ITEP Work in Action
Oregon Center for Public Policy: Trucking Along, Avoiding Corporate Income Taxes
February 26, 2014
The same company whose lawsuit made it possible for corporations to side-step Oregon’s corporate minimum tax turns out to be a federal corporate income tax avoider, as well. The trucking company Con-way had a negative effective federal income tax rate over the 2008 to 2012 period, despite making $587 million in profits over those five […]
North Carolina Justice Center: Many of America’s Most Profitable Corporations Pay Little or No Federal Income Taxes; Headquartered Companies in N.C. Top the List
February 26, 2014
Washington, D.C. (February 26, 2014) – A comprehensive five-year study of 288 highly profitable Fortune 500 companies finds that 111 of them paid no federal corporate income tax in at least one of the last five years while one-third paid a U.S. tax rate less than 10 percent over the same period, including 26 that […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Many of America’s Most Profitable Corporations Pay Little or No Federal Income Taxes
February 26, 2014
New Jersey-based Honeywell, which in 2012 was awarded a state tax break of $40 million not to leave New Jersey, paid no federal corporate income taxes in 2009 and 2010, despite posting $3 billion in profits in those two years. Because of various tax breaks and loopholes, Honeywell’s effective federal corporate income tax rate in […]
Policy Matters Ohio: The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes
February 26, 2014
Two Ohio companies — American Electric Power and FirstEnergy — were among the 26 major companies that in the aggregate paid no federal income tax over the five-year period between 2008 and 2012. Most companies included in this new study aren’t paying anywhere near the statutory 35 percent tax rate. Read the Full Report
Maryland Center on Economic Policy: Major US Corporations Not Paying their Fair Share in Federal Taxes
February 26, 2014
Maryland residents filling out their tax forms and paying their monthly utility bills might be surprised to find out that one of the companies that 526,000 of them write checks to has been dodging its fair share. Read the Full Report
Open Sky Policy Institute: Data show middle class benefit of LB 1097 paltry compared to higher earners
February 18, 2014
While some proponents of LB 1097 – a bill to cut Nebraska’s income taxes – talk about the bill’s benefit to the state’s middle class, a look at the data shows by far the biggest beneficiaries of the cut would be the state’s highest earners. Read the Full Report
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Tax cut will provide little benefit to most Oklahomans
February 18, 2014
The average Oklahoman would get just $29 from Governor Mary Fallin’s proposed income tax cut, while one-quarter of the total benefit would go to the wealthiest 1 percent of households, according to a new analysis prepared by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Read the Full Report
Missouri Budget Project: Nixon-Kraus Tax “Deal” Would Undercut MO Services, Including Education
February 18, 2014
According to recent analysis, the tax “deal” between Governor Nixon and Senator Kraus is skewed to benefit Missouri’s wealthiest families, and leaves all services vulnerable to cuts as a result of its $364-$500 million cost. Read the Full Report
Policy Matters Ohio: Income-tax cut would favor well-to-do
February 14, 2014
An across-the-board cut in rates favored by Gov. Kasich may allow low-income Ohioans to buy a slice of pizza a year, on average. Those in the middle could purchase a cheap pizza maker, while the state’s most affluent taxpayers could use their cut to go on a round-trip for two to Italy, with money left […]
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Measuring the Tax Plan Against Key Principles
February 10, 2014
Governor Beshear has released his tax reform proposal, and analysis and debate over the plan has begun. It’s important that this discussion keep in mind three principles that are needed in a tax reform plan in order to move Kentucky forward: First, tax reform should generate significant new revenue now to allow Kentucky to begin […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Looking for Clarity: An Overview of Nebraska Budget and Tax Policy
February 7, 2014
To help Huskers decode how Nebraska makes budget decisions and creates tax policy, we have created Looking for Clarity: An Overview of Nebraska Budget and Tax Policy. This easy-to-read primer takes the confusion out of Nebraska’s laws and tax codes and distills it into a concise, manageable summary of how Nebraska collects and spends funds. […]
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Tax Plan Misses Opportunity to Make Overall Tax System Fairer
February 7, 2014
The combined impact of the tax increases and tax cuts in Governor Beshear’s reform proposal would not help improve the regressive nature of Kentucky’s tax system, according to analysis of the plan released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The plan would basically maintain the existing distribution of taxes for individuals, […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Income tax cut bills would decimate state budget, lead to cuts, property tax hikes
February 6, 2014
A pair of bills to cut income taxes would blow holes in the state budget, aren’t aimed at the middle class and are not likely to grow the economy. Furthermore, the bills — LB 1097 and LB 721 — likely would lead to higher property taxes and cuts to investments in schools and other key […]
Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED): 2014 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard
January 30, 2014
In the wake of the recession, policymakers at all levels of government adopted policies aimed at hastening the recovery and increasing financial security and opportunity. Cities, counties and states created programs that connected the “unbanked” to the financial mainstream, raised the minimum wage and even encouraged poor children to save for college—significantly increasing the […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Top 5% of Wisconsin Residents Get 18% of Tax Cuts Proposed by the Governor
January 27, 2014
The distribution of the tax cuts proposed by the Governor isn’t our chief concern about how he would use the projected state surplus. We’re primarily concerned that Governor Walker’s plan ignores holes in the current budget, and creates a deeper hole in the next one – boosting the structural deficit in 2013-15 to about $825 […]
Missouri Budget Project: Tax Proposals Before Senate Ways & Means Would Dramatically Reduce State Revenue, Disporportionately Benefit Wealthiest, But Not Create Jobs
January 24, 2014
The Missouri Senate Ways & Means Committee will hear three major tax bills this week. Though they differ in their components, each would drastically reduce state revenue, disproportionately benefit Missourians with the highest incomes, and fail to create jobs. MBP’s full analysis of the bills shows it would cost state services between $500 million and […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Typical family pays less tax in Nebraska than in most similar states
January 24, 2014
Middle-income Nebraskans pay relatively low taxes compared to their counterparts in eight nearby states with similar economies and tax structures. A family earning the median family income in Nebraska ($63,442) would pay less in taxes than a similar family in all but two of these states – Colorado and Kansas. (Table 1) The other comparable […]
Michigan League for Public Policy: Tax Cuts Won’t Grow the Economy
January 15, 2014
Across-the-board income tax cuts will not boost Michigan’s economy but would contribute to rising income inequality, and further drain resources from public schools, community colleges, universities, health care and public safety—the very services that fuel economic growth. Despite claims that income tax cuts create economic growth, there is no evidence that they generate the […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: $elling New Jersey $hort: Across-the-Board Income Tax Cut Would Harm the Garden State
January 13, 2014
An across-the-board state income tax cut would be detrimental to New Jersey’s future because it would do nothing to create jobs and grow the economy while disproportionately helping those who need it least and eroding public capacity to invest in the true building blocks of job growth and a strong economy. The state’s finances are […]
Wisconsin Budget Project: Governor Walker’s Tax Shift Plan Would Raise Taxes for Most
January 3, 2014
Governor Walker has said he is interested in eliminating the state’s income tax and raising the sales tax to make up for lost revenue, a move that would result in a tax increase for all but the wealthiest taxpayers. To replace the revenue lost by the income tax, the state sales tax rate would […]
Policy Matter Ohio: Homestead Exemption Still Out of Whack
January 3, 2014
The state budget approved in June limits eligibility for Ohio’s homestead exemption, but doesn’t do enough to focus the property-tax break on seniors who need it most. Read the Full Report
Hawai’i Appleseed Center: Creating a Fairer State Tax System and Economy for All Families
December 20, 2013
Our state’s lower-income families are faced with almost insurmountable structural challenges to escaping poverty. They face the highest cost of living and highest cost of shelter in the nation, with three-quarters of extremely low-income people spending over half of their income on shelter. At the same time, our wages are the lowest in the nation […]
New York State Tax Reform and Fairness Comission: Final Report
November 21, 2013
The New York State Tax Reform and Fairness Commission conducted a comprehensive and objective review of the State’s taxation policy, considering ways to eliminate tax loopholes, promote administrative efficiency and enhance tax collection and enforcement. Read the Full Report
Michigan League for Public Policy: The Path to Prosperity: Ten Steps Michigan Must Take to Strengthen Its Economy
November 13, 2013
Over the last decade, Michigan policymakers have addressed the state’s economic and fiscal problems largely through a combination of budget cuts, tax shifts and reliance on one-time revenues–under the mistaken assumption that the state could cut its way to prosperity, and create jobs and economic growth through reduced business taxes. In fact, the path to […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Another Ohio tax cut for the affluent?
October 29, 2013
Senate bill 210 would take the savings from Medicaid expansion and use it for an across-the-board income-tax cut that might buy a cup of coffee for low-income Ohioans but would give the average top earner enough for a trip to Paris. 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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