Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP Work in Action

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: A Bottom-Up Tax Cut to Build Georgia’s Middle Class Update

December 16, 2016

Building a better Georgia, with a strong economy and vibrant communities, 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 all Georgians share in that prosperity is a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), or Georgia Work Credit. […]

Migration Policy Institute: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States

December 13, 2016

“While the United States has long been a top destination for the world’s best and brightest, it has fallen short when it comes to fully tapping the skills and training of these newcomers. As a result, nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees in the United States—one out of every four—are relegated to low-skilled jobs […]

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Those at the Top Would Get More Tax Breaks, Investments Would Suffer from Shift to Consumption Taxes

December 13, 2016

“The table below shows the impact, by income group, of two such hypothetical shifts. Notice that even when the shift is seemingly minor – one penny less on the dollar for the top income tax rate and one penny more on the sales tax rate – the top one percent of households get a $5,396 […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Introduction to Who Pays Montana’s Taxes

November 30, 2016

Chart 1 outlines the three main state and local taxes – income, property, and sales/excise—and how the cost of these taxes is distributed among taxpayers. Both property and sales/excise taxes are regressive. Conversely, income taxes are progressive.

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Montana’s Individiual Income Tax

November 30, 2016

Prior to the tax cuts implemented in 2003, Montana had ten different income brackets, with each higher income bracket paying a slightly larger share of their income in taxes (Appendix A). In this old structure, the lowest income bracket paid 2% of their income in taxes, while the highest bracket (applying to incomes over $102,000, […]

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Moving Maine Students to the Head of the Class

November 1, 2016

“This November, Maine voters will consider a ballot initiative (Question 2) that rolls back recent tax breaks for the wealthy and dedicates this revenue toward additional state level resources for schools. The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) examined the context for this initiative, its potential to promote tax fairness, and its capacity to improve […]

New Jersey Policy Perspectives: Transportation-Funding Deal Endangers New Jersey’s Future & Fails the ‘Tax Fairness’ Test

October 4, 2016

After a months-long stalemate, New Jersey’s three most powerful policymakers announced late last Friday that they’d come to an agreement on investing in the state’s transportation networks. As part of the deal, the leaders have agreed to a large-scale package of tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit well-off New Jerseyans while further decimating the state’s […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: A Montana Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

September 30, 2016

Approximately 83,000 Montanans received the federal EITC in 2014. If Montana established a state EITC, these same working families would receive additional support through boosted wages and would be better able to meet their family’s needs. Additionally, low-income families receiving a state EITC would face a reduced tax burden.

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.

West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: Modernizing West Virginia’s Marijuana Laws

August 18, 2016

“Over the last two decades, states across the country have modernized their marijuana laws to reflect the growing evidence that doing so will help reduce criminal justice costs, help treat some medical conditions, and boost tax revenues and their state’s economy. As of 2016, four states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: The Montana We Could Be

July 30, 2016

In Montana, the higher a household’s income, the lower share of that income it tends to pay in state and local taxes [see Chart 1]. One reason for this is that people who make less money end up paying a larger share of their income in local sales taxes and property taxes.

Michigan League for Public Policy: Review tax expenditures to help fix Michigan’s broken revenue stream

May 18, 2016

“Michigan has a budget problem, and simply put, there just isn’t enough money to go around. Michigan has experienced crisis after crisis—the Great Recession, nearly record-high unemployment, municipal financial emergencies, the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy, the Flint water crisis and the financial struggles of Detroit Public Schools to name a few. In attempting to fix […]

West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: New Revenues to Balance the Budget Don’t Have to be Regressive

May 17, 2016

“Last week, Governor Tomblin finally issued the call for the legislature to come back into a special session to balance the FY 2017 budget. The special session will begin today, May 16th, and the governor will once again submit a budget proposal for the legislature to consider. During the regular session, Governor Tomblin proposed $130 […]

