States
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools
September 18, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe
Read the Report in PDF Form The Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2013, the national poverty rate was 14.5 percent, a slight drop from last years’ rate of 15 percent and the first decline since 2006.1 However, the poverty rate remains 2.0 […]
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
August 5, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe
Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2013. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.
Options for Progressive Sales Tax Relief
July 30, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe
See the 2016 Updated Brief Here Read the Policy Brief in PDF Form Sales taxes are one of the most important revenue sources for state and local governments—and are also one of the most unfair taxes. In recent years, policymakers nationwide have struggled to find ways of making sales taxes more equitable while preserving this […]
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
July 21, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe
For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in helping states to adequately fund public services in a way that improves the progressivity of state tax systems. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Recent changes in the federal estate tax, however, culminating in the "fiscal cliff " deal of early 2013, have forced states to reevaluate the structure of their estate and inheritance taxes. Unfortunately, the trend of late has tended toward weakening…
South Florida Times: State Policies Affect the Middle Class
June 5, 2014
By David Madland and Keith Miller, June 5, 2014 The past 30 years has not been kind to Florida’s middle class which now ranks among the weakest in the nation. While the state enjoyed significant economic growth over this period, few of the benefits ever trickled down to the families who were not among the […]
AP: State Governments May Be Expanding the Wealth Gap
June 5, 2014
"What's happening at the state level is increasingly important, and, to many eyes, it appears to be moving things in one direction -- towards greater inequality," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based tax research group.
Pay-Per-Mile Tax is Only a Partial Fix
May 28, 2014 • By Carl Davis
The gasoline tax is the single largest source of funding for transportation infrastructure in the United States, but the tax is on an unsustainable course. Sluggish gas tax revenue growth has put strain on transportation budgets at the federal and state levels, and has led to countless debates around the country about how best to pay for America's infrastructure.
STAMP is an Unsound Tool for Gauging the Economic Impact of Taxes
May 21, 2014 • By Carl Davis
The Beacon Hill Institute (BHI), a free-market think tank located at Suffolk University, frequently uses its State Tax Analysis Modeling Program (STAMP) to perform analyses purporting to show that lowering taxes, or not raising them, will benefit state economies. But STAMP suffers from a number of serious methodological problems and should not be relied upon by anybody seeking to understand the economic impacts of state tax policies.
The Federal Gas Tax: Long Overdue for Reform
May 20, 2014 • By Carl Davis
The federal gas tax is a critical source of funding for the nation's transportation system, but its design is fundamentally flawed. In recent years, the consequences of those flaws have become increasingly obvious, as the federal government has struggled to fund a 21st century transportation network with a gas tax that has predictably failed to keep pace with the nation's growing infrastructure needs. This ITEP Policy Brief explains how the federal gas tax works, its importance as a transportation revenue source, the problems confronting the gas tax, and the reforms that are needed to overcome these problems.
Improving Tax Fairness with a State Earned Income Tax Credit
May 15, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe
The simplest, most effective, and most targeted way to begin to counteract regressive state tax codes is a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia already have some version of a state EITC. Each one is modeled on the federal credit, making it easy for taxpayers to claim and simple for state tax officials to administer. This report explains how all states - even those who already have some form of the credit - can use the state EITC as a tool for improving the fairness of their state tax code.
Des Moines Register: Iowa Fuel Tax Hits Low
May 12, 2014
By Jason Noble, May 10, 2014 “Iowa is one of 10 states in which fuel taxes have hit an inflation-adjusted “all-time low,” according to a report issued last week by a Washington think tank. The state’s current 19 cents per gallon tax on fuel has been in place since 1989. Inflation over that time, though, […]
Politico: What’s Next for That Ca. CEO Pay Bill?
