ITEP Work in Action
CommonWealth: Before the T Derailed, its Funding Got on the Wrong Track
July 16, 2019
Overall, funding for the Commonwealth during the last two decades has relied increasingly on sales taxes and regressive user fees, while cutting income tax rates. As a result, we have an upside-down tax system. Effectively, these taxes and fees make lower-income Massachusetts residents pay a higher percentage (10 percent) of their income in state and […]
Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Using Increased Revenues from Conformity on More Tax Cuts is Fiscally Irresponsible
July 11, 2019
Arizona Should Use Increased Revenues to Prepare for Next Recession Instead of Giving Tax Cuts While a recession does not appear imminent, the current economic expansion began in June 2009 and in July will become the longest economic expansion in American history at 121 months. Given this and the impossibility of predicting when the next […]
The American Prospect: Without Congressional Input, Trump May Further Widen the Gap Between Rich and Poor
July 3, 2019
“This is just another tax break for rich people,” says Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economy Policy, who authored a blog post on the policy implications of such a proposal. But even addressing whether the proposal makes economic sense raises serious red flags. Read more
Policy Matters Ohio: Refundability Now
June 4, 2019
The federal credit is so effective that 29 states, including Ohio, have used it as a model for their own EITCs, calculating the state credit’s value as a percentage of the federal one. However, Ohio’s credit leaves out the most important part: refundability.
Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the FY 2020-2021 Appropriations and Finance Committee Budget and Revenue Proposals on Children and Families
May 23, 2019
The report recommends that state legislators and the Governor repeal the state’s Bond Lock, revise the volatility cap, and implement additional tax reforms that begin to correct the state’s regressive revenue system by asking more of the state’s wealthiest residents. Read more
Policy Matters Ohio: The Good and the Bad in the House Tax Plan
May 15, 2019
The tax plan approved by the Ohio House last week would sharply limit an income-tax break for business owners that costs more than $1 billion a year while providing few benefits to the Ohio economy. At the same time, it would eliminate the bottom two brackets of the income tax and cut rates by 6.6%. […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Voices from the Capitol: Countdown to the End of the Session
May 10, 2019
Staff experts from our national partners – Elizabeth McNichol of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Aidan Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy – joined Jamie Mills of Connecticut Voices for Children in submitting powerful testimony before the Finance Committee in support of a modest surcharge on capital gains earned […]
Maryland Center on Economic Policy: Improving the Child Tax Credit Would Benefit More than 700,000 Marylanders
May 7, 2019
Refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit make an important difference for working families, together bringing more than 100,000 Marylanders’ family incomes above the federal poverty line each year. Maryland has built on these successful policies by supplementing the federal Earned Income Tax Credit with a state credit and extending […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Testimony Supporting H.B. No. 7415
April 26, 2019
Smart state fiscal policies can play a critical role in building strong, equitable state economies. It is time we fix our tax laws to give working people and children a fair shot to get ahead by pursuing twin goals of assuring adequate revenues to support the programs and services vital to the well-being of our […]
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: A Fair Share Tax Plan for Pennsylvania — 2019 Update
April 15, 2019
This paper puts forward the Fair Share Tax plan, a major step toward fixing Pennsylvania’s broken tax system and raising the revenues we need to invest in the public goods that are critical to creating thriving communities and individual opportunity in our state: education, infrastructure, protection for our air and water, and human services. The […]
Michigan League for Public Policy: The Cost-of-Living Refund
April 15, 2019
The Cost-of-Living Refund is an enhanced and modernized version of our state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Michigan’s current EITC—at just 6% of the federal credit—provides a huge help to working families struggling to make ends meet by boosting after-tax incomes, pulling Michigan families above the poverty line, and delivering long-lasting benefits to children in […]
The DC Line: – David Schwartzman: By Offsetting Federal Tax Cuts Locally, We Can Improve the Quality of Life for All DC Residents
April 10, 2019
Misha Hill of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has estimated that the top 20 percent income bracket of DC residents will receive almost $700 million in federal tax cuts this year, with most ($541 million) going to the top 5 percent (with incomes above $319,000 per year). The same study finds that […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Even with Modest Capital Gains Tax, Wealthiest Would Pay Average of $36,000 Less in Taxes After Trump Tax Cuts
April 10, 2019
Connecticut faces a $4 billion deficit over the Fiscal Years 2020-21 biennial budget. Without adequate revenues, painful budget cuts that could fall heavily on children and families are inevitable. Read more
