ITEP Work in Action
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
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 […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Failure to Address Gas Tax Costs New Jersey Over Half a Billion Dollars a Year
April 29, 2015
New Jersey is losing out on over $500 million each year by not tying increases in transportation construction costs to increases in gas tax rates, a new national report finds. This $504.7 million currently left on the table could nearly double the annual funding for vital transportation projects across the state. Read the full report
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Income Taxes Don’t Impede Economic Growth
April 29, 2015
As Gov. Chris Christie prepares to unveil the specifics of his proposed 10-percent income tax cut at next week’s budget address, he’s working under a key tenet of conservative economics: that high tax rates harm economic growth. There’s just one problem, according to a new national report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: State Treasurer Confesses: Our Job is To Protect Millionaires
April 29, 2015
In case it remained a mystery to anyone, the administration’s plan for economic growth was made clear by Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff at a New Jersey Business and Industry Association breakfast last Tuesday. To paraphrase the treasurer, the state’s job is to protect its approximately 15,000 millionaires by cutting their taxes. Read the full report
Economic Progress Institute: Few Winners and Many Losers in RI Tax Reform
April 29, 2015
The budget passed by the House Finance committee made three significant tax policy changes that will impact the income of tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders. The estate tax, earned income tax credit, and property tax relief program were all dramatically altered in the budget. Read the full report.
Hawaii Appleseed Center: Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest
April 23, 2015
When the top marginal tax rates and cap on itemized deductions expire in 2015, Hawaii’s wealthiest residents will see a windfall. Meanwhile, our working families are not scheduled to get any relief. Read the full report here.
Vermont Legislative Joint Fiscal Office: ITEP and Pew Reports on Vermont’s Income Distribution and Tax System
April 21, 2015
This report is a slide deck that review’s ITEP’s Who Pays report and its findings on the Vermont state tax system. Read the full report here.
Integrity Florida: Subsidizing Corporate Tax Dodgers
April 21, 2015
Thanks to the data provided by CTJ/ITEP, Integrity Florida found that all of the profitable Fortune 500 corporations headquartered in Florida paid state governments in the U.S. on average a lower corporate profits tax rate than Florida’s 5.5 percent rate between 2011 and 2013. Most of these corporations have received taxpayer-funded subsidy deals and government […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Math that Works for All of Us
April 21, 2015
All told, undocumented Virginians currently pay $240.4 million a year in taxes to Virginia and its localities. That’s a 6.5 percent effective tax rate for the typical undocumented immigrant household. By comparison, the highest-income 1 percent of Virginia households pay an effective tax rate of just 5.1 percent. But the amount of taxes that could […]
California Budget and Policy Center: How Would Current State EITC Proposals Benefit California’s Workers and Their Families?
April 14, 2015
Momentum for creating a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in California is building. As we discussed in a recent report, a state EITC would foster economic security among low- and moderate-income workers by building on the federal credit of the same name. Several EITC proposals are currently being discussed in the Capitol, and to […]
Budget and Tax Center: Tax Credits for Working Families Deliver Broad Benefits to the State
April 14, 2015
The North Carolina EITC was a vital facet of the state’s tax system, building off of the federal tax credit—one of the nation’s most powerful anti-poverty tools for children. The benefi ts of the state EITC extended to the broader economy by promoting work and helping families afford things that make it possible to work, […]
California Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays Taxes In California?
April 14, 2015
A fair tax system is one that asks individuals and families to contribute to public services based on their ability to pay. However, California’s system of state and local taxes asks disproportionately more from lower-earning families. After taking into account Californians’ ability to deduct state and local taxes for federal income tax purposes (discussed below), […]
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 […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Gas tax and transportation in Nebraska
April 6, 2015
In 2011, the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP) published “Building a Better Gas Tax” in which they recommended that states looking to modernize their gas tax increase gas tax rates, restructure state gas taxes so that their rates rise automatically with inflation and create or enhance targeted tax credits for low-income families to […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Halt the Tax Cut
March 31, 2015
The cut to the top income tax rate will provide minimal benefit to all but the wealthiest Oklahomans. The average middle-income household will see its taxes lowered $31 a year, or $2.60 per month. Forty percent of households will get no benefit at all. Yet the cut will add some $50 million to the budget […]
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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