ITEP Work in Action
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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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers in Marion County Pay Millions in Oregon Taxes
An estimated 18,000 undocumented Marion County residents pay nearly $14 million annually in state and local taxes. For perspective, $14 million is enough to hire 157 teachers. Read more here -
ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Arkansas Times: Report: Arkansas Taxes Unfair ….. To the Poor
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is highlighting a new report relevant to ongoing legislative discussions of “tax reform.” It does not suggest the problem is taxation on the rich.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Budget and Policy Center: Washington State Again Ranks Worst In The Nation For Our State Tax Code
Despite the many ways Washington state takes prides in its spirit of innovation, it still ranks dead last when it comes to its tax code, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Our state has the most upside-down tax code in the country, forcing people with the lowest incomes to pay 17.8 percent in state and local taxes as a percent of their income – while the state’s wealthiest residents pay just 3 percent.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Low-Income West Virginians Pay Far More in Taxes as a Percent of Income Than Wealthiest West Virginians
West Virginia’s tax system is regarded as regressive because the lower one’s income, the higher one’s effective tax rate. While West Virginia has a progressive personal income (meaning the higher one’s income, the higher one’s effective personal income tax rate), it also, like most other states, relies heavily on the more regressive sales and excise taxes to raise revenue. Low-income West Virginians pay up to 6.6 percent of their income on sales and excise taxes, while the wealthiest in the state pay less than one percent of income in state and local sales taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Public Assets Institute: New report: Vermont’s Tax System Is Among the Least Regressive
Tax systems generally favor the wealthy, but Vermont’s system is skewed less than most other states when it comes to high-income taxpayers. That was the key finding of a study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Public Assets Institute.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Louisiana’s Tax Code is Still Regressive
The wealthiest households in Louisiana continue to pay state and local taxes at a lower rate than those in the middle class and below, according to a new analysis that breaks down the tax rates by income brackets in every state. The report, Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States found that households with incomes in the lowest 20 percent pay nearly twice as much of their income in taxes as households in the top 1 percent. Louisiana has the 14th most regressive tax code in the country, according to the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Better Wyoming: New Report: Low-income Residents in Wyoming Pay an Effective Tax Rate More Than Three Times Higher Than the State’s Wealthiest One Percent
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Better Wyoming finds that the lowest-income Wyomingites pay an effective tax rate more than three times higher than the state’s richest residents.
Wyoming’s tax rate gap between the working poor and the ultra-rich is one of the worst in the nation.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 The Half Sheet: Virginia’s Tax System Is Upside Down
Virginia’s state and local taxes help to shape economic opportunity across the state. That’s because state and local revenues pay for the building blocks of thriving communities: schools, roads, libraries, and other public services. Unfortunately, the current state and local tax system is upside down. Families in Virginia have taxes withheld from their paychecks, and they also pay taxes when they shop at local businesses, buy groceries, or fill their gas tanks. But updated analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that Virginia’s low- and moderate-income households pay a higher share of their incomes toward state and local taxes than the highest-income households.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: New Analysis: Low-income Taxpayers in Oklahoma Pay More than Twice the Tax Rate Paid by the Richest Oklahomans
While Oklahoma has a reputation as a low tax state, poor and middle-income Oklahomans are actually paying a greater share of their income in taxes than the national average, while the richest 5 percent of households — with annual incomes of $194,500 or more — pay less.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Budget and Policy Center: Unacceptable. Washington Still Has the Nation’s Most Inequitable State Tax Code
Washington state continues to have the most upside-down tax code of any U.S. state, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). It wrongly requires people with the lowest incomes to pay six times more in taxes as a percent of their income than the state’s wealthiest residents to fund investments that benefit all Washingtonians.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Florida Policy Institute: Florida Has Third Most Unfair State and Local Tax System
Florida’s reputation as a “low-tax” state belies the reality that it is, in fact, a high-tax state for low- and moderate-income residents. Floridians with the lowest incomes — those earning less than $18,700 — contribute 12.7 percent of their incomes to state and local taxes, while the wealthiest top 1 percent — those with incomes of more than $548,700 — contribute just 2.3 percent of their income.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Who Pays Taxes in Louisiana?
