States
Fact Sheet: Preserving the Estate Tax
December 7, 2016 • By Richard Phillips
The federal estate tax is one of our most progressive sources of revenue and a critical tool in the fight against rising wealth inequality. Congressional legislation has significantly eroded the tax over the years, and now it is levied on only the wealthiest 0.2% of estates, meaning that 99.8% of estates will have no federal estate tax liability. The estate tax should be not only preserved but restored to a historical level to increase revenues and ensure more progressivity in the tax system.
Privatization, Waste, and Unfunded Projects: The Problems with Trump’s Infrastructure Proposal
November 30, 2016 • By ITEP Staff
In his acceptance speech, President-elect Donald Trump placed a heavy emphasis on the need to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. In theory, expanded investments in our nation's infrastructure could generate wide support among the public and within Congress. And yet Congressional negotiations on this issue have repeatedly broken down because of disagreements over how to fund those investments. Unfortunately, a flawed proposal for new funding put forth by Mr. Trump fails to offer a realistic path forward.
State Tax Preferences for Elderly Taxpayers
November 28, 2016 • By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
State governments provide a wide array of tax breaks for their elderly residents. Almost every state that levies an income tax allows some form of income tax exemption or credit for citizens over age 65 that is unavailable to non-elderly taxpayers. Most states also provide special property tax breaks to the elderly. Unfortunately, too many of these breaks are poorly-targeted, unsustainable, and unfair. This policy brief surveys federal and state approaches to reducing taxes for older adults and suggests options for designing less costly and better targeted tax breaks.
Comprehensive Guide to “Repatriation” Proposals
November 28, 2016 • By Richard Phillips
Corporations falsely claim that they have to engage in offshore tax avoidance maneuvers because the U.S. corporate tax rate is too high, an argument which has unfortunately found an audience in lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. In 2017, Congress likely will evaluate a number of approaches to taxing the trillions of dollars corporations currently hold offshore. This report explains and evaluates these proposals, including a so-called repatriation holiday and deemed repatriation. Further, it explains why ending deferral of taxes on U.S. multinational corporations' foreign earnings could halt the widespread corporate practice of funneling money to subsidiaries for the…
Fact Sheet: What You Need to Know About Repatriation Proposals
November 28, 2016 • By Richard Phillips
Fortune 500 corporations collectively have stashed $2.5 trillion in profits offshore, on which they have avoided up to $718 billion in taxes. It's no wonder that policymakers on both sides of the aisle are weighing legislative options to either tax these profits or create an incentive for corporations to "repatriate" or bring these profits to the United States so that they are subject to taxation. Lawmakers have introduced several "repatriation" proposals that would glean tax revenue from these offshore profits. But the only solution that will ensure corporations pay taxes on their offshore profits AND shut down the practice of…
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Clive McFarlane: Worcester trying to balance tax options
November 23, 2016
“Both the bureau’s and Mayor Petty’s proposal nevertheless would shift a greater share of the tax burden to those least able to afford it. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, for example, has noted that ‘on average, poor homeowners and renters pay more of their income in property taxes than do any other income […]
Lincoln Journal Star: UNL students rally in support of a better future
November 21, 2016
“Rodriguez said immigrants have contributed greatly to both the country and state, citing statistics from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy which state the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have paid more than $11.6 billion in state and local taxes.” Read more
Collecting Sales Taxes Owed on Internet Purchases
November 18, 2016 • By Carl Davis
Retail trade has been transformed by the Internet. As the popularity of "e-commerce" (that is, transactions conducted over the Internet) has grown, policymakers have engaged in a heated debate over how state and local sales taxes should be applied to these transactions. This debate is of critical importance for states as sales taxes comprise close to one-third of all state tax revenues and hundreds of billions of dollars in retail spending is now occurring online.
Chicago Herald: New Chicago bag tax will boost revenue, but will it cut waste?
November 16, 2016
“Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research group based in Washington, D.C., said these one-off taxes on goods exacerbate income inequality. The tax code can’t correct the problem, she said, but it shouldn’t make the problem worse. What’s more, if the tax works as intended, revenue […]
McClatchy DC: Undocumented students asked council to make Washington’s Bellingham a sanctuary city
November 16, 2016
“Prado said undocumented immigrants contribute about $292 million in taxes to Washington state each year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The amount would be higher with full legal status.” Read more
Fact Sheet: Comparison of House GOP Tax Plan, Trump’s Initial Tax Proposal and Trump’s Revised Tax Proposal
November 15, 2016 • By ITEP Staff
Chart comparing House GOP Tax Plan, Trump's Initial Tax Proposal and Trump's Revised Tax Proposal.
