Select Media Mentions
Policy Mic: What Republicans Don’t Want You to Know About “Securing the Border”
August 24, 2015
New York’s place on that list is especially salient given its place as the largest of the estimated 200 “sanctuary cities” across the country. The designation reflects a decision by local governments to protect undocumented immigrants from federal law enforcement. This makes it easier to collect taxes — undocumented immigrants paid $11.84 billion in state […]
News Net 5: States are Doing What Congress Won’t on the Gas Tax
August 18, 2015
“We had quite a long drought where states weren’t willing to deal with this issue, despite the fact that their infrastructure wasn’t in great shape,” said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “We’ve definitely seen a pretty rapid change on this issue — it’s really been pretty much a […]
Five Thirty Eight: Everything* Donald Trump’s Immigration Plan Gets Wrong
August 18, 2015
But there’s another side to the equation: taxes. Many undocumented immigrants work off the books and don’t pay taxes on their earnings. But many others do pay taxes. One recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that undocumented workers paid nearly $12 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. They […]
Minn Post: Tax and Spin: Most Families in Wisconsin, it Turns Out, Would Save on Taxes by Moving to Minnesota
August 17, 2015
For years, Wisconsin has had some of the highest residential property taxes in the country. The result is that across every income bracket, homeowners in Wisconsin pay a higher share of their income to property taxes than those in Minnesota, according to data compiled by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think […]
TV Newsroom: Tax-Free Weekend Offers Great Savings
August 17, 2015
“The bottom line is that whatever policy goal you want to achieve through a sales tax holiday, there are probably better ways to achieve those goals”, said Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.”
Daily Lobo: Letter: Support for Trump’s Hatred of Immigrants Not Backed by Facts
August 17, 2015
An economic perspective: The Partnership for a New American Economy found that immigrants started 28 percent of new U.S. businesses in 2011, though they account for only 13 percent of the population. Disproportionately more New Mexico business owners (12.6 percent) are immigrants (10 percent of the state’s population). A new study by the Institute on […]
Slate: Don’t Fall for Back-to-School Tax Holidays
August 14, 2015
If shoppers are simply shifting their spending to save on taxes, that means the states are losing revenue. That’s certainly the position of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank that estimates the popular break will cost the states offering it $300 million this year. “Revenues lost through sales tax holidays […]
Purdue Exponent: Mike Huckabee: Alienating Himself in the Name of God
August 13, 2015
“I’m still one who says that we can get rid of the Internal Revenue Service if we would pass the FairTax, which is a tax on consumption rather than a tax on people’s income, and move power back where the founders believed it should have been all along,” said Huckabee. Unfortunately, this is blatantly incorrect […]
News and Observer: Problems with NC Legislation to Cap Taxes, Reduce Spending
August 13, 2015
Colorado has struggled with its TABOR, with declines in the percentage it has spent on education, including secondary and elementary schools, and on higher education. Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the country in higher education funding as a share of personal income, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more […]
Ohio Watchdog: Is Sales Tax Holiday Good or Bad for Ohio?
