Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Hawaii

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State Rundown 7/6: Tax Policy Keeping Governors Busy from Coast to Coast

• By ITEP Staff

From coast to coast, state governors have been busy inking their signature on a growing list of consequential budget and tax bills...

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Preventing an Overload: How Property Tax Circuit Breakers Promote Housing Affordability

• By Brakeyshia Samms, Carl Davis

Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.

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State Rundown 5/10: Momentum on State Tax Credits Continues to Build

• By ITEP Staff

This week, in states across the country the momentum to center improvements to family economic security remains strong...

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Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates

• By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

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State Rundown 5/3: Policy Debates Unfold from Capitol to Capital

• By ITEP Staff

While the conversations on the debt ceiling heat up in the nation's capital, debates on state tax policy also continue to unfold in capitol buildings across the nation...

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State Rundown 4/27: Health, Wealth, and State Tax Policy

• By ITEP Staff

This week the importance of state tax policy is center stage once again...

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State Rundown 4/12: Tax Day 2023 – A Good Reminder of the Impact of Our Collective Investments

• By ITEP Staff

With Tax Day quickly approaching it’s worth taking some time to reflect not just on tax forms (though those are important!), but also on the current state of state tax policy...

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State Rundown 3/15: Tax Madness

• By ITEP Staff

It’s March and state lawmakers are showing why the Madness isn’t only reserved for the basketball court...

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State Rundown 3/9: The Whirlwind 2023 Legislative Session Continues

• By ITEP Staff

State 2023 legislative sessions are proving to be eventful ones. With many states eager to make use of their budget surpluses, major tax changes are still being proposed and others signed into law. Michigan residents will soon see an increase to their state Earned Income Tax Credit (from 6 percent to 30 percent) after the […]

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The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year

• By Carl Davis

The word “tax” appears 97 times and counting in one recent summary of governors’ addresses to state legislators so far this year. The policy visions that governors are bringing, however, vary enormously. While there's good reason to worry about tax cuts for wealthy families and the flattening or elimination of income taxes, there are at least five great tax ideas coming directly out of governors’ offices this year.

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State Rundown 2/9: We <3 Taxes

• By ITEP Staff

The great women’s philosopher, Pat Benatar, once said “love is a battlefield,” and there’s no greater test of our love for state tax policy than following the ups and downs of state legislative sessions...

Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center: Closing the Capital Gains Loophole

• By ITEP Staff

Eliminating the preferential tax treatment of capital gains income will increase tax fairness and help fund our future. Read more.

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State Rundown 1/26: Tax Season Brings With it Reminder of EITC’s Impact

• By ITEP Staff

Tax season has officially kicked off and with Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day right around the corner, it serves as another reminder for how important the EITC is...

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State Rundown 1/19: ITEP Provides a Roadmap for Equitable Tax Goals in 2023

• By ITEP Staff

State legislatures are buzzing as leaders and lawmakers jockey to advance their 2023 goals...

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Several States Make New Moves to Tax Wealth

• By Jon Whiten

Lawmakers in seven states will introduce legislation this week to tax wealth in a new coordinated effort to combat ever-increasing income and wealth inequality. The bills couldn’t come at a better time, as those at the very top continue to pull apart from the rest of us and far too many states contemplate piling on to this runaway inequality with seemingly endless tax cuts for those at the top.

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State Rundown 1/11: Governors Ready to Talk Tax in 2023 State Addresses

• By ITEP Staff

Governors have begun their annual trek to the podium in statehouses across the U.S. to lay out their visions for 2023, and so far, taxes look like they will play a major role in debates throughout state legislative sessions...

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State Rundown 1/5: State Taxes Coming in Hot in New Year

• By ITEP Staff

The new year often brings with it new goals and a desire to take on complex problems with a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always apply to state lawmakers when considering tax policy...

Hawaii Public Radio: Report: State could slash child poverty in half with new tax credit

December 20, 2022

The child tax credit has been available at the federal level since 1997. Before 2021, families were able to take advantage of a $2,000 credit per child. Under the American Rescue Plan, the credit was expanded to $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17, and $3,600 for every child under 6 years […]

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State Child Tax Credits and Child Poverty: A 50-State Analysis

• By Aidan Davis

Regardless of future Child Tax Credit developments at the federal level, state policies can supplement the federal credit to deliver additional benefits to children and families. State credits can be specifically tailored to meet the needs of local populations while also producing long-term benefits for society as a whole

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State Rundown 11/10: Midterm Madness

• By ITEP Staff

As states continue to tally the remaining votes and the news stories roll out at a breakneck pace, the unofficial results of the 2022 midterm elections have brought with it significant changes across the state tax policy landscape...

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The Geographic Distribution of Extreme Wealth in the U.S.

• By Carl Davis

More than one in four dollars of wealth in the U.S. is held by a tiny fraction of households with net worth over $30 million. Nationally, we estimate that wealth over $30 million per household will reach $26 trillion in 2022 with roughly one-fifth of that amount ($4.5 trillion) held by billionaires.

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ITEP Policy Briefs: More and More States Are Helping Low-Income Families with New and Expanded Tax Credits

• By ITEP Staff

13 states plus D.C. created or expanded state CTCs or EITCs this year, helping create more equitable state tax systems WASHINGTON, D.C.: In 2022’s state legislative sessions, lawmakers across the country advanced tax policies that will bolster the economic security of millions of low- and moderate-income working families through new and enhanced Child Tax Credits […]

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Boosting Incomes and Improving Tax Equity with State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2022

• By Aidan Davis

States continued their recent trend of advancing EITCs in 2022, with nine states plus the District of Columbia either creating or improving their credits. Utah enacted a 15 percent nonrefundable EITC, while the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Vermont and Virginia expanded existing credits. Meanwhile, Connecticut, New York and Oregon provided one-time boosts to their EITC-eligible populations.

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Legislative Momentum in 2022: New and Expanded Child Tax Credits and EITCs

• By Neva Butkus

State legislatures across the country made investments in their future, centering children, families, and workers by enacting and expanding state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), Child Tax Credits (CTCs), and other refundable credits this session. In total, seven states either expanded or created CTCs this session. Connecticut, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont […]

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State Rundown 6/29: Sun’s Out, Session’s (Still) In

• By ITEP Staff

Although the sun is shining and Independence Day is right around the corner, many state lawmakers are still indoors hammering out the details of future budgets or still hard at work passing laws...