Connecticut Voices for Children: A Balanced Approach to Revenues: Ensuring Fairness and Adequacy
April 10, 2019
As the General Assembly develops its biennial budget facing a $4 billion deficit, Connecticut Voices for Children urges legislators and the Governor to adopt a balanced approach by adopting revenue streams that enhance the fairness of our tax system while providing the adequate funds to sustain us today and to invest for tomorrow. Budget cuts […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the Governor’s FY 2020-2021 Budget on Children and Families
March 31, 2019
Connecticut’s long-term fiscal health and economic growth depend on policies that improve equity and support our most vulnerable families and children. Governor Lamont’s proposed state budget avoids additional major cuts to essential programs and services, though it is based on revenue proposals that fall most heavily on our lowest income taxpayers. It asks little of […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Connecticut’s Radical New Budget Rules: Locking in Decreased Investment in our State for the Next Decade
March 31, 2019
Faced with increasingly difficult decisions in crafting the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 biennial budget, the Connecticut General Assembly found itself at an impasse. In order to break the log jam, the legislature included drastic measures in the final budget deal. It is increasingly clear that the long-term effects of these measures will be damaging to […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Senate Transportation Budget Zeroes Out Public Transit, Slightly Improves EITC
March 25, 2019
Last week, the Ohio Senate took a leap backwards by removing $100 million for public transit from the Transportation Budget allocated by the Ohio House of Representatives. They also took small steps to otherwise improve equity by expanding Ohio’s Earned Income Tax Credit. Read more
North Carolina Justice Center: Higher Rates on Higher Income: Why a Graduated Income Tax is Good Policy for North Carolina
March 20, 2019
At the same time, a graduated rate structure — in contrast with the state’s current flat tax rate on income — can make more revenue available for key public investments, generating broad-based benefits to many people and communities. It is also better able to keep up with the needs of a growing state. That is […]
State Millionaires’ Taxes Can Advance Racial Justice
March 15, 2019
Millionaires’ taxes can help address this problem. They can raise substantial revenue for public services by asking more of those at the top, a group that’s disproportionately white. White families are three times likelier than Black and Latinx families to be in the top 1 percent, according to a report by Prosperity Now and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Policy Matters Ohio: Loopholes Upon Loopholes
March 12, 2019
As noted, of the three deductions, by far the most taxpayers took advantage of the deduction for self-employment taxes. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which has a model of the federal and Ohio tax systems, roughly estimates that 330,000 of the Ohio taxpayers who had business income and took the self-employment tax deduction […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Georgia Work Credit Grows the Middle Class
March 5, 2019
A non-refundable Georgia Work Credit would cut state taxes for more than 700,000 lower and middle-income households by up to $475. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that adopting this policy would be equivalent to investing $130 million annually in Georgia families. Read more here
Public News Service: Could Fast-Moving Tax-Cut Proposal Blow WV Budget?
February 27, 2019
House Bill 3137 would create a fund where new money, including out-of-state online sales taxes, would go. Then, each time that fund reached a certain level, it would trigger compounding cuts in state income taxes. Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said some lawmakers may not realize they […]
Chicago Resilient Families Task Force: Big Shoulders, Bold Solutions: Economic Security for Chicagoans
February 25, 2019
People with low and middle-incomes are financially savvy in ways that are often underestimated, but despite this are on thin ice financially. Despite doing all the right things, they are caught in a trap that is very hard to escape. Wages are falling behind and jobs are increasingly structured in ways that foster precariousness instead […]
West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: House Income Tax Cut Plan Mostly Benefits Wealthy and Puts Large Holes in the State Budget (HB 3137)
February 25, 2019
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a one-percentage reduction in each personal income tax rate would give a West Virginian with an income between $36,000 and $56,000 an average tax cut of $231 compared to $6,044 for someone in the top 1 percent with an income of above $451,000. This means someone […]
Truck-Only State Tolls Roil Industry That Favors Fuel-Tax Hike
February 20, 2019
Two dozen states have raised fuel taxes since 2013, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which encourages states to take the lead in fixing their roads. All but 11 have raised fuel taxes since the last increase in the federal fuel tax in 1993, according to the American Transportation Research Institute, the ATA’s research […]
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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