In an era of income inequality and growing concentration of wealth, a new 50-state study released today analyzes whether state tax systems make income inequality better or worse. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that nearly every state fails basic measures of fairness, but Minnesota is among a small number of states where income inequality is reduced by state tax policy.
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 Minnesota Budget Project: Minnesota Ranks High for Tax Fairness in 50-State Study
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 NC Policy Watch: Low-income Tax Payers in NC Pay More of Their Income in State and Local Taxes Each Year Than the Richest Taxpayers
Sales taxes play a critical role in the regressive and consequently inequitable nature of the North Carolina tax system. Like most other states, North Carolina relies on sales and excise taxes (30.7% of the 2018-2019 approved budget) as a primary mechanism to raise revenue. However, in North Carolina, sales and excise taxes are the most regressive taxes when compared to income and property taxes. The lowest 20% of North Carolina workers pay 6.1 percent in sales taxes as a percentage of their income while the top 1 percent pays less than 1 percent in sales taxes as a percentage of their income.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Alabama Arise: The Less You Make, the More You Pay: Alabama’s Taxes Remain Upside Down
Low-income Alabamians pay twice as much in state and local taxes as a share of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents, according to a study released Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. The study, Who Pays?, analyzes major state and local taxes in all 50 states, including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales and other excise taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Uprise RI: Low-income Taxpayers in Rhode Island Pay Over 50 Percent More in Taxes Than the Wealthiest
There’s a practical reason for Rhode Island and all states to be concerned about regressive tax structures, according to ITEP. If the nation fails to address growing income inequality, states will have difficulty raising the revenue they need over time. The more income that goes to the wealthy (and the lower a state’s overall tax rate on the wealthy), the slower a state’s revenue grows over time.
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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 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 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 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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ITEP Work in Action August 22, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Clean Up the Tax Code to Invest in Our Commonwealth
To move our tax code in the right direction, Kentucky should rejoin 32 other states with a graduated income tax based on ability to pay. Income below $37,500 single/$75,000 married… -
ITEP Work in Action July 15, 2018 American Federation of Teachers: A Decade of Neglect–Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession
“A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession,” details the devastating impact on schools, classrooms and students when states choose to pursue an austerity agenda in the false belief that tax cuts will pay for themselves.
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ITEP Work in Action June 25, 2018 Policy Matters Ohio: Overhaul: A plan to rebalance Ohio’s income tax
Policy Matters proposes the following changes to the state income tax […] This would generate almost $2.6 billion a year, including the cost of expanding the EITC, according to analysis… -
ITEP Work in Action June 5, 2018 Center for American Progress: The 7 States Suing to End DACA Would Be Harmed by a Victory in Court
Through their employment, DACA recipients are contributors to their localities and states as wage earners and taxpayers. A 2017 state-by-state study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed… -
ITEP Work in Action June 4, 2018 The Commonwealth Institute: On Federal Tax Changes, Virginia Should Continue to Conform
Although some filers would pay more in state taxes under conformity, many of the highest-income filers – the top one percent – will receive large state tax cuts. This is… -
ITEP Work in Action May 31, 2018 NC Budget and Tax Center: Corporations over Carolinians?
Big corporations and wealthy executive have been on quite a run. Corporate profits are at historic levels,[1] stock prices are through the roof, and plush executive pay has become the… -
ITEP Work in Action May 30, 2018 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Arizona Proposal Would Finance School Funding Boost, Make Tax Code Less Regressive
The measure would also make Arizona’s tax code somewhat less regressive. Currently, the poorest 20 percent of households pay 12.5 percent of their annual income to state and local taxes… -
ITEP Work in Action May 30, 2018 NC Budget and Tax Center: Revenue Options to Support Children’s Educational Success
The General Assembly legislative session begins on May 16, the same day teachers plan a day of action to highlight the unmet needs their students face in the classroom and… -
ITEP Work in Action May 22, 2018 NC Policy Watch: Governor Cooper recognizes North Carolina is in a hole, stops digging
Holding off on another round of tax cuts for the richest taxpayers and profitable corporations and keeping the increased standard deduction and lower rate for the majority of taxpayers will… -
ITEP Work in Action May 18, 2018 Louisiana Budget Project: Black households would bear disproportionate burden of sales tax renewal
Lawmakers can address this imbalance by expanding Louisiana’s EITC. An increase of the state EITC from 3.5 percent to 7 percent of the federal EITC would offset a half-cent cent… -
ITEP Work in Action April 20, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: New Tax Law Shifts from the Wealthy to Kentuckians of Color and Economically Distressed Regions of State
In the waning days of the 2018 General Assembly, legislators passed House Bill 366 (HB 366), a regressive tax reform package that gives a tax break to the wealthiest but asks more of everyone else, especially low-income Kentuckians. In addition to widening income disparities, these changes will exacerbate existing racial and geographic inequality in our state.
