Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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6,242 posts

Reuters: U.S. Companies May Not Be Fleeing Due to High Tax Rate

February 10, 2015

In a project for Reuters, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a tax policy think tank in Washington, looked at the six companies’ data somewhat differently, stripping out certain accounting adjustments, and found an average effective tax rate of 22.2 percent over the period. Read more

KELO TV: Paying More for Being Poor

February 10, 2015

Being poor in South Dakota is harder than in most other states in the U.S.. A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that South Dakota’s tax structure, along with other factors, make it one of the most difficult states to live in for low-income families. The city of Sioux Falls […]

Connecticut Voices for Children: Families First, Prosperity for All: Making Connecticut’s Tax and Benefit System More Family-Friendly

• By ITEP Staff

Connecticut’s tax system is uniquely unfriendly to families. Connecticut is one of only two states with an income tax that does not offer tax credits or exemptions to adjust for the cost of caring for children and other dependents. Read the full report here. 

The Kennebec Journal: LePage Following Republican Governors’ National Strategy

February 5, 2015

Meg Wiehe, state policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning organization that evaluates tax reform initiatives, questions whether journalists are making accurate appraisals of Republican policy in Maine and other states. “It’s frustrating to me because they’re not looking hard enough,” she said. “I just don’t think that it’s true […]

24/7 Wall Street: 10 States with the Worst Tax Averages for Americans

February 5, 2015

When looking at taxes paid as a share of the income earned, all states have a regressive tax system, which means poorer residents are taxed more than the wealthiest ones. The difference in effective tax rates between income groups, however, varies widely between states. According to “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems […]

Washington Post: It’s Time to Stop Letting Sports Team Owners Blackmail Taxpayers for New Stadiums

February 5, 2015

“It’s a silly tax break,” said Matt Gardner, director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “It’s ludicrous that the federal government would be subsidizing state and local borrowing to give investors tax breaks to make it easier for them to build sports stadiums.” Read more

The Spokesman Review: Economy Finally Recovering–for the 1 %

February 4, 2015

Washington’s tax fairness problem is old news – every year, new analyses emerge that rank Washington near the bottom on measures of fairness. That’s based on the state’s reliance on the sales tax, which hits the poor the hardest. A report issued this month by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranked Washington at […]

Palm Beach New Times: Florida Has the 2nd Least Fair Tax System in the Nation

February 4, 2015

A big selling point to convincing people to move to the Sunshine State has always been that Florida has no state income tax. And that’s true. But the reality is that Florida ranks at the very bottom when it comes to the fairest taxes in the U.S. This means that the poorest of those living […]

The Bellingham Herald: When It Comes to Unfair Tax Systems, We’re No. 1

February 4, 2015

The unfair nature of our tax system made national news earlier this month when the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released its state-by-state profile in which it compares features of state tax systems. Its analysis shows that while taxes in just about every state are skewed – on average the bottom 20 percent […]

Washington State Budget & Policy Center: Taxing Capital Gains

• By ITEP Staff

FAQ on Enacting a Capital Gains Tax In Washington State Read the full report

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Changing how we tax capital gains

• By ITEP Staff

A relatively small number of wealthy Arkansans who make money from the sale of investments reaped the benefits from the capital gains tax cuts passed in 2013. These expensive tax cuts, however, are likely to be scaled back. Today the House Committee approved a version of Governor Hutchinson’s middle-income tax cut that reduces, instead of […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Investing in Montana’s Working Families

• By ITEP Staff

In Montana, thousands of families struggle to make ends meet. One of the most promising policy opportunities to support working families and boost our economy is the enactment of a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Great Recession and other economic trends made it harder for Montana’s families to live above the poverty line. […]

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Governor’s tax plan leaves out poorest Arkansans

• By ITEP Staff

The governor’s new tax cut plan is a step in the right direction for tax fairness, but leaves out the poorest 20 percent of Arkansans and raises concerns about how the lost revenue will impact vital programs for children and families. Despite tax breaks targeted to the middle class, and even a hike for the […]