When it comes to paying for government services, Louisiana asks a lot more of those with the fewest resources than it does of its wealthiest citizens, according to new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Thanks to a heavy reliance on sales taxes and tax exemptions that favor the wealthy, the less you earn in Louisiana, the more of you pay in taxes as a percentage of income.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Analysis: Louisiana’s Regressive Tax Structure Disproportionately Affects Low-income Residents
A new study released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Louisiana Budget Project finds that Louisiana has the 14th most unfair state and local tax system in the country, with the lowest-income Louisianans paying almost two times more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Center on Budget Policy Priorities: State, Local Tax Systems Worsening Inequality
State and local tax systems can be a powerful tool for boosting economic opportunity, creating broadly shared prosperity, and building equitable state economies. But in nearly every state, they’re reinforcing and often worsening inequality, as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows in a new report.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: New Report: Wealthiest Kentuckians Pay the Lowest Tax Rate and the Problem Is Worsening
The study, Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, evaluates the major components of state and local tax systems – including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and other excise taxes – for their overall distributional impact across income groups. For example, Kentucky’s low income tax credit means that people in poverty do not pay state income taxes. However, because the state fails to provide refundable tax credits to offset sales, excise and property taxes paid by low-income people, and because the state has a flat as opposed to graduated income tax rate structure, the poorest 20 percent of Kentuckians pay an effective tax rate 1.42 times higher than that paid by the top 1 percent.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Indiana Institute for Working Families: New Analysis: Indiana’s Tax System is Among the Dozen Most Regressive in the Country
The new ‘Who Pays?’ analysis follows the Institute’s August report ‘The Status of Working Families in Indiana, 2018’ which found the wealthiest Indiana earners have received an extra $2,446 from combined state income, corporate, and fuel tax changes since 2012, while taxes for the bottom 60% of middle class and working families have increased by an average $36.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: New Analysis: Tax Reform Reduces Inequality for Kansans, but Low-Income Taxpayers Still Pay 1.5 Times the Rate Paid by the Richest
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Kansas Center for Economic Growth finds that the lowest-income Kansans pay 1.5 times more in taxes as a percent of their income compared with the state’s wealthiest residents.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Insider NJ: New Analysis: Middle Class Taxpayers in New Jersey Still Paying More Than Tax Rate Paid by Richest 1 Percent of New Jerseyans
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) finds that New Jersey’s middle class families pay more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Politico Morning Tax: Desperately Seeking Clarity
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 four times higher as a share of their income than the wealthiest families, said the report, the sixth edition of the analysis. California is the most progressive, ranking 51st, just ahead the District of Columbia.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Public News Service: Report: NM Tax Overhaul Would Benefit Kids, Families
Regressive tax systems hurt children and families, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy – and by that standard, it says New Mexico has the 19th-worst tax system in the United States.
The study showed that as a share of their income, the lowest-income New Mexicans are paying state and local tax rates almost double those of the state’s wealthiest residents.
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ITEP Work in Action October 12, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Federal Tax Cut Worsening Racial Wealth Divide
While President Trump and Republicans in Congress heralded the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 as a major tax cut for the middle class, the numbers don’t bear that out. A new analysis by researchers at Prosperity Now and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reveals just how much of the federal tax cut benefits went to the highest income earners, and the crumbs that were left over for low and middle-class households.
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ITEP Work in Action September 28, 2018 BTC Report: Income tax rate cap amendment is costly for taxpayers, communities
Imposing an arbitrary income tax cap in the North Carolina Constitution could fundamentally compromise our state’s ability to fund our schools, roads, and public health, as well as raise the cost of borrowing. This could all happen even as the tax load shifts even further onto middle- and low-income taxpayers and the state’s highest income taxpayers — the top 1 percent — continue to benefit from recent tax changes since 2013.
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media mention September 20, 2018 The Free Press: Think Tank Releases Blueprint to Fully Fund Education, Medicaid & Lower Property Taxes
Tax cuts passed by the Maine Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage over the past eight years will cost the state $864 million in revenue in the next biennium, according to an analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. At the same time the state continues to ignore its legal obligations to fully fund education, Medicaid expansion and revenue sharing.
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ITEP Work in Action September 18, 2018 West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Don’t Double Down on Failed Federal Tax Cuts
Extending most of these provision does more of the same and is a huge and alarming waste of resources. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economy Policy, if the individual tax provisions are extended to 2026 and beyond, the richest 1 percent – those making on average $762,000 – in West Virginia would receive an average tax cut of over $20,000. Meanwhile, the poorest 20 percent with an average income of $12,900 will see an average tax increase of $40.
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media mention September 4, 2018 WRAL: Meg Wiehe: Capping North Carolina’s top income tax rate isn’t good for our communities
ITEP Deputy Director Meg Wiehe writes for WRAL.com that it would be unwise to constitutionally cap the North Carolina state income tax rate, pointing out that school funding in the state is already down and faltering revenues in other states have led to teacher pay crises and strikes.