Proposals?
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
In his State of the State address last week, Governor Walker talked about two tax cuts he plans to make using the state’s projected surplus: a $406 million cut in property taxes and an income tax cut. With respect to the smaller portion of that two-part plan the Governor said: “…we will reduce income taxes […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Top 10 Reasons to Increase Tax Credits for Low-income Households
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
Top 10 Reasons to Increase Tax Credits for Low-income Households Read the full report
Wisconsin Budget Project: Tax Shifts Would Cut Taxes for Richest, Raise Taxes on Others
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
Expanding the sales tax to pay for income and property tax cuts would harm taxpayers with low incomes – and give large tax cuts to the highest earners. A recent policy report that recommends such a “tax shift” overlooks those facts. Read the full report
Policy Matters Ohio: Problems with Ohio EITC: It’s not refundable, it has a cap, and it’s too low
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
Gov. Kasich’s Mid-Biennium Review proposal to expand the credit from 5 percent to 15 percent is a step in the right direction, but more must be done to ensure the credit benefits Ohio’s poorest working families. Read the full report
Policy Matter Ohio: Cutting taxes doesn’t help Ohio economy
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
After the General Assembly raised the top income-tax rate to 7.5 percent in 1992 the state generated more than 100,000 jobs in each of the following three years. Compare that with the 25,600 jobs Ohio gained during 2013, the 40,300 in 2012, and the 77,600 in 2011. Tax levels are not the main thing driving […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Failure to Address Gas Tax Costs New Jersey Over Half a Billion Dollars a Year
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
New Jersey is losing out on over $500 million each year by not tying increases in transportation construction costs to increases in gas tax rates, a new national report finds. This $504.7 million currently left on the table could nearly double the annual funding for vital transportation projects across the state. Read the full report
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Income Taxes Don’t Impede Economic Growth
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
As Gov. Chris Christie prepares to unveil the specifics of his proposed 10-percent income tax cut at next week’s budget address, he’s working under a key tenet of conservative economics: that high tax rates harm economic growth. There’s just one problem, according to a new national report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: State Treasurer Confesses: Our Job is To Protect Millionaires
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
In case it remained a mystery to anyone, the administration’s plan for economic growth was made clear by Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff at a New Jersey Business and Industry Association breakfast last Tuesday. To paraphrase the treasurer, the state’s job is to protect its approximately 15,000 millionaires by cutting their taxes. Read the full report
Economic Progress Institute: Few Winners and Many Losers in RI Tax Reform
April 29, 2015 • By ITEP Staff
The budget passed by the House Finance committee made three significant tax policy changes that will impact the income of tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders. The estate tax, earned income tax credit, and property tax relief program were all dramatically altered in the budget. Read the full report.
Alternet: Tax Cuts for the Rich Made Kansas Broke–So Now States Move to Raise Taxes on the Poor
April 28, 2015
In its 2015 edition of “Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy counts Kansas among the 10 states with the “most regressive state and local tax systems.” Taxes eat up 11.1 percent of income for the poorest 20 percent of Kansas residents. […]
Stateline: States Try More Tax Breaks for Seniors
April 28, 2015
Despite the trend, Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which surveyed senior tax breaks, said all of the efforts to have “blanket state tax preferences for elderly taxpayers is … a very ill-advised policy.” She also pointed out that states which shield retirement income — Social Security […]
Shelby (NC) Star: Tax Season Brought Some Sticker Shock
April 28, 2015
Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that in all 50 states, the wealthy tend to pay a lower percentage of their incomes in taxes than low- and middle-income taxpayers. The institute says states are relying largely on sales taxes, which hit poor and middle-income families especially hard because they spend a bigger […]
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