Economic Progress Institute: Making Work Pay for Working Families

• By ITEP Staff

Rhode Islanders who work full-time should be able to support their families. Yet, far too many are struggling to pay for housing, heat, food, and health care. Increasing Rhode Island’s refundable Earned Income Tax Credit to 20 percent from 10 percent would put hundreds of dollars back in the pockets of working families, improving their […]

CNN Money: Offshore Corporate Cash Piles at Risk from Obama Tax Plan

February 2, 2015

Meanwhile, Matt Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says the proposed tax rates are too low. “It’s helpful that the [U.S.] administration has identified a way to tax the profits that multinationals are stashing offshore. This is an important part of tax reform. But I think these rates are too […]

Nooga.com: Study Says Tennessee Poor Hit Harder with Taxes than the Rich

February 2, 2015

The report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy—a nonpartisan research group with ties to the liberal-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice—ranks Tennessee’s tax system as the seventh most unfair in the U.S. Under a regressive tax structure, family incomes are less equal after state and local taxes are paid than before. Read more

Progress Illinois: Illinois Ranks Poorly on Wellbeing Indicators

February 2, 2015

Additionally, researchers highlighted the fact that Illinois has the fifth most regressive tax system in the nation, according to a separate study recently issued by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The analysis showed that the poorest Illinois residents currently pay almost three times more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the richest people in the […]

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio’s Tax System Burdens Middle Class and Poor

February 2, 2015

In Ohio the top 1 percent of non-elderly residents by income, who earned at least $356,000 in 2012, pay 7 percent of their income in state and local taxes on average. The lowest fifth, who make less than $18,000, pay 11.7 percent on average. Those in the middle, making between $34,000 and $56,000, pay 10.6 […]

Atlanta Black Star: Brutally Unfair Tax Structure Forces the Poor to Pay Twice As Much As the Rich

January 30, 2015

The culprit is the state and local taxes Americans pay on top of the federal taxes. While the federal taxes are relatively progressive, meaning they take a higher percentage from the wealthy than they do the poor and therefore try to address poverty and inequality, the federal efforts are swamped by state and local taxes […]

Forbes: Regressive Taxes Are Neither New Nor Good

January 30, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released its annual “Who Pays” report. The report should be read by everyone in the state and local tax policy business. Once again, ITEP has found that state and local tax systems are decidedly regressive. In fact, ITEP concluded that the effective tax rate of the 20% […]

Politico: Gas Tax Talk Isn’t Just for the Feds

January 30, 2015

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill may struggle to even utter the words “gas tax hike” sometimes, but that’s not stopping action on the state level. At least a dozen states are seriously considering raising their gas taxes this year, according to Carl Davis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That comes after eight states […]

Bangor Daily News: Roads in Maine–Well, Everywhere–Need More Than a 9-Month Fix

January 30, 2015

The result? The Highway Trust Fund — which pays for both road and transit improvements — faces a $161 billion shortfall by 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that 78 percent of the shortfall is due to Congress’ inaction on the gas tax; 22 percent is […]

The Western Front: Keeping Tuition Prices on Ice

January 30, 2015

What it really comes down to is money and where that money comes from. Why doesn’t the legislature start by looking at how we collect taxes in Washington? According to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, our state has the most regressive tax system in the nation. We’re one of […]

Seattle Times: Gov. Inslee’s Cap Gains Idea is DOA

January 30, 2015

The claim that Washington has the nation’s most unfair tax system comes from the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which favors progressive tax policies. We may quibble about the rankings — these things aren’t easy to measure — but the institute is right: Washington’s tax burden falls more heavily on lower-income taxpayers. It’s […]

Open Sky Policy Institute: ‘Circuit breaker’ in LB 186 provides targeted property tax reductions

• By ITEP Staff

Property tax “circuit breakers” like the one proposed in LB 186 are a way to provide targeted tax reductions to those whose property taxes are high in relation to their incomes. They are called “circuit breakers” because the tax credits are triggered once property taxes reach a certain percentage of a person’s income, similar to […]