Oklahoma Policy Institute: New bill would devastate a key tax credit for Oklahoma working families

May 13, 2016

“Yesterday, a letter signed by more than 150 Oklahoma clergy was delivered to lawmakers and Governor Fallin, urging them not to slash key tax credits for working families to fix the state’s revenue problems. They were joined by numerous non-profit and foundation leaders who spoke out against cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child/Child […]

Hope Policy Institute: Who Really Benefits: Why Large Tax Cuts Don’t Benefit Working Families and Communities

May 5, 2016

“Large tax reductions proposed at a time when Mississippi already is cutting important public investments due to a lack of revenue would erode the state’s ability to create jobs and have a competitive economy. Over the past two years major tax cut proposals have been proposed that would cut and flatten the state’s income tax […]

Louisiana Budget Project: The federal deduction needs reform

May 5, 2016

“There are two key questions confronting Louisiana officials as they grapple with the most serious budget crisis in a generation: How much new tax revenue does Louisiana need in order to maintain the critical services that citizens expect? And secondly – who should pay those extra taxes? As things stand, Louisianans as a whole are […]

Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the Governor’s, Republican, and Democrat Proposed FY 2017 Budget on Children and Families

May 2, 2016

“Following hundreds of millions in dollars of cuts to health, human services and education to close a billion dollar budget hole in Fiscal Year 2016 (FY 16), lawmakers are once again facing tough choices as they prepare to close another billion dollar deficit for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 17), all while staring down deficits of […]

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Work Credit Could Get Families a Better Deal at Tax Time

April 16, 2016

As Georgians put the finishing touches on their returns to meet today’s income tax filing deadline, one benefit many are missing out on is a tax credit that states can offer to help average families get a fair deal. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia provide taxpayers with a state-level match for the Earned […]

Oklahoma Policy Institute: High-income surcharge would help solve budget emergency

April 15, 2016

“The evidence is now undeniable that Oklahoma is facing a full-fledged emergency. With each passing day, the toll of budget cuts on Oklahoma families, schools, businesses, and communities becomes more alarming. Given the enormity of the budget shortfall, it’s widely understood that the budget can’t be balanced primarily through deeper spending cuts. The income tax […]

Hawaii Appleseed: State of Poverty 2016

April 15, 2016

“In April 2016, the Hawai‘i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice released a report entitled “The State of Poverty in Hawai‘i: How Hawai‘i’s Residents Are Faring Post-Recovery.” The report brings together the most recent available data to provide a snapshot of how low-income residents have fared after the economic recovery.” Read more

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: A Fiscal Policy Agenda for Stronger State Economies

April 15, 2016

“With most state legislatures now in session, policymakers are making fiscal policy decisions that will profoundly affect future economic opportunities in communities across the country.  States face a fundamental choice:  they can provide the resources required for public investment in schools, transportation, health care, safe communities, and other building blocks of economic growth, or go […]

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

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: North Carolina’s “Tax Swap” Gives Biggest Breaks to the Wealthiest, Undermines Public Investments for All

April 11, 2016

“Efforts to rely more on the state sales tax and less on the income tax to support public services have shifted tax obligations to less affluent North Carolinians, while saving the wealthiest the most money, and reduced resources available for public investments that build a strong economy.” Read full report

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: PA Should Raise Needed Revenues in Fair Ways: Short- and Long-term Approaches to Fixing Pennsylvania’s Unfair Tax System

April 11, 2016

  This briefing paper analyzes several options for raising revenue for the Pennsylvania state budget which would fall much less on middle- and low-income families than the existing Pennsylvania state and local tax system. We first analyze the income tax increase (from 3.07% to 3.4%) and expansion of income tax forgiveness and sales tax base […]

Iowa Policy Project: $8.9 million revenue boost with immigration reform

April 6, 2016

“A new report projects a 24 percent increase in state and local tax revenues from undocumented immigrants in Iowa if they were granted permanent legal residence.” Read full report

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.