Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

ITEP Work in Action

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ITEP’s Marco Guzman Testifies in Favor of Tax Fairness Bills in Connecticut

• By Marco Guzman

Good afternoon, Senator Fonfara, Representative Horn, and members of the Committee, and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Marco Guzman and I'm a senior policy analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, and we’re a nonprofit research organization that focuses on state, local, and federal tax policy issues. 

The White House Fact Sheet: President Biden Is Fighting to Reduce the Deficit, Cut Taxes for Working Families, and Invest in America by Making Big Corporations and the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share

• By ITEP Staff

President Biden is fighting to make the tax system fairer while Republicans continue to push tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. The President’s plan delivers tax cuts for families with children and working Americans, invests in America, and reduces deficits by trillions of dollars by enacting a new billionaire minimum tax and cracking […]

Common Good Iowa: Killing Democracy by Superminority

• By ITEP Staff

Iowa’s tax structure has long favored the wealthiest Iowans and corporations, and tax cuts passed in 2022 are making inequities worse. The average millionaire will see a cut of $62,000 a year. In the middle, Iowans earning $40,000 to $60,000 will see an average cut of $300, or about $6 a week. Most with incomes under $40,000 will see no cut at all. 

ITEP’s Kamolika Das Testifies on Pennsylvania’s Upside-Down Tax Code

• By Kamolika Das

Below is written testimony delivered by ITEP Local Policy Director Kamolika Das before the Pennsylvania House Finance Subcommittee on Tax Modernization & Reform on March 1, 2024. Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Kamolika Das, I live in South Philly, and I’m the Local Tax Policy Director at […]

Colorado Department of Revenue: Property Tax Circuit Breaker Programs

• By ITEP Staff

Because property taxes are based upon property values, they are not as strongly connected to an ability to pay as the income tax. This can be particularly burdensome when income changes as a result of job loss, divorce, illness, or retirement. As a result, property taxes tend to be regressive. 

Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center: Ending the Tax Penalty Against Working Immigrants

• By ITEP Staff

In recent years, lawmakers have enacted some important legislation helping Massachusetts residents, regardless of their immigration status, to take full part in commerce and civic life. Laws providing access to drivers’ licenses and in-state tuition, for instance, have opened opportunities that support employment and advance economic growth. Yet tens of thousands of workers, and their families, who pay taxes in Massachusetts are prevented from receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) because they are ineligible…

Movement for Black Lives (M4BL): Economic Justice

• By ITEP Staff

We demand economic justice for all and a reconstruction of the economy to ensure Black communities have collective ownership, not merely access.

Better Wyoming: Somehow, Some Way, Wyoming Property Tax Relief is Coming

• By ITEP Staff

Buying a home is a goal for most hard-working Wyoming families, and achieving it is a cause to celebrate. But many homeowners in recent years have opened their annual property tax bills and been jolted by huge increases. In fact, residential property tax bills in Wyoming have gone up by an average of more than 80 percent over the past six years.

Common Good Iowa: Both Governor’s, Senate Plans Worsen Tax Inequalities

• By ITEP Staff

Iowans have traditionally valued expanding opportunity, caring for neighbors and a strong sense of fair play. Tax-cut proposals at the Iowa Statehouse from Governor Kim Reynolds and legislative leaders turn these Iowa values upside down. They would drastically restrict revenue needed to fund critical services such as education, health care, public safety and environmental quality. The Senate bill, SSB 3141, would set out to fully eliminate the income tax, which until recently has funded roughly half…

Oklahoma Policy Institute: Economic Projections for Asylum Seekers and New Immigrants in Oklahoma

• By ITEP Staff

Immigration is hardly a new social trend in the state of Oklahoma. Of the four million people living in the state, 243,000 are immigrants, or six percent of the total population, according to the 2022 American Community Survey.

Audio: ITEP’s Miles Trinidad Talks About Oregon’s Upside-Down Tax Code

• By Miles Trinidad

We’re talking taxes today on Policy for the People, specifically from the vantage point of the Oregonians with the fewest resources, those who are struggling the most to make ends meet. In our first segment, we hear about a brand new tax credit in Oregon designed to shore up the lowest-income families with young children in our state. Tyler Mac Innis of the Oregon Center for Public Policy explains who qualifies for the Oregon Kids’…

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: High-Income People Who Received Large Net Tax Cuts in 2017 Law Don’t Need a New SALT Tax Cut

• By ITEP Staff

The House is poised to consider a new tax bill that would raise the cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), giving another large tax cut to the same group of rich people who benefitted the most as a share of their incomes from the 2017 tax law. Over half of the benefits would go to those in the 95th to 99th percentiles for income — the biggest winners of the 2017 tax law — according to the…

New Mexico Voices for Children: New Mexico has the Most-Improved Tax Fairness of Any State

• By ITEP Staff

New Mexico now has the ninth most progressive tax system in the nation as ranked by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s recently updated Who Pays? report on tax incidence. That same report showed New Mexico as making the most progress toward tax fairness in the nation!