Denver Post: CDOT to test taxing drivers by the mile instead of at the pump
November 14, 2016
“Carl Davis, research director at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it’s true that state governments will have to find alternate ways of generating revenues for road projects as more cars go hybrid and electric. And he lauds Colorado, Oregon and California for testing the per-mile tax concept for the day […]
St Louis Post: Missouri’s new governor will need new ideas to fix a broken tax structure
November 14, 2016
“Governor-elect Eric Greitens has bold tax-reduction plans for Missouri but vague budget-balancing ideas. He should pay attention to the advice of Dylan Grundman, a senior analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. Grundman warned the commission of ‘three paths to avoid.’ One is to cut income taxes in hopes of spurring […]
The Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems
November 9, 2016
“Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds the nationwide average effective state and local tax rates by income group are 10.9% for the poorest 20% of individuals […]
The Atlantic: Are Washingtonians About to Vote Down a Chance to Fight Climate Change?
November 7, 2016
“Progressives in Washington have argued for years that the state’s tax system is unfair and exacerbates inequality. Indeed, according to a 2015 report by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the poorest 20 percent of Washingtonians (who make $21,000 per year or less) pay roughly 16.8 percent of their income in taxes every […]
Yahoo! Finance: New Jersey just hiked its gas tax by 159%. Is your state next?
November 7, 2016
“Of course, New Jersey isn’t the only state that has or is toying with raising gasoline taxes. Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington upped their gas taxes in 2015, notes the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Louisiana, Tennessee, Alaska, Alabama and Minnesota are contemplating increases in 2017.” […]
BNA State Tax: Extras on excise: New Jersey fuel taxes are going up in the world
November 3, 2016
“New Jersey isn’t the only state that has seen a gas tax increase in recent years. Nineteen states and D.C. have seen gas tax changes in the past three years, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
Progressive Pulse: New policy brief: The tax cut that North Carolina should enact
November 3, 2016
“According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, low-income North Carolinians pay nearly twice the share of their income in taxes as our state’s richest residents. Reinstating the EITC would be a crucial step towards rebalancing the tax load for all North Carolina taxpayers.” Read more
The Acadiana Advocate: Task force reveals budget, tax recommendations for Legislature
November 3, 2016
“Meanwhile, the Louisiana Budget Project, which advocates on behalf of low and moderate income people, said “more is needed to put Louisiana’s budget back in the black.” “A preliminary analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that even if the Legislature agrees to the sales tax and income-tax changes recommended by the […]
Oklahoma Watch: Five Things to Remember About the Penny Tax Proposal
November 3, 2016
“The tax would fall hardest on the poor, who spend a larger portion of their income on retail purchases. It would cost the bottom 20 percent of households an average of $90 a year. Middle-income households would pay about $262 a year. And the top 1 percent would pay $1,691, according to a data analysis […]
Fox Business: New Jersey Gas Tax Hike: Will Your State Be Next?
November 1, 2016
“‘Many other states are facing similar issues, but haven’t raised the gas tax in a decade or more,’ said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. ‘It can be a political challenge.'” Read more
Las Cruces Sun-News: Millennials like this mixed-ethnicity couple are reshaping America
October 31, 2016
“Luz said her father, a manual laborer, pays income tax — as do half the immigrants living in the United States without legal status, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
Poughkeepsie Journal: Tax exempt: Millions in breaks for IDAs, but few jobs
October 31, 2016
“Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit research group, agreed that New York has done a good job of keeping tabs on tax breaks for development projects. What it hasn’t done is slow down on giving them away.” Read more
The Daily Targum: KHAVICH: Enforcement of law is not anti-immigrant
October 31, 2016
“As to their contributions, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy calculated that the undocumented population pays nearly $12 billion in taxes annually.” Read more
The Short and Sweet on Taxing Soda
October 28, 2016 • By Carl Davis, Misha Hill
The concept of taxing sodas and other sugary beverages has gained traction recently across the United States and around the world. The World Health Organization officially recommended a tax on sugar sweetened beverages as a way to battle the obesity epidemic. In the US, multiple states and localities have looked to taxes on sugar sweetened beverages as a way to improve public health and increase revenue. In 2014, Berkeley, California became the first U.S. locality to enact such a tax. In 2016, similar taxes were enacted in Boulder, Colorado; Albany, Oakland, and San Francisco, California; Cook County, Illinois; and Philadelphia,…
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.