August 11, 2015
Bill sponsor Rep. John Patterson Jr., D-Jefferson, thinks passage of the measure would generate activity in retail stores and help create excitement that could rival the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday sales. Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says such thinking is noble but is poor tax policy. “Anything that reduces […]
Toledo Blade: Ohio Readies for First Break on Sales Tax
August 11, 2015
Carl Davis, a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit nonpartisan Washington think tank, said that while tax holidays help retailers, they don’t accomplish much else. “I think the major takeaway with sales tax holidays is they’re high profile and they get a lot of favorable attention for politicians, because […]
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio’s Sales-Tax Holiday Gets Mixed Reviews
August 11, 2015
Ohio’s first sales-tax holiday is in the books, and whether there will be one next year remains a matter of speculation. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy conducted a study that found that tax holidays tend to shift shoppers’ spending habits rather than increase overall spending. Read more
The Atlantic City Lab: Even Doubled, America’s Gas Tax Would Be Low by World Standards
August 11, 2015
The U.S. rate of 53 cents a gallon reflects the federal gas tax as well as the average state tax. Adding Carper’s 16 cents wouldn’t budge the U.S. position way back of the pack—nor would doubling the entire 53 cent average. As the numbers stand, lawmakers would have to raise the average gas tax at […]
Press Examiner: Day Back To School Sales Tax Holiday Underway
August 10, 2015
“So states that are not doing sales tax holidays, they’re certainly not missing out”. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales-tax holidays cost states about $300 million annually. Read more
KSWO: Oklahoma Retailers Expect Soaring Sales on Sales Tax Holiday
August 10, 2015
Oklahoma retailers are stocking their shelves as they prepare for the state’s annual sales tax holiday on back-to-school clothing and shoes. But tax policy analysts say it’s little more than a gimmick. Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says sales tax holidays provide no long-term tax relief to consumers. […]
TJC News: State Sales Tax Holiday Begins Friday
August 7, 2015
“Paying more to skip the crowds is a back to school shopping strategy some embraced Thursday before the start of the Texas Sales Tax Holiday weekend. A few examples of exempt items include clothing, shoes, school supplies, backpacks, computers, printers, bedspreads and linens. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales-tax holidays cost […]
Washington Times: Oklahoma Retailers Expect Soaring Sales on Sales Tax Holiday
August 7, 2015
“The bottom line is that whatever policy goal you want to achieve through a sales tax holiday, there are probably better ways to achieve those goals,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Gardner said sales tax holidays provide no long-term tax relief to consumers. The institute believes greater […]
Canton Repository: Tax-Free Days Give Shoppers a Break
August 5, 2015
A 2013 analysis on the impact of a tax holiday in Ohio by the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati found that while retail sales would increase close to 5 percent in the month of a tax holiday, that increase would be offset by losses in sales in other months, like July and September, […]
LA Times: Conservatives are Trying to Prove Income Inequality is a Myth — and Failing
August 4, 2015
Taxes? Feldstein employs a familiar sleight-of-hand by limiting his analysis to federal taxes, which are still progressive. Factor in state and local levies, and the middle- and working classes are getting socked. The average share of family income paid in those levies was sharply regressive overall, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]
Morrow County Sentinel: Sales Tax Holiday: What Does it Mean for Ohio?
August 4, 2015
Research from the University of Cincinnati Economics Center estimates an almost five percent boost in sales during a sales tax holiday, with average families saving about $38. But according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, sales tax holidays cost states about $300 million annually. Read more
Chattanooga Times Free Press: Back to School Goods are Tax-Free This Weekend in Georgia
July 31, 2015
Another critic of sales tax holidays is Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization with offices in Washington D.C., North Carolina and Wisconsin. “These holidays aren’t all they’re cracked up to be,” said Gardner. Sales taxes make up about half of all states’ income, […]
The Herald News: Sen. Michael Rodrigues: Why I Oppose the Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday
July 29, 2015
It is that time of year again on Beacon Hill, when the Legislature debates and ultimately passes a sales tax holiday for a weekend in August. Let’s be clear, the tax holiday enables elected officials to break for summer recess on a high note, with something to tout to their constituents. The Institute on Taxation […]
Hawaii News Now: Film Tax Credits Attract Productions to Hawaii
July 28, 2015
The filming is almost finished for a new movie being shot entirely Hawaii. The state’s film tax credits are bringing in big productions like “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” but not everyone is a fan of the incentives. The tax credits are a waste of money, according to critics. “The closest thing to a […]
NBC: Sales Tax Holidays Complex, Controversial, But Popular With Shoppers
July 28, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax holiday […]
Sun Herald: Sales Tax Holiday Weekend Arrives July 31
July 27, 2015
“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., believes sales tax holidays are poorly targeted, providing tax breaks to the wealthiest taxpayers and offering less assistance to the elderly or families without children who don’t have back-to-school needs. The Institute also said many low-income taxpayers spend most or all of their money on […]
Members of the media rely on ITEP for analysis and insight about how tax policies affect people. If you’re a reporter looking to talk to one of our experts, contact Jon Whiten at [email protected].
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.