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.
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 Indiana Institute for Working Families: New Analysis: Indiana’s Tax System is Among the Dozen Most Regressive in the Country
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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.
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ITEP Work in Action August 30, 2018 Keystone Research: The State of Working Pennsylvania 2018
“The State of Working Pennsylvania 2018,” Keystone Research Center’s 23rd annual review of the Pennsylvania economy and labor market finds that, nearly a decade into the current national economic expansion, many Pennsylvania workers are still waiting for a raise. The report points to three factors that help explain this.
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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… -
media mention August 17, 2018 Press Herald: Will Maine Referendum On Home Care Result In ‘Marriage Penalty’ Tax?
Aidan Davis, senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office on June 15 stating that the income… -
ITEP Work in Action August 6, 2018 Itchy Tax Trigger Finger: Tax Foundation Says Aim Toward Foot
Accounting for all the possible curveballs the future economy might throw at our state is impossible. That’s why legislators bother coming together every year to assess our budget and make choices based on the best available, most current information. One dubious new style of tax change, “tax triggers”, attempts to base major future tax and revenue changes only on the information we have today. Tax triggers are dangerous and generally work by automatically kicking in a tax cut when revenue or some other metric reaches a certain level.
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ITEP Work in Action August 1, 2018 Indiana Institute for Working Families: The Status of Working Families in Indiana: 2018 Report
Indiana faces a choice of whether to continue down a southward-leading path of low-road policies, or to rebuild its economy for Hoosier families. By adopting a policy agenda for working families that improves Indiana’s jobs with higher wage and labor standards; strengthens protections for Hoosier families including repairing the safety net and crafting consumer and job safeguards; and increases economic mobility through improved access to education, rebalancing the state’s regressive tax and budget structure, and focusing economic development on strengthening Hoosier families and communities, Indiana can reclaim its place as a leader in the Midwest and in the nation.
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ITEP Work in Action July 15, 2018 Cleveland.com: Changes Needed in Ohio’s Tax Policy (Opinion)
The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy has examined the major state tax changes since 2005. For the top 1 percent, who make at least $480,000 a year, the tax cuts average $40,790 annually. Middle-income Ohioans on average have not received a cut, while those in the poorest fifth, earning less than $22,000, got an average increase of $140.
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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 28, 2018 Washington Post: N.J. Approaches a Government Shutdown as Democrats Feud Over Tax on Millionaires
New Jersey is just days away from a government shutdown over a plan to raise taxes on the rich that has divided Democrats and revealed the political difficulty of raising funds for the party’s ambitious social spending goals.
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ITEP Work in Action June 26, 2018 Scene: Policy Matters Ohio Proposes State Income Tax Overhaul to Help Low- and Middle-Income Ohioans
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.
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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 13, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: On Immigration Rhetoric, Consider the Facts
These undocumented Oklahomans currently contribute about $85 million in state and local taxes per year, according to our best estimates. They pay sales tax directly when they purchase goods and… -
ITEP Work in Action June 8, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: To Improve Public Safety and Insurance rates, Allow Undocumented Oklahomans to Drive Legally
Oklahoma’s approximately 95,000 undocumented immigrants are a force in Oklahoma’s economy, accounting for about 1 in 30 members of the workforce and contributing roughly $85 million in state and local… -
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 5, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Legislature Leaves Oregon Largely Defenseless Against Corporate Abuse of Tax Havens
The repeal of Oregon’s tax haven law flowed from the legislature’s response to the far-reaching tax law passed by Congress at the end of 2017. The federal law required corporations to pay taxes, at a reduced rate, on more than $2 trillion in profits they held abroad. The federal tax law also put in place provisions intended to deter future shifting of corporate profits to avoid taxes.
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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…