Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP Work in Action

Kansas Center for Economic Growth: Tax Hikes to Protect Businesses Hit Working Kansans Hardest

October 21, 2015

The end-result of this years’ historically long session was quite predictable: taxes were raised on hard-working Kansans to cover the budget shortfall caused by the unaffordable tax cuts of 2012-13. The increases recently adopted will fall primarily on low- and moderate-income Kansans because such a big chunk of the new money will come from sales […]

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

Children’s Action Alliance: Arizona’s Individual Income Tax

October 21, 2015

The balance and fairness of any tax system depends on the impact of all the taxes an individual or family pays. State and local sales taxes always take a bigger bite out of the income of taxpayers at the lowest income levels. Arizona’s graduated income tax partially offsets the impact of the sales tax on […]

Children’s Action Alliance: Questions and Answers About Arizona’s State Budget and Taxes

October 21, 2015

  State budgets and taxes are tools to reach our common goals for health, education, security and a vibrant, prosperous future. This publication provides information and analysis to help policymakers, community leaders, and community-based organizations make good decisions about Arizona’s state budget and taxes to reach those goals. These questions and answers highlight key facts […]

Alabama ARISE: 6 things to know about the FICA deduction

October 21, 2015

The Alabama Legislature may consider removing the state FICA income tax deduction during this month’s second special session. Without significant new General Fund revenue, the state may make enormous cuts to Medicaid, child care, public safety and other vital services. Read full fact sheet here

Michigan League for Public Policy: Undocumented immigrants: Reform increases their tax contributions

October 21, 2015

Undocumented immigrants already contribute a significant amount to our state’s tax system. Under President Obama’s 2012 and 2014 executive actions, the amount will increase and could be even more with comprehensive reform. Read full report here

Michigan League for Public Policy: Paving the roads on the backs of the working poor

October 21, 2015

The House Republican plan to fix Michigan’s roads by eliminating the state Earned Income Tax Credit raises taxes for the second time in five years on workers already struggling to get by on low wages.Eliminating the EITC to pay for roads amounts to robbing poor Peter to pay Paul. The $117 million saved by eliminating […]

Michigan League for Public Policy: Testimony Presented to the House Roads and Economic Development Committee HB 4609 – EITC Elimination

October 21, 2015

House Bill 4609, which would eliminate the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit, is a tax hike on 820,000 working families who are raising 1 million children. It punishes working families who are playing by all the rules but still not getting ahead. Read full testimony here

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Licenses for Immigrant Drivers in Massachusetts

October 21, 2015

Immigrants make important contributions to the Massachusetts economy. They spend income as consumers and contribute to state and local taxes.Yet, they often face barriers to full inclusion and economic stability. For instance, many immigrants with specific training and credentials from their home country have a difficult time finding jobs in their field because these foreign […]

Oregon Center for Public Policy: Hundreds of Corporations Escape the Minimum Tax

October 21, 2015

  Although Oregon has a minimum income tax for corporations, 492 corporations paid less than the minimum in tax year 2012.Some corporations paid nothing at all.When corporations avoid the minimum tax they deprive the state of revenue to invest in schools and other key public structures. Lawmakers should reinstate the corporate minimum tax for all […]

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 […]

North Carolina Tax and Budget Center: BTC REPORTS: Doubling Down on a Losing Strategy – More Income Tax Cuts Will Grow Budget Shortfalls, Not the Economy

October 21, 2015

North Carolina policymakers have proposed another round of income tax cuts on top of those they passed in 2013. Senate Bill 526 would cost at least $1.4 billion by 2017, causing a new wave of cuts to services North Carolinians rely on each day and compounding the problems created by the tax cuts passed two […]

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: FACTSHEET: Keep Arbitrary Tax & Spending Limits Out of North Carolina – Vote No on Senate Bill 607

October 21, 2015

A suite of severe changes to the state constitution laid out in Senate Bill 607 would undermine the foundations of the North Carolina economy and make our current challenges much worse. The bill changes the state constitution in three ways: 1. Limits spending on education, health, and other services through a rigid, arbitrary, and fundamentally […]

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: BTC REPORTS: Diminished Expectations and the Resulting Drag on NC’s Economy – A Summary of the 2015-17 Budget

October 21, 2015

The budget North Carolina will live under through June of 2017 will sharply constrain the state’s ability to make public investments crucial to promoting widespread prosperity and a growing economy. Read the full report here

New Jersey Policy Perspective: Executive Actions on Immigration Would Help Many New Jerseyans While Boosting the Economy

October 21, 2015

President Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration would benefit hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans and provide a boost to the state’s economy by allowing many undocumented residents to work legally and avoid deportation. Read the full report here

New Jersey Policy Perspective: Levied on Very Few, New Jersey’s Estate and Inheritance Taxes Support Colleges, Health Care & Other Services

October 21, 2015

An effort by some lawmakers to eliminate or drastically cut taxes for a small number of New Jerseyans – a move that would deliver the greatest benefit to the state’s wealthiest households – threatens resources needed for public colleges, safe communities, health care and other important services. Read the 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, […]

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Statement on Gov. LePage’s Proposal to Seek a Ballot Initiative to Reduce Maine’s Income Tax to 4 Percent by 2021

September 22, 2015

The non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that Mainers with annual income above $175,000 would receive almost 50 percent of the benefits from this massive tax cut. The top 1 percent of Mainers with income greater than $390,000 would get an average tax cut of over $21,000 while the 20 percent of Mainers […]

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Funding Improvements for Schools, Roads, and Public Transit with Tax Reforms that Improve Fairness

September 14, 2015

We can expand opportunity for our people and strengthen our economy by making smart investments to improve our schools; make our colleges and universities affordable; and build a transportation system that gets families, students, workers and customers to the places they need to be. There are fair and effective ways that we could pay for […]

Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the Final FY 2016 Budget on Children and Families

August 11, 2015

The State of Connecticut’s final FY 16 budget, improved from earlier proposals, still balances on children and families’ finite resources, this analysis finds.  While funding the “Children’s Budget” – state spending on children and family services – requires only a third of overall state funding, children’s program funding reductions account for nearly ninety percent of […]

New Jersey Policy Perspective: Increasing the EITC Would Boost New Jersey’s Working Families

June 29, 2015

Increasing New Jersey’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to 30 percent from 20 percent of the federal EITC would provide over half a million New Jersey working families with a much-needed bump in their take-home pay while giving the state’s economy a boost. But the economic impact of the EITC goes beyond the specific amount […]

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 […]

Local Progress: Progressive Policies for Raising Municipal Revenue

June 16, 2015

This report lays out a set of policy and political interventions that cities, regions, and states can make to increase municipal revenue and to make their collections more progressive. Cities have historically suffered enormous budget shortfalls and after the Great Recession, available funds depleted even more drastically. Read the full report here.

NC Policy Watch: The Senate Tax Plan Fails to Fix the Problem

June 16, 2015

Last week, we raised concerns with the Senate leadership’s new tax plan. Rather than reinvesting and regaining ground lost in recent years, the Senate is pursuing another round of costly income tax cuts. When fully implemented, the $1 billion price tag for the Senate tax plan will mean North Carolina must forgo investments in the foundations […]

Oregon Center for Public Policy: Immigration Reform Would Boost Oregon State and Local Budgets

June 15, 2015

How much do undocumented Oregonians contribute in state and local taxes? A recent report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimated that 124,000 undocumented Oregonians paid more than $83 million in state and local taxes in 2012. Read the full report here.

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.