ITEP Work in Action
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.
Fiscal Policy Institute: Property Tax Relief for Low- and Middle-Income Property New Yorkers Must Remain a Priority
May 28, 2015
Those making the least income relative to other New Yorkers would benefit more from the proposed circuit breaker than from a STAR rebate. Some 40 percent of taxpayers with incomes below $19,000 (the poorest fifth of New Yorkers) would receive a circuit breaker refund, according to an analysis of the governor’s proposal by the Institute […]
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: Gutting the Personal Income is a Poor Strategy
May 20, 2015
As this post shows, the personal income tax is not only the largest source of revenue from state residents but it is also a progressive tax that helps reduce income inequality and pay for important budget priorities like education, higher education and health and human services. In the next post, we will explore whether the […]
Missouri Budget Project: State Earned Income Tax Credit Would Benefit Missouri
May 7, 2015
Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) encourage work, enhance take-home pay, improve health & economic outcomes, and have lasting benefits. Proposals to create a state-level EITC would build on these benefits of the federal EITC for more than 500,000 Missouri families. Click here to read the full report.
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 […]
Voices for Illinois Children: Avoid Cuts, Choose Revenue
May 7, 2015
Governor Rauner has proposed to close this massive gap through damaging cuts to essential programs and services that strengthen Illinois families, children, communities, and our economy — including child care and early intervention services, K-12 education, afterschool, child protection and welfare, public health, higher education, health care, public transportation, and revenue-sharing with local governments. Cuts […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: A Flatter State Income Tax Would Take a Toll on Wisconsin
April 29, 2015
A proposal to change Wisconsin’s tax system could cut taxes for high earners, even though the well-off already pay a smaller share of their income in state taxes than lower-income taxpayers. Various lawmakers are proposing cutting or “reforming” the state’s income tax code, and a special committee staffed by the Legislative Council will be reviewing […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Do All Taxpayers Get the Same Benefit from the Governor’s Income Tax Proposals?
April 29, 2015
In his State of the State address last week, Governor Walker talked about two tax cuts he plans to make using the state’s projected surplus: a $406 million cut in property taxes and an income tax cut. With respect to the smaller portion of that two-part plan the Governor said: “…we will reduce income taxes […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Top 10 Reasons to Increase Tax Credits for Low-income Households
April 29, 2015
Top 10 Reasons to Increase Tax Credits for Low-income Households Read the full report
Wisconsin Budget Project: Tax Shifts Would Cut Taxes for Richest, Raise Taxes on Others
April 29, 2015
Expanding the sales tax to pay for income and property tax cuts would harm taxpayers with low incomes – and give large tax cuts to the highest earners. A recent policy report that recommends such a “tax shift” overlooks those facts. Read the 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.
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