
July 27, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
It’s the holiday season – well, the sales tax holiday season, that is. But after taking a closer look, you may notice that there is little to celebrate...
July 22, 2022 • 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 […]
July 22, 2022 • By Kamolika Das
The average person on the street would have no idea that many states experienced unprecedented budget surpluses this year. Iowa, for instance, has the most structurally deficient bridges of any state with nearly 1 in 5 falling apart. The Iowa Board of Regents proposed a 4.25 percent tuition increase for all three state universities and […]
With inflation dominating headlines both nationally and locally, state lawmakers around the U.S. are searching for ways to put their revenues to good use, and not surprisingly, some options are better than others...
May 11, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
As 2022 inches closer to its midpoint, important tax policy decisions are being put in the hands of voters, as special elections and the primary season begin...
This Spring looks to be bringing a mix of showers and flowers as states around the nation continue to act on a range of tax proposals...
March 9, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
The avalanche of regressive tax-cut proposals coming out of state legislatures has not slowed over the course of the winter months, but one state has provided a shot of hope to advocates of tax equity...
March 9, 2022 • By Marco Guzman
New Mexico stands in stark contrast to the many examples of poorly targeted tax-cut proposals currently being considered around the country.
ITEP is happy to announce the launch of our new State Tax Watch page, where you can find out about the most up-to-date tax proposals and permanent legislative changes happening across the country...
March 2, 2022 • By Aidan Davis, ITEP Staff, Jenice Robinson
Since last year, multiple states across the country have proposed or are pursuing costly income and other tax cuts that are heavily tilted toward the highest-income households. State advocates have worked to beat back these proposals and sounded the alarm about the long-term consequences of tax cuts, but legislatures (most GOP-led) continue to introduce and approve top-heavy and permanent tax cuts. This state tax-cut fervor took center stage last night when Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa gave the Republican response to President Biden's SOTU address.
While record state revenue surpluses have led to big pushes in red states to make unnecessary permanent income and corporate tax cuts, Democrats are also getting in on the tax-cut mania...
February 7, 2022
The tax cuts proposed in HB 436 would benefit wealthy Idahoans the most. The bill would also collapse the state’s five tax brackets to four, and would lower the income tax rate on the wealthiest tax bracket from 6.5% to 6%. Read more
February 7, 2022
From housing to child care, hard-working Idaho families face high costs in our growing state. Since 2018, Idaho’s tax code has supported families through the state Child Tax Credit (CTC). In the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress approved a temporary change to expand the definition of “child” to include 17-year-olds in tax year 2021. […]
One-time payments have become a common theme around the country, as Idaho is one of roughly eleven states with plans to provide tax relief in a similar fashion...
January 20, 2022
Idaho’s corporate income tax rate is a single rate of 6.5%; the bill would lower it to 6%. Necochea called that “throwing money out of the state,” citing figures from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimating that 81% of the benefit from that cut would flow out of state. “Corporate owners can live […]
January 20, 2022
An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tax policy organization based in Washington, D.C., found that the total tax benefits of the package for a person in the top 1% of Idaho income earners making $557,000 or more annually would benefit by $13,254. Read more
January 13, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
As expected, with the start of many new legislative sessions around the country, lawmakers have introduced a slew of tax cut plans following better-than-expected budget outlooks that have, so far, weathered the impact of the pandemic...
December 15, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
As the holiday season kicks into full gear, we’re putting the finishing touches on our State Tax Naughty or Nice list, and it looks like some late entrants are making a good case to be included...
December 10, 2021
Lawmakers in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma have also approved cuts to their top personal income tax going into effect either this year or in future years. “There are states moving in different directions,” said Carl Davis, research director at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]
Labor Day is around the corner and in the spirit of celebrating the achievements of workers around the country, we here at ITEP want to call attention to the states (and territories) that are using tax policy to support workers and residents alike...
August 25, 2021 • By Marco Guzman
When crafting tax policy, lawmakers and bill authors often work backward, using a patchwork of changes to help achieve their stated goal. One important consideration that is routinely left out is what impact the change will have on racial equity. Such is the case with the qualified business income deduction, which is helping to further enrich wealthy business owners, the overwhelming majority of whom are white. At present, white Americans own 88 percent of private business wealth despite making up only 60 percent of the population. Meanwhile, Black and Hispanic families confronting much higher barriers to entrepreneurship each own less…
July 21, 2021 • By ITEP Staff
It’s Olympics season! As countries around the globe battle for first place in a plethora of sports and contests it’s as good a time as any to look around America to see which states deserve a gold medal in the ‘Equitable Tax Policy’ event...
July 7, 2021 • By Marco Guzman
Many states find themselves in a peculiar fiscal situation right now: federal pandemic relief money has been dispersed to states and revenue projections have exceeded expectations set during the pandemic. Meanwhile, more and more workers are returning to jobs as vaccines roll out and typical economic activity resumes. Some states, however, have decided to squander their unexpected fiscal strength on tax cuts.
This week’s state fiscal news brings a reminder that even though advocates for great economic and racial justice have won some major progressive victories recently, anti-tax zealots have been hard at work too. Lawmakers advanced or enacted troubling regressive tax cuts or shifts in Idaho, Kansas, and Montana, and are actively debating them in Iowa, […]
May 4, 2021
House Bill 389 is a complicated bill that would affect many different components of the Idaho property tax statute. Revenue from property taxes, both for real property and business personal property, support local public services – such as roads, courts, and schools. Property taxes are regressive, meaning they fall harder on lower-income Idahoans than others. […]