Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP Work in Action

Scene: Policy Matters Ohio Proposes State Income Tax Overhaul to Help Low- and Middle-Income Ohioans

June 26, 2018

After presenting the recommendations contained within a new report Tuesday morning, Policy Matters Ohio researcher director (and the report's lead author) Zach Schiller was asked whether or not Ohio, a "center-right state," would realistically support a tax code overhaul that proposed taxing Ohio's wealthiest at a higher rate.

Policy Matters Ohio: Overhaul: A plan to rebalance Ohio’s income tax

June 25, 2018

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 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Read more here  

Beacon Journal/Ohio.Com Editorial Board: Agenda For The Governor’s Race

April 30, 2018

In one week, Democratic and Republican voters will choose their candidates for the November election. That includes the selections for governor, the job coming open after eight years with John Kasich. The governor has his achievements, most notably, the Medicaid expansion. His tenure also frames a worthy debate for this campaign. Fortunately, Innovation Ohio and Policy Matters Ohio, two think tanks, highlighted that discussion last week in unveiling their report “A Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families.”

Policy Matters Ohio: Crackdown on Dreamers could cost Ohio millions

December 21, 2017

If DACA recipients stay in Ohio after losing work authorization they could earn lower wages and become less likely to file income tax returns. Without the Dream Act, Ohio can expect to lose at least $5 million in tax revenue, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Read more here

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony to the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Senate Bill 35

March 22, 2017

The federal earned income tax credit (EITC) was designed to keep people working, lift families out of poverty, boost their income to help weather financial emergencies, and help offset payroll taxes, which hit low-income families the hardest. The EITC was founded in 1975 under President Gerald Ford and is considered the most powerful anti-poverty program […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony to the House Ways & Means Committee on House Bill 49

March 21, 2017

Governor Kasich’s tax proposal would further reinforce the shift in Ohio’s state and local tax system in favor of affluent residents and against those with lower or middle incomes. Under the plan, Ohioans who made under $56,000 last year – those in the bottom three-fifths of the income spectrum – on average would pay more tax than they do now.

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich plan continues tax shift

February 14, 2017

Governor John Kasich’s new tax proposal would further reinforce the shift in Ohio’s state and local tax system in favor of affluent residents and against those with lower or middle incomes. Under the plan, Ohioans who made under $56,000 last year – those in the bottom three-fifths of the income spectrum – on average would […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Nees a Strong Income Tax

February 10, 2017

Ohio’s income tax is the only major tax that is based on ability to pay. This principle was embraced by the founders of our democracy, such as Thomas Jefferson, as well as by the intellectual father of capitalism, Adam Smith. As your taxable income goes up, you pay a higher rate; for instance, income between […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich Budget Shifts Taxes Again

February 7, 2017

New analysis for Policy Matters Ohio by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, a national nonprofit research institute with a sophisticated model of the state and local tax system, shows the governor’s tax plan raises taxes for many Ohioans. It reduces state income tax rates and cuts the number of brackets from nine to five.

Policy Matters Ohio: Common Sense Reform for Working Ohio

January 27, 2017

Tax modeling from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a national organization with a sophisticated model of the state tax system, shows that Ohio’s current EITC reaches only about 8 percent of the state’s neediest working families and 11 percent of middle income workers. A 20 percent, refundable, non-capped, EITC would extend the […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Tax Cuts Help Create Ohio’s Revenue Crunch

January 25, 2017

In 2015, the General Assembly approved a two-year budget lasting through this June that cuts taxes by nearly $1.9 billion. When legislators approved those cuts, Policy Matters Ohio asked a respected national policy group with a model of Ohio’s tax system to review them. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the top […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Tax Cuts Help Create Ohio’s Revenue Crunch

January 25, 2017

In 2015, the General Assembly approved a two-year budget lasting through this June that cuts taxes by nearly $1.9 billion. When legislators approved those cuts, Policy Matters Ohio asked a respected national policy group with a model of Ohio’s tax system to review them. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the top […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Flat tax would mean more taxes for most

January 19, 2017

  Nearly three-quarters of Ohioans would pay more in state income taxes under flat-rate tax plans for which a joint legislative commission is developing an implementation plan. At the same time, the most affluent 1 percent of Ohioans would see tax cuts averaging $4,000 or more a year.  Nearly three-quarters of Ohioans would pay more […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Flat Tax Would Make Most Ohioans Pay More

January 5, 2017

Using a sophisticated model of Ohio’s tax system, the national research group, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), found that with a 3.5 percent flat tax, 72 percent of Ohioans would pay more state income tax, while just 4 percent would pay less. The remaining 24 percent would pay the same amount as they […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony: Tax Cuts, Flat Tax Aren’t the Answer

September 26, 2016

Overall, the top 1 percent, who made more than $360,000 a year in 2014, received an average annual tax cut of $20,000 from the major tax changes between 2005 and 2014 (that doesn’t include last year’s cuts). On average, Ohioans in the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum (making $54,000 or less) are paying slightly more.

Policy Matters Ohio: Wealthy not paying fair share of state and local taxes

April 12, 2016

“State and local taxes support schools, fix potholes, keep the snow plowed, the justice system running and the water clean. Economic prosperity depends on these public services. The wealthiest families benefit amply from our communities and state. But are they paying their fair share for these benefits? New data says they are not.” Read more

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich-era tax changes reward the wealthy

October 21, 2015

The top 1 percent of Ohioans on average will see a $17,618 annual reduction in state taxes as a result of major tax changes made during the Kasich administration, while the bottom fifth will pay $17 more. This is the result of cuts in state income taxes, the major tax that is based on the […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Senate Flat Tax Mandate is Unwise and Unwarranted

June 23, 2015

The Senate budget bill approved Thursday, like the House-approved version, would create a tax policy study commission to review the state’s tax structure. But the Senate would require the study commission to make recommendations “on how to transition Ohio’s personal income tax to a flat tax of three and one-half percent or three and three-quarters […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Problems with Ohio EITC: It’s not refundable, it has a cap, and it’s too low

April 29, 2015

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

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 […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Making Ohio’s EITC work for workers

April 10, 2015

Ohio has the 18th most unfair tax system in the nation, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The federal EITC was, in part, designed to eliminate some of the disproportionate impact of payroll taxes on low- and middle-income working families. Likewise, the state credit should address the disproportionate impact of sales and […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich tax plan bad for Ohio, Policy Matters tells lawmakers

March 12, 2015

“An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C., found the bottom three-fifths of Ohioans would pay more as a group under the governor’s plan, which includes a sales-tax rate increase. Most of the increases like the sales-tax hike would fall more heavily on those with low […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Kasich tax proposal would skew tax system further in favor of Ohio’s affluent

February 10, 2015

The Kasich administration proposal to cut income taxes and expand sales and other taxes would produce big tax cuts for Ohio’s most affluent residents, while increasing taxes on lower- and moderate-income families. The proposal would provide an $11,906 annual tax cut on average to taxpayers in the top 1 percent of the income spectrum, who […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio state and local taxes hit poor and middle class the hardest

January 21, 2015

Low- and middle-income Ohioans pay a much greater share of their income in state and local taxes than the state’s most affluent do, according to a study released today. The top 1 percent of non-elderly Ohio families by income, who earned at least $356,000 in 2012, on average pay 7 percent of their income in […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio’s Affluent are Big Beneficiaries of 2013-2014 Tax Changes

November 24, 2014

State tax changes approved over the past two years have further tilted Ohio’s tax system in favor of the wealthiest. Read the full report

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