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ITEP Work in Action April 17, 2018 New Mexico Voices for Children: Celebrate Democracy- It’s Tax Day!
While it’s easy to tick off a list of the things we enjoy that are paid for out of our taxes, paying taxes is really a moral duty that we… -
ITEP Work in Action April 17, 2018 Maine Center for Economic Policy: Comparing the Democratic and GOP tax bills
Because of the federal tax overhaul spearheaded by President Trump and Congressional Republicans, the Maine Legislature is considering two competing proposals to change its own tax code. Lawmakers face a… -
ITEP Work in Action April 16, 2018 NC Budget and Tax Center: North Carolina’s Upside Down Tax Code
Tax season comes to a close this week, and Tax Day serves as a good time to reflect on who pays taxes in North Carolina. The income tax is, naturally,… -
ITEP Work in Action April 16, 2018 New Jersey Policy Perspectives: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes: County Breakdown of Taxes Paid
While undocumented immigrants in New Jersey now face greater threats from the federal government than ever before, new data at the state and county level released by the Institute on… -
ITEP Work in Action April 2, 2018 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Tax Plan Is a Tax Shift with Troubling Long-Term Effect on Revenues
The General Assembly introduced a tax bill today that is a shift in taxes away from corporations and high-income people and over to low- and middle-income Kentuckians. Although the official… -
ITEP Work in Action March 28, 2018 Minnesota Budget Project: Families with children could pay higher taxes under tax conformity
The complex set of tax changes in the recent federal tax bill creates a set of challenging decisions for states like Minnesota. Because Minnesota’s state income and corporate taxes use federal tax… -
ITEP Work in Action March 19, 2018 Iowa Fiscal Partnership: Passing through a special break
The tax bill that recently passed the Iowa Senate included a provision from the recent federal tax cut bill that provides preferential tax treatment for certain kinds of business income… -
ITEP Work in Action March 9, 2018 Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: All Georgians Stand to Lose from Immigrant Crackdown Measure
And Georgia immigrants contribute significant state and local tax revenue, including $352 million a year by undocumented immigrants as a whole and $66 million by Dreamers in particular. Read more… -
ITEP Work in Action March 9, 2018 Maine Center for Economic Policy Policy Brief: The LePage Tax Bill
On March 1, Gov. Paul LePage’s Administration presented a tax bill to the Legislature designed to mirror at the state level some of the reforms enacted by passage of the… -
ITEP Work in Action February 28, 2018 Missouri Budget Project: Sales Taxes on Groceries & the Importance of a Refundable EITC
A state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), like the recently proposed Missouri Working Families Credit, could benefit as many as 515,000 working families with modest wages, providing hardworking families the… -
ITEP Work in Action February 22, 2018 Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Lawmakers Might Come to Regret Georgia’s Risky Tax Plan
Bill Analysis: House Bill 918 Substitute (LC 34 5383-ECS); Feb. 22, 2018 Georgia leaders are now rushing a massive tax package through the state’s General Assembly with limited debate and… -
ITEP Work in Action February 16, 2018 Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Governor’s Tax Plan Carries $1 Billion Price
Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration introduced a multifaceted tax package on Feb. 13, 2018 designed to reduce state revenues by about $1 billion a year over the next decade. House Bill… -
ITEP Work in Action February 7, 2018 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: New American immigrants in Kansas strengthen the economy
A recent report from the Institute of Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows how undocumented immigrants in Kansas demonstrate their commitment to our state and increase state revenue through the… -
ITEP Work in Action February 6, 2018 Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy: Analysis of House Bill 463
One motivation for reducing taxes this year is to offset the increase in revenue that conformity – aligning our state tax code with recent federal changes – will bring. If Idaho chooses to conform, the state will collect additional revenue in the range of $82 million to $97.4 million. This means that some Idahoans – particularly those with multiple children – will pay more in state taxes.
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ITEP Work in Action February 1, 2018 Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Immigrants Make Georgia Stronger and Better Every Day
Immigrant taxpayers contribute to Georgia’s bottom line. As immigrants start businesses, buy homes, earn wages and spend disposable income at local businesses, they generate considerable state and local tax revenue… -
ITEP Work in Action January 25, 2018 NJPP: A Grain of ‘SALT’: New Jersey Needs More Than Workarounds to Respond to GOP Tax Plan
That’s because these workarounds would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest households in New Jersey, to make no mention of the fact that the Trump administration is unlikely to allow them to stand.
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ITEP Work in Action January 22, 2018 DCFPI: As High-Income DC Taxpayers Reap Large Federal Tax Windfalls, DC Can Make Our Tax Code More Progressive
According to recent estimates from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), District of Columbia residents can expect to receive an $850 million federal tax break this year.
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ITEP Work in Action January 22, 2018 MassBudget: What Does the Federal Tax Law Mean for Massachusetts and How Might the Commonwealth Respond?
The tax cuts are also skewed toward high-income tax filers when measured as a portion of their own incomes.