May 12, 2014
Morning Tax, May 12, 2014 Matthew Gardner, the executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said while the bill highlights “two vital problems we ought to fix — excessive CEO pay and underpayment of corporate taxes,” if it did somehow pass, it’s easy to picture what would happen next in offices across […]
The Baltimore Sun: The Tax They’re Not Talking About
May 12, 2014
By the Editorial Board, May 12, 2014 With varying degrees of aggressiveness and specificity, all seven candidates for governor are pledging to change Maryland’s tax code. The ideas range from eliminating the income tax altogether (Republicans David Craig and Charles Lollar) to raising taxes on millionaires and multi-state corporations to pay for cuts for small […]
Gas Tax Hits Rock Bottom in Ten States
May 8, 2014 • By Carl Davis
In most states, the gasoline tax is set at a fixed number of cents per gallon of gas. South Carolina drivers, for example, have been paying 16 cents per gallon in state tax for more than a quarter century.1 But while this type of fixed-rate gas tax may appear to be flat over time, its lack of change in the face of inflation means that its "real" value, or purchasing power, is steadily declining. In ten states, this decline has brought the state's inflation-adjusted gas tax rate to its lowest level in the state's history.
The Bergen Record: Christie: “Nothing off the Table,” in Filling NJ’s $807B Budget Gap
April 30, 2014
(Original post) By John Reitmeyer, April 30, 2014 Governor Christie said “there’s nothing off the table” as he considers ways to plug a projected $807 million budget gap with just two months left in New Jersey’s fiscal year. “I’m going to use every tool at my disposal to get a balanced budget,” he said. […]
The Courier-Journal: Pass tax reform for 21st century Kentucky
April 11, 2014
(Original post) Col Owens, April 11, 2014 The General Assembly has just passed another inadequate state budget. And once again, it has failed to give Kentucky a tax system that will allow it to compete in the 21st century economy. As a legal aid attorney and education advocate for 35 years, I’ve long witnessed firsthand […]
The Chicago Tribune: Four reasons why Mayor Emmanuel shouldn’t reject a city tax
April 11, 2014
(Original post) By Eric Zorn, April 11, 2014 I reject … the idea of a city income tax. I think that’s not the right way to go… Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, responding Wednesday to questions about how the city will shore up its sagging pension funds I reject the idea, too, just as I reject […]
Springfield News-Sun: Benefits of tax proposal plan debated
April 11, 2014
Information from the Institute on Taxation and Economic policy showed the top 1 percent of Ohio taxpayers would receive about $2,847 in tax cuts, but Schiller said residents making between $34,000 and $54,000 a year would only see a tax break of about $13.
Center for American Progress: How the Ryan Budget Fails Our Economy by Failing Economics
April 9, 2014
When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced his latest budget resolution, it predictably included harsh cuts to the vital programs for poor and middle-class Americans that are at the core of the progressive agenda. But the House Republican budget is not just contrary to progressive values; it is also the wrong approach for […]
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
April 1, 2014 • By Carl Davis
The federal government and many states are seeing shortfalls in their transportation budgets in part because the gasoline taxes they use to generate those funds are poorly designed. Thirty-two states and the federal government levy "fixed-rate" gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even as the cost of infrastructure materials inevitably increases over time. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over twenty years. And almost half the states (24) have gone a decade or more without a gas tax increase.
90 Reasons We Need State Corporate Tax Reform
March 19, 2014 • By Matthew Gardner, Richard Phillips
As states struggle with tough budget decisions about funding essential public services, profitable Fortunate 500 companies are paying little or nothing in state income taxes thanks to copious loopholes, lavish giveaways and crafty accounting, a new study by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy reveals.
Economic Policy Institute: The ‘Better Off Budget’
March 18, 2014
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has unveiled its fiscal year 2015 (FY2015) budget, titled the “Better Off Budget.” It builds on recent CPC budget alternatives in prioritizing near-term job creation, financing public investments, strengthening the middle and working classes, raising adequate revenue to meet budgetary needs while restoring fairness to the tax code, protecting social […]
The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes
February 25, 2014 • By Matthew Gardner, Richard Phillips
Many of America's Most Profitable Corporations Pay Little or No Federal Income Taxes; Multinationals Pay Higher Rates Abroad Than in the U.S.
The Capital Times: Scott Walker redistributes wealth — upward
February 19, 2014
(Original Post) Scott Walker may not know how to create jobs. But he does know how to create income inequality. The governor’s election-season tax cut scheme is widening the gap between the very well off and the rest of us by redistributing wealth upward. An analysis of the governor’s initiative by the nonpartisan Institute on […]
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 […]
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