ITEP Work in Action
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Slashing Income Tax Delivers Meager Benefit to Most, Jeopardizes Public Services
February 26, 2016
Georgia lawmakers are considering a pair of proposals that offer a miniscule tax cut to the majority of Georgia families and a massive benefit to the highest-income individuals who need it least, while jeopardizing lawmakers’ ability to meet the needs of a rapidly growing state. The first plan, House Bill 238, calls for a series […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Sensible Reforms Can Boost Undocumented Immigrants’ Tax Contribution
February 25, 2016
Undocumented immigrants in Georgia pay a significant share of state and local taxes each year and providing those families a path to legal status can increase their tax payments even more. That’s the key takeaway from a new analysis from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which takes a close look […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Welcome Newcomers to Build a Stronger Georgia
December 18, 2015
“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 regardless of citizenship status. Georgia immigrants as a whole contributed nearly $1.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2012, the most recent year available. […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: A Bottom-Up Tax Cut to Build Georgia’s Middle Class
October 21, 2015
Building a better Georgia, with a strong economy and vibrant businesses, requires a more resilient middle class and more opportunities for working families to climb the economic ladder. One of the best tools to help ensure that Georgians broadly share in that prosperity is a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Read full report here
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: A Tax Blueprint to Strengthen Georgia
October 21, 2015
Reforming Georgia’s rickety tax code is once again a hot topic among members of the General Assembly, and the question lawmakers must answer is how best to do it. The most prominent pending reform option would slash Georgia’s top personal income tax rate and try to make up the lost revenue with increased sales taxes, […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Income Tax Cuts Won’t Boost Georgia Economy
May 7, 2015
Big income tax cuts did not improve the economies of states that enacted them, and states without income taxes do not consistently grow more jobs or have stronger economies. Six states cut income taxes sharply from 2002 to 2007, before the most recent recession. Three of them – Arizona, Ohio and Rhode Island – grew […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Fix Education, Other Vital Services With Viable State Revenue Options
June 27, 2014
Georgia continues to wrestle with the fallout of relying on a revenue system that can’t raise enough money to meet the needs of a modern, growing state. Hospitals are closing, traffic is gridlocked and local school districts are cutting calendar days and increasing class sizes. Public investments in education, transportation and other vital services are […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Lawmakers Still Flirting With Dangerous Tax Shift Ideas
May 12, 2014
The debate over changing Georgia’s tax system is quieter than usual at the Georgia General Assembly this year. Still, some efforts are afoot to push Georgia in a radical tax direction over time. Two resolutions gaining traction would put new tax restrictions in the state constitution. Senate Resolutions 412 and 415, sponsored by Senate Pro […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Tax Shift Plans Threaten Georgia’s Future
August 12, 2013
Despite support from powerful out-of-state interests, tax shift plans are misguided roadmaps for change. Georgia’s lawmakers should ignore the siren’s call and firmly reject the fringe, copycat idea during its likely appearance in the 2014 legislative session that begins in January. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Immigration Reform Would Bolster Georgia’s Strained Finances
July 10, 2013
Georgia would gain nearly $100 million in state and local tax revenue each year if Congress allows undocumented immigrants now living in the United States to work here legally, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Comprehensive immigration reform is under debate in Washington and passing a forward-looking […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Menu of Revenue Options to Pave Way for Georgia’s Rebound
January 28, 2013
Georgia is one of the most under-funded states in the country, but state lawmakers can remedy structural budget shortfalls by implementing revenue options used successfully by other states. Annual deep cuts in state funding the past five years means fewer teachers in Georgia’s classrooms, roads and bridges that continue to crumble and an unappealing environment […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Fact Sheet: Capital Gains Tax Breaks
January 14, 2013
Capital gains tax preferences are costly, inequitable, and ineffective. They deprive states of millions of dollars in needed funds, benefit almost exclusively the very wealthiest members of society, and fail to promote economic growth in the manner their proponents claim. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Sensible Tax Change to State Income Taxes Would Raise $450 Million
January 14, 2013
Georgia is one of a few states that allows a deduction for state income taxes for filers who itemize. Repealing it would bring in an estimated $450 million, which in K-12 education alone, could have prevented the six furlough days and additional cuts to the education funding formula in the amended budget. Repealing it prevents […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Advancing Georgia’s 1930s Tax System to the Modern Day: Fair and Adequate Tax Reform for 21st Century Georgians
January 14, 2013
The recommendations in this report contain tax reform options that stress a workable combination of raising enough money to meet Georgia’s needs, updating the tax system to reflect today’s economy, keeping rates as low as possible, and tying the system more closely to ability to pay than it is now. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Reducing Exemptions is Good Tax Reform – But Taxing Groceries is Highly Regressive
January 14, 2013
All exemptions, credits, and deductions should be examined and weighed against each other and against the principles of tax reform. The grocery exemption, in particular, increases equity and should be weighed against other tax breaks with an equity lens. Eliminating the deduction for state income taxes offers an alternative worth considering. Read the Full Report […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: ALMOST THERE…Tax Council’s Recommendations Improve Finances,but Shift Taxes onto Vulnerable and Working Georgians
January 14, 2013
The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians provided recommendations that make improvements to structural issues plaguing Georgia’s tax system. The Tax Council took strong action to broaden tax bases—a tenet of good tax policy. In the sales tax, the Tax Council recommended expanding the tax base to services, which would allow the […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Additional Adjustment Options to Improve Fairness in the Tax Recommendations
January 14, 2013
The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians provided recommendations that make improvements to structural issues plaguing Georgia’s tax system. The Tax Council took strong action to broaden tax bases—a tenet of good tax policy. Although the Tax Council’s recommendations would improve Georgia’s ability to meet current and future needs, they would do […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia’s Income Tax: Essential for State’s Economy and Families
December 17, 2012
Plans to eliminate or drastically cut income taxes and replace them with other levies are in vogue in several states. But Georgia policymakers would do well to ignore the siren’s call. Such a tax shift would do nothing to help the state’s economy and would, in fact, hurt families and businesses by eroding support for […]
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