Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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6,242 posts

Toronto Star: What’s Behind Obama’s War on Corporate Deserters

August 8, 2014

By David Olive American corporate CEOs who don’t object to paying the dues granting them the privilege of country club memberships — possibly because their employer covers that perk, which often is a tax-deductible expense — are increasingly taking radical objection to paying their fair share of dues for the privilege of profiting from doing […]

Politifact: Nan Rich Makes Claims about State’s Economy, Taxes

August 6, 2014

In response to questions, Rich said Florida’s tax structure was too regressive. Rich cited a 2013 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which partners with Citizens for Tax Justice, a group that advocates for middle- and low-income families. The report concluded that all states have regressive tax systems. It means that state […]

Charleston Daily Mail: Remembering the Sales Tax Holiday

August 6, 2014

By Jared Hunt With students set to return to school this month, many parents are once again going through their annual ritual of back-to-school shopping. It might not be an enjoyable experience, if Huntington Bank’s latest “Backpack Index” price gauge — which estimated some parents could pay up to 20 percent more for supplies this […]

Killeen Daily Herald: Sales Tax Holiday Starts Friday

August 6, 2014

By Alex Wukman … Kelly Davis, Midwest director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the three-day tax holiday provides no relief for low- and moderate-income taxpayers throughout the remainder of the year and unfairly favors higher-income earners. “Unlike higher-income taxpayers, low- and middle-income families can’t always shift their shopping to take advantage […]

Main Street: Sales Tax Holidays: Bargain or Rip off?

August 1, 2014

By Hal Bundrick The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds another fly in the sales tax holiday ointment. “One popular rationale for sales tax holidays is that they increase local consumer spending and boost local retail, but this has not been demonstrated,” ITEP says. “Rather, increased sales during sales tax holidays have been […]

Lessburg Today: Virgina’s Back-to-School Tax Holiday

August 1, 2014

  By Kelly Davis Your article about sales tax holidays “Virginia’s Back-To-School Tax Holiday Returns This Weekend” suggests that sales tax holidays are a great deal for shoppers, when, in fact, sales tax holidays aren’t really worth celebrating. These holidays are poorly targeted, costly and represent a lost opportunity to get tax fairness right. A […]

Associated Press: Oklahoma Tax Holiday Is Little Relief

August 1, 2014

By Tim Tally Figures provided by the commission indicate that in 2008, the first year the sales tax holiday was in effect, shoppers saved $6.4 million in sales taxes on clothing and footwear. Last year, shoppers saved more than $7.2 million, and this year the commission estimates shoppers will save almost $7.3 million in sales […]

Streetsblog: Unlike Toll Reform, A Sale Tax Is a Really Regressive Way to Fund Transit

August 1, 2014

By Stephen Miller But a sales tax is one of the most regressive revenue-raisers out there. Of the types of taxes states typically levy — on property, income, and sales — “sales and excise taxes are the most regressive, with poor families paying eight times more of their income in these taxes than wealthy families, and […]

Streetsblog: Will Missouri Voters Go Along with the Highway Lobby’s Money Grab?

August 1, 2014

By Angie Schmitt That means, if Amendment 7 passes, the state’s poorest residents — whether they drive or not — will pay a larger share of their income than the state’s affluent residents. A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the poorest 20 percent of Missouri residents spend 5.9 percent of their income […]

Daily World: Sales Tax Holiday Offers Chance to Save

August 1, 2014

By Mike Hasten “The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has called Louisiana’s tax holiday “more hype than help.””

St. Augustine Record: Tax Holiday, It’s How You Handle It

August 1, 2014

By the Editorial Board Florida touts these holidays — in which the 6 percent tax is temporarily lifted — as breaks for the average family, and says that Floridians will save $40 million this weekend alone. That may not be the whole story. We don’t argue the state numbers, but the truth is that the […]

Fiscal Policy Institute: NYS Can Help Low-income Working Families with Children by Increasing its Earned Income Tax Credit

• By ITEP Staff

It comes as no surprise to working families that New York State’s tax system is fundamentally unfair. Low- and middle-income workers pay, on average, a much higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the highest income earners. According to analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the […]

Missouri Budget Project: Earned Income Tax Credit: A Targeted Tax Change with Significant Impact

• By ITEP Staff

The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a federal tax credit for low- and moderate-income working people. It encourages and rewards work as well as offsets federal payroll and income taxes. Read the Full Report (PDF)

