Reports
Does Personal Income Tax Progressivity Inhibit Economic Growth?
April 15, 2004 • By ITEP Staff
What is the relationship between income tax burdens and state economic growth? A December 2003 study by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), titled Income Tax Progressivity in Oklahoma: Hindering Economic Growth, Variating State Revenue, attempts to weigh in on this issue. The authors of the report claim that Oklahoma’s personal income tax is […]
The Distributional Impact of SB 1374’s Personal Income Tax Changes
March 30, 2004 • By ITEP Staff
The Missouri personal income tax currently applies a graduated rate structure with tax rates ranging from 1.5 percent to 6 percent of taxable income. This rate structure is applied to a tax base that starts with federal adjusted gross income, but allows a variety of special deductions and exemptions that allow some Missourians to reduce […]
ITEP Testimony on Maryland Tax Reform Options
March 10, 2004 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on two revenue-raising tax bills introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates: HB 1061, the “Millionaire’s Tax Surcharge,” and HB 1306, the “Maryland Progressive Income Tax Reform Act of 2004.” In particular, my testimony will discuss the impact of each bill on the fairness of the Maryland tax system, and will […]
Tax Options for Arkansas: Funding Education After the Lake View Case
July 15, 2003 • By ITEP Staff
The purpose of this study is to analyze the implications of the Lake View case for the future of financing public education in Arkansas. The study has three broad goals: First, the report provides a detailed menu of revenue- raising options that could be used to meet the Lake View spending mandates. Second, the report […]
Options for Income Tax Simplification in Iowa
March 15, 2003 • By ITEP Staff
Simplicity is generally seen as a virtue in tax systems. The National Council of State Legislatures argues that a properly functioning tax system should “facilitate taxpayer compliance by avoiding a maze of taxes, forms and filing requirements.”1 Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has echoed this sentiment, calling for a move to a “postcard” income tax in […]
The Impact of Imposing a “Flat Tax” on Missouri Personal Income
January 28, 2003 • By ITEP Staff
The Missouri personal income tax currently applies a graduated rate structure with tax rates ranging from 1.5 percent to 6 percent of income. This rate structure is applied to a tax base that starts with federal adjusted gross income, but allows a series of special deductions and exemptions that allow some Missourians to reduce their […]
Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems of All 50 States [2003 Edition]
January 15, 2003 • By ITEP Staff
State governments are facing a profound fiscal crisis. In the past year, states have grappled with mounting budgetary shortfalls, as tax revenues have slumped while spending pressures have continued to grow—and these problems will probably get even worse in the upcoming year. As state and local governments are forced to make hard decisions about how […]
Distributional Impact of Alaska Tax Options (PowerPoint)
October 5, 2002 • By ITEP Staff
Download the Powerpoint
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Impact of Options for Reforming New Hampshire’s Tax System (PowerPoint)
August 20, 2002 • By ITEP Staff
Download the Powerpoint
Balancing Act: Tax Reform Options for Illinois
February 15, 2002 • By ITEP Staff
The current fiscal shortfall represents a shortterm challenge to Illinois lawmakers—but it also provides an opportunity for lawmakers to craft tax reform solutions that will ensure the longterm solvency of Illinois state and local governments. We hope this report will prove useful to both the policy makers and the citizens of Illinois as they seek […]
Analysis of the Distributional Impact of HB 577 and HB 578
April 11, 2001 • By ITEP Staff
In April of 2001, Alabama legislators considered a pair of bills, HB 577 and HB 578, designed to modify the state’s personal income tax structure by creating a state Earned Income Tax Credit while increasing the state’s standard deduction and personal exemption. The bills also would have eliminated a deduction for federal personal income taxes […]
“Further Evidence” on the Linkage Between Income Taxes and Economic Growth?
October 13, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
Examining economic growth rates before and after a single policy change without attempting to control for other causal factors is not an exercise which should be taken seriously. The impact of tax law changes on economic growth is, rightly, a topic of great interest. But Dye’s analyses add precisely nothing to our understanding of the […]
How Would Expanding Oregon’s Deduction for Federal Income Taxes Paid Affect Elderly Oregonians?
