Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

State EITCs are better targeted to people with low income than blanket tax exemptions, so they help to reduce the disproportionate impact of sales and excise taxes. According to new data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a state EITC at 30 percent of the federal credit would reduce the share of income […]

How to untax groceries without costing education a dime It’s crucial to replace the grocery tax revenue without hurting the people who would benefit most from the tax’s elimination. Fortunately, Alabama has a way to untax groceries while protecting both struggling families and education funding. That solution would be to end an unusual tax loophole […]

USA Today: State taxes: Which are the most tax-friendly states for the wealthy?

January 29, 2020

Wealthier Americans tend to pay a smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than lower-income Americans. According to a 2018 report released by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, the highest-earning 1% of American families pay just 7.4% of their income in state and local taxes […]

To get a sense of a state’s values, one often need look no further than its tax system. What a state spends its tax dollars on and how it acquires those tax dollars typically reveals a lot about the priorities of its people—what they care about and what they stand for. In theory, it’s a […]

The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) is New Mexico’s equivalent of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The WFTC’s eligibility levels and credit amounts are based directly on the EITC, and like most states, the amount is a set percentage of the federal EITC. These tax credits reduce poverty, improve outcomes for children, and […]

While all families in Arizona help pay for health, education and public safety through state and local taxes, low-income and middle-income families pay a larger portion of their income in taxes than do wealthier families. When all types of state and local taxes are combined—income, sales, and property—families with income in the lowest 20 percent […]

Scroll.in: At the centre of the US government and Facebook’s tax dispute is the company’s Dublin office

January 27, 2020

If the IRS prevails in court, it could cost Facebook up to $9 billion more in taxes, based on estimates in the company’s securities filings. It would be a notable defeat for a company that, when it comes to risky tax avoidance, has been more aggressive “than almost any other US corporation,” said Matt Gardner, […]

Washington Post: Va. Governor Proposes Gas Tax Increase

January 27, 2020

Virginia would join 31 states that have raised or reformed their gas tax in the last decade, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

The Washington Spectator: Tax Policy Options for the Next Administration

January 26, 2020

Bernie Sanders has proposed taxing estates worth more than $3.5 million. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that this would raise more than $30 billion a year. Another reform would generate a good deal more revenue—ending the so-called “step-up” provision of capital gains. When heirs receive an asset, they don’t owe taxes on […]

The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: In Search 2020

January 26, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

In Search of State Budget That Creates Opportunity for All When all types of state and local taxes are combined—income, sales, and property—families with income in the lowest 20 percent pay twice what families in the top 1 percent do—$12.95 for every $100 of income and $8.49 for middle income families compared to $5.91 for […]

Business Insider: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin keeps insisting Trump’s tax cuts will pay for themselves despite consistent evidence they exploded the federal deficit

January 25, 2020

It’s soaring because the government is collecting fewer tax dollars as a result of the cuts. One study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think-tank, released in December suggested corporate taxes are at a 40-year low. Read more

New York Times: As States Add Money to Fix Roads, U.S. Is Urged to Ante Up

January 25, 2020

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, most states have raised their gasoline taxes over the last several years. Along with the ballot initiatives passed to support highway projects, states could take a bigger role in their own infrastructure destinies. Ironically, more state-level control and funding is one of the tent poles of […]

Politico: The Power of Semantics

January 24, 2020

States’ use of tax incentives to lure the filming of movies and television shows is one of those policy ideas that experts of basically all political persuasions are against — believing that the costs in revenue far outweighs the economic benefits generally trumpeted by politicians and Hollywood. (One example: “The competition among states on this […]

ProPublica: Who’s Afraid of the IRS? Not Facebook

January 23, 2020

If the IRS prevails in court, it could cost Facebook up to $9 billion more in taxes, based on estimates in the company’s securities filings. It would be a notable defeat for a company that, when it comes to risky tax avoidance, has been more aggressive “than almost any other U.S. corporation,” said Matt Gardner, […]

ProPublica: The IRS Decided to Get Tough Against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher.

January 22, 2020

Microsoft, meanwhile, has continued to reap the benefits of its offshore deals. In 2017, the last year before the new tax law cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21%, Microsoft paid $2.4 billion in taxes on $29.9 billion in income, a rate of 8%. By that point, Microsoft had stored $142 billion in profits […]

McClatchy: Lifting the Cap on This Tax Break Would Benefit California’s Rich

January 17, 2020

The figures were developed by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. to project the likely effects if the Democrats’ proposal went into effect in 2022. That’s likely the earliest year when Democrats could have their policies go into full effect if the party takes control of the White House and Congress in 2021. […]

Hartford Business Journal: CT Voices proposes major state tax shift to reverse inequality

January 16, 2020

And creation of a new Child Tax Credit could provide poor and middle-income residents — even those earning nearly $500,000 per year — as much as $800 to $1,550 on each filer’s annual refund. “The child tax credit has been found to have staggering impacts on poverty reduction,” said Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director for […]

The Colorado Sun: Colorado progressives have a new target in their pursuit of a tax overhaul: the rich. Here’s why.

January 16, 2020

More progressive taxes aren’t a panacea for income inequality, either. With a top rate of 12.3%, plus a 1% millionaire tax, California has the most progressive tax code in the country, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It is also the seventh most unequal, with the wealthiest 1% making 30 times […]

Connecticut Voices for Children released a report that examined the state’s income and wealth inequality and the state’s regressive tax system that exacerbates these inequalities.

Dallas Morning News: Trump slashed corporate tax rates to 21%, but many companies paid far less than that

January 13, 2020

Here’s another reason to complain: Many companies aren’t paying even the lower rate. In 2018, the first year under the new law, 379 profitable companies in the Fortune 500 paid an average effective rate of 11.3%, according to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive think tank in Washington. Read […]

KTVB.com: Idaho Democratic leaders discuss their top priorities for the 2020 legislative session

January 12, 2020

The “circuit breaker” would protect seniors and low income homeowners from paying too high of a percentage of their income on property taxes. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a “circuit breaker” protects taxpayers from property tax overload just like an electric circuit breaker. It kicks in when a property tax bill […]

Between the Lines: Trump-GOP Tax Law Ushers in Lowest Corporate Tax Rates in 40 Years

January 8, 2020

Interview with Matthew Gardner, senior fellow with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, conducted by Scott Harris

Inside Sources: Creating an Economy That Works for All Starts With Repealing the Trump Tax Law

January 6, 2020

While some Americans received a tax cut during the 2018 filing season, it was nowhere enough to substantially improve their lives. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy warns, “The few provisions that targeted working families weren’t ambitious enough to make a notable difference for most working families.” This isn’t lost on the public, who remain opposed […]

Capital and Main: Two Years Later: What Has Trump’s Tax Law Delivered?

January 6, 2020

Promise: “We’re also going to eliminate tax breaks and complex loopholes taken advantage [of] by the wealthy.” – President Trump, November 29, 2017. Reality: The law kept tax loopholes in place and added new ones, including for the commercial real estate industry and wealthy heirs. In 2018, a group of the most profitable corporations paid an effective tax rate […]

Public News Service: Report: Many Big Companies Pay Nothing Under New Tax Law

January 3, 2020

HELENA, Mont. – During the first year of the Trump administration’s new tax law, 91 Fortune 500 companies didn’t pay a dime in federal income tax. That’s according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Report co-author and Policy Analyst at the Institute Lorena Roque says by using legal loopholes, corporations […]