New Mexico Voices for Children: New Mexico’s Capital Gains Deduction: A Capital Loss for New Mexicans

• By ITEP Staff

Legislation enacted in 2003 that allows New Mexicans with capital gains income to deduct half of that income from their state taxes has failed as an economic development tool. Further, it makes the state’s overall tax system lean more heavily on low-income families and exemplifies the need for a more robust accounting of tax giveaways. […]

New Mexico Voices for Children: Citizen’s Guide to New Mexico’s Tax System

• By ITEP Staff

Citizen’s Guide to the New Mexico State BudgetThis guide focuses on the operating budget—the annual spending for ongoing programs and services that affect the lives of every New Mexico resident. Read the Full Report (PDF)

Maryland Center on Economic Policy: Recent EITC Expansion in MD will Make Taxes More Fair, Reduce Inequality

• By ITEP Staff

Working Marylanders with the lowest earnings will pay slightly less of their income in taxes — 9.9 percent compared to 10.1 percent now – once the expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit is fully phased in, according to a new study. That’s a small change, and the top 1 percent of income earners […]

Voice for Illinois for Children: Congress Must Act to Stop Corporate Inversions

• By ITEP Staff

A number of high-profile U.S. corporations have, or are reportedly considering, corporate “inversions,” where they move their “headquarters” overseas to avoid paying U.S. corporate income taxes. Unless Congress acts, federal and state governments are set to lose, at minimum, tens of billions in revenue to support urgent priorities such as schools, roads and bridges, and […]

South Carolina Morning News: Refusal to budge on low gas tax a big mistake

July 24, 2014

“South Carolina’s gas tax has been at 16.8 cents since 1989, one of the lowest rates in the nation. Haley has said she would veto any bill raising the gas tax, but the state has actually been lowering the tax for years. What the DOT could buy with 16.8 cents in 1989 is far less […]

Politifact: Nan Rich says Florida has 3rd most-regressive tax structure

July 23, 2014

“Rich told PolitiFact Florida in an interview, “don’t hold me to ‘third regressive.’ …. I did not say ‘third’ definitively. … We are one of the most regressive.” Rich cited a 2013 report by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which partners with Citizens for Tax Justice, a group that advocates for fair taxation of […]

CNBC: Where and when to snag sales tax breaks across the US

July 22, 2014

“But while sale tax holidays are popular with consumers, critics argue that they do nothing to stir economic growth, and they simply shift spending on already planned purchases. One of these organizations is the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan group that said sales tax holidays will cost states at least $300 million […]

Fond du Lac Reporter: We must get serious about highway funding

July 21, 2014

Let’s look at the numbers. According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, from 2011 (the latest available), the average driver travels 11,318 miles each year and the average vehicle gets 21.4 miles-per-gallon, consuming 530 gallons of fuel per year. That means the average consumer pays $97.52 per car per year in federal fuel […]

Toledo Blade: Comfort the comfortable

July 21, 2014

“According to an analysis done for the progressive advocacy group Policy Matters Ohio by the nonpartisan Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, fully half of this year’s $400 million tax cut will go to the top 5 percent of Ohio taxpayers. Ohio’s 1 percent — those with average annual incomes of more than $1 million […]

Bangor Daily News: Again, Congress Has Short Fix for Roads

July 18, 2014

“While Congress seemingly has found consensus on a short-term fix, the House and Senate once again have put off the real work of governing — finding a solution that keeps the highway fund solvent long-term…. “Even if revenue from the gas tax remained constant, its buying power to pay for asphalt, labor and other construction […]

Pioneer Press: Fridley-based Medtronic refutes allegations of tax avoidance

July 17, 2014

“Medtronic officials are pushing back against widely published suggestions that the company’s proposed acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien is motivated primarily by a desire to avoid U.S. taxes… “Tax experts and financial analysts have speculated that the inversion deal would let Medtronic invest its overseas cash in the U.S. while potentially avoiding billions in taxes. The […]

Washington Times: Democratic superdonor Tom Steyer’s use of tax shelters draws Romney comparisons

July 16, 2014

“While at Farallon, however, Mr. Steyer used loopholes in U.S. tax regulations to produce maximum returns for his elite clientele. That included using tax havens in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Mauritius, ‘where there are no regulations at all, no call for transparency, and have little to no income tax rates,’ said […]