October 5, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
Oregon is one of nine states that currently allow taxpayers to claim federal income taxes paid as a deduction on personal income tax forms. Under current law, Oregon taxpayers can deduct up to $3,000 of federal personal income tax on their Oregon tax returns. This analysis assesses the impact of two possible changes to the […]
ITEP Testimony Before Virginia Tax Reform Commission
July 10, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
The Commission on Virginia’s State and Local Tax Structure for the 21st Century has an opportunity to offer a vision for equitable and sensible reform. Equity, simplicity and the interaction of the state’s tax system with the federal tax system should be critical components of this vision. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Revenue-Raising Plans for Louisiana: Who Pays?
April 15, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
The state of Louisiana is currently facing a substantial budget shortfall. Recent estimates suggest that legislators crafting the state’s fiscal year 2001 state budget must make up almost $5401 million in revenues through budget cuts or tax increases. Among the more prominent revenue-raising solutions recently under discussion have been an extension of the state’s “temporary” […]
Analysis of Virginia Tuition Tax Credit Proposal
February 15, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has analyzed the proposed “Virginia Children’s Educational Opportunity Act 2000” (H.B. 68 and S.B. 336), to measure the effects of the bill’s proposed tuition subsidies on Virginia families with children by income group. H.B. 68 and S.B. 336 would provide Virginia parents with children in kindergarten though […]
A Plan for Progressive Tax Reform in Alabama
January 15, 2000 • By ITEP Staff
In 1996, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a report entitled Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States.1 One of the findings of the study was that in 1995, Alabama had a regressive tax structure— that middle- and low-income Alabamians paid a higher share of income in […]
High Income Tax States Have Strong Economies
December 2, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy today released an analysis showing that states with high income tax burdens have experienced more rapid economic growth than states with low income tax burdens during the past two decades. The ITEP report, released in response to a recent Cato Institute analysis of the impact of a Tennessee […]
Analysis of Tennessee Tax Reform Proposals
November 17, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
Tennessee’s state legislature is currently considering several proposals for increasing state tax revenues to cover newly emerging budget deficits. The following analysis compares the distributional effects of two proposals that would create broadbased income taxes in Tennessee. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Behind the Numbers: ITEP Analysis of NTU Tax Study
October 26, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
A recent report by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) tries to make the case that adoption of an income tax in Tennessee would stunt the growth of the state’s economy and cause a sharp rise in state government outlays. NTU’s arguments, however, are unpersuasive. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Behind the Numbers: ITEP Analysis of NTU Tax Study
October 26, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
A recent report by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) tries to make the case that adoption of an income tax in New Hampshire would stunt the growth of the state’s economy and cause a sharp rise in state government outlays. NTU’s arguments, however, are unpersuasive. Read the Full Report (PDF)
ITEP Testimony on Proposed Rhode Island Tax Changes Before the Rhode Island Senate Select Committee
October 7, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
The proposal being considered, to create an alternative flat-rate income tax of 5.75 percent of Federal Adjusted Gross Income, with an exclusion for capital gains income for assets held more than five years, would be a significant tax cut targeted exclusively to the wealthiest people in Rhode Island. Ninety-eight percent of the benefits of this […]
ITEP Testimony on Kentucky’s Tax System
September 1, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
First, is Kentucky a low or high tax state? The best measure of overall tax level, in my view, is taxes as a share of personal income. By that measure Kentucky is close to the national average. Because there are many other states also close to the national average, Kentucky’s rank among the states goes […]
An Analysis of SB 535’s Proposed Corporate and Personal Capital Gains Tax Cut
June 15, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
In recent years, the tax treatment of capital gains income has been one of the most hotly contested issues in federal tax policy. This debate has recently spilled over onto the state level in Oregon with the consideration of SB 535. Oregon’s personal income tax currently subjects capital gains to the same graduated rate structure […]
The Consequences of Increasing Oregon’s Deduction for Federal Income Taxes Paid
May 15, 1999 • By ITEP Staff
Oregonians will soon be considering whether to allow taxpayers to deduct more of their federal income taxes from the Oregon personal income tax. Under current law, Oregon taxpayers can deduct up to $3,000 of federal personal income tax on their Oregon tax returns. One proposed change pending before the Legislative Assembly would increase this limit […]
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