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Vermont Can Invest in Brighter Future With Targeted Income Tax Measure

• By ITEP Staff

According to estimates from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the proposal would fall almost exclusively on the state’s richest 1 percent of households, or those with average incomes of about $1.8 million a year.[2] The remainder of the state’s residents — who to be clear, already themselves contribute significant shares of revenue through existing taxes on income, sales, and property[3] — would see no change.

Video: ITEP’s Carl Davis Discusses ‘Who Pays?’ at Rhode Island Revenue Roundtable

• By Carl Davis

ITEP researcher Carl Davis joins the Economic Progress Institute (EPI) for Rhode Island's Revenue Roundtable.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro: Fact Sheets on Tax Deal

• By ITEP Staff

“The tax deal fails on equity,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “It delivers huge tax cuts for giant corporations while denying middle class families the economic security they had under the expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit.  It also leaves the poorest families behind because of a policy choice. At a time when a majority of American voters believe tax on big corporations should be increased, there is no reason we should be providing corporations a tax cut while only…

Policy Matters Ohio: New Data Show Just How Upside-Down Ohio’s Tax Code Is

• By ITEP Staff

In 2023, the lowest-paid Ohioans spent more than twice as much of their income on state and local taxes than the highest-paid, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

American Progress: DACA Recipients Bolster Social Security and Medicare

• By ITEP Staff

Eight years of survey data have shown that DACA recipients’ average reported hourly wages have increased by 137.2 percent, from $11.92 per hour in 2015 to $28.27 per hour in 2022. This not only benefits recipients and their families but also the entire country: According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, thanks to DACA, recipients are able to contribute more in taxes as a result of increased employment rates, earnings, and tax compliance rates.

ITEP’s Carl Davis: Who Pays Vermont Taxes?

• By Carl Davis

ITEP Research Director Carl Davis gave a presentation on Vermont’s tax system to that state’s Ways and Means Committee on January 25, 2024. Click here for the slide deck.  

Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: Rebalance Hawaii’s Upside-Down Tax Code to Achieve Prosperity for All

• By ITEP Staff

Our state tax code makes the situation worse. A comprehensive analysis of state and local taxes across the country shows that Hawaii is the third-worst state when it comes to taxing struggling working families. Households in the lowest income category pay an effective tax rate of 14.1%, while the richest 1% pay an effective tax rate of 10.1%

Oregon Center for Public Policy: Oregon’s Tax System is Fundamentally Unfair, but We Can Fix It

• By ITEP Staff

If you were designing a tax system from scratch, who would you tax at a higher rate: a low-income family struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table, or a rich family making way more money than they spend?

The Commonwealth Institute: How the Governor’s Proposal Increases Taxes for Low-Income Families, Gives Significant Cuts to the Wealthy

• By ITEP Staff

When we all pitch in our fair share, we can invest in the programs and services that help everyone to thrive, like public education, affordable housing, and more. But Virginia’s tax code is upside-down, where those with the most pay the least taxes as a share of income. 

Testimony of Prosperity Indiana’s Andrew Bradley Before the Indiana State and Local Tax Review Task Force

• By ITEP Staff

On January 10, Andrew Bradley, Policy Director at Prosperity Indiana, testified before the State and Local Tax Review Task Force of the Indiana General Assembly. During his presentation, Bradley highlighted Prosperity Indiana’s tax policy priorities and ITEP’s Who Pays? findings. To watch the video, click here (Bradley’s testimony begins at 1:55:40) To read written testimony […]

New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department: New Mexico Among Top 10 for Tax Equity

• By ITEP Staff

New Mexico is now among the top 10 states for most equitable tax structures thanks mostly to changes signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over the past five years, according to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Read more.

Washington State House Democrats: WA Improves Tax Equity Based On New Report

• By ITEP Staff

Washington’s tax system is becoming more fair for working families. Read more.

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.