Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

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The Atlantic: Americans Love Paying Taxes

April 15, 2015

These taxes are far from negligible, especially for very low-income people. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, people earning less than $19,000 a year pay an average of almost 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes, compared to the 5 percent paid by the top 1 percent of earners. […]

The Atlantic City Lab: Using Legos to Explain Tax Policy

April 15, 2015

According to a 2015 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the poorest 20 percent of individuals and families pay an average 10.9 percent in state and local taxes, while the top 1 percent pays 5.4. There are plenty of ways the U.S. could alleviate the income chasm, even before taxes enter the […]

Vermont Public Radio: Business Leaders Mount Campaign Against Plan to Limit Tax Deductions

April 15, 2015

Carl Davis is a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., based research group that analyzes federal, state and local tax policies. Davis, who lives in Vermont, says there’s no reason to think Vermont would suffer any competitive disadvantage if it goes through with the plan. “Massachusetts, Connecticut and […]

The Star News: Taxing Times for Tar Heels

April 15, 2015

Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that in all 50 states, the wealthy tend to pay a lower percentage of their incomes in taxes than low- and middle-income taxpayers. In North Carolina, the institute reported, a family of non-elderly taxpayers in the bottom 20 percent of income – less than $18,000 a […]

The Dallas Morning News: Tax Cuts Are Not the Answer for Texas

April 15, 2015

A recent report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities found that those who are least able to afford it pay a larger share of their incomes in state and local taxes than households that can afford to pay more. For example, Texas households with the lowest income pay almost four times as much in […]

Inland News Today: Who Pays Taxes in California?

April 15, 2015

A new study has found that the lowest-income families in California pay a greater share of their incomes in state and local taxes, on average, than other families, including those at the very top of the income ladder. The California Budget & Policy Center studied data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It […]

The Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Tax System Puts Higher Burden on Poor

April 15, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy examined each state’s income, sales, excise and property taxes to determine how much the average person at various income levels would pay. In Kansas, people earning less than $20,000 paid 11.1 percent of their income in taxes on average, while people earning more than $439,000 paid only about […]

Bill Moyers: Progress is Just Another Word for Crony Capitalism

April 15, 2015

Verizon, which is the worst of the bunch, paid no federal income taxes between 2008 and 2012, according to studies from the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

LA Times: How States Suck the Fairness out of the Tax System

April 14, 2015

A look at the data used by CTJ shows why this happens. It’s compiled annually by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which issues its own report, “Who Pays,” every few years. The main culprits are sales and excise taxes, which disproportionately hammer lower-income taxpayers. In every state and the District of Columbia, the wealthy pay […]

The Atlantic: What Undocumented Students Bring to the Classroom

April 14, 2015

The parents of undocumented students pay nearly $11 billion total a year in taxes, according to a 2013 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy study, though, fearing deportation, many undocumented immigrants tend to avoid accessing many of the government services supported by those taxes. Meanwhile, many newly arrived students learn English shockingly fast. They often […]

The Toledo Blade: Lawmakers Should Expand the State EITC

April 14, 2015

Ohio has pursued an increasingly regressive tax system in recent years, and Governor Kasich’s proposed new tax plan would continue that trend. Through a combination of income tax cuts and increases in the state sales tax and other taxes, the plan would increase the tax liability of Ohio households in the bottom 60 percent of […]

The Oregonian: Oregon Lags on Transportation Investment

April 13, 2015

Explaining to The Atlantic last week why Republican state legislatures were so much readier to raise the gas tax than Republican congressmen, Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy pointed out that they didn’t have much choice: Legislatures had to balance state budgets, and they “can raise the gas tax, they can […]

Nashville Post: Possible Hall Tax Cut Among Road Blocks to the Budget

April 13, 2015

“Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers-funded advocacy group, have pushed hard for the state to do away with the tax, calling it punitive for those who save for retirement. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s March 2014 report, the tax largely affects the state’s top 5 percent of earners who collectively pay approximately […]

Crain’s Detroit Business: Households Would Pay $474 More in Tax Under Prop 1

April 13, 2015

The average tax hike for the middle fifth of Michigan households — those making $40,000 to $64,000 a year — would be $267, or $22 a month, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for the Michigan League for Public Policy, an advocacy group in Lansing focused on poverty. […]

Reuters: Why Are States Leaving Billions in Retiree Income on the Table?

April 13, 2015

Illinois exempts all retirement income from state taxes – Social Security, private and public pensions, and annuities. We’re leaving $2 billion on the table annually, according to the state’s estimates. And we’re hardly alone: 36 states that have an income tax allow some exemption for private or public pension benefits, and 32 exempt all Social […]

The Seattle Times: Reform Our Tax System with a Flat Tax

April 13, 2015

airness: The Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee found that in 1999 the state’s lowest-income households paid 15.7 percent of their income on state and local taxes, while the highest-income households paid just 4.4 percent. This meant that the lowest-income households had to work 8.2 weeks out of the year to pay their tax bill, […]

Union Bulletin: State Needs Flat Rate Income Tax

April 13, 2015

“Fairness: The Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee found that in 1999 the state’s lowest-income households paid 15.7 percent of their income on state and local taxes, while the highest-income households paid just 4.4 percent. This meant the lowest-income households had to work 8.2 weeks out of the year to pay their tax bill, while […]

The Advocate: With future of Louisiana higher education threatened, lawmakers sift through filed bills seeking deficit plug

April 13, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal nonprofit in Washington, D.C., reported in January that the poorest 20 percent of households in Louisiana pay an average of 10 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest 1 percent pay an average of 4.2 percent of their income in those […]

Lansing Journal: Working Poor May See Modest Tax Break Under Prop 1

April 13, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in an analysis conducted for the Michigan League for Public Policy, estimates a small net tax break of $24 for the average Michigan EITC recipient who earns less than $20,000. Read more

The Detroit News: Prop 1 Would Cost Households Hundreds More in Taxes

April 13, 2015

The average tax hike for the middle fifth of Michigan households — those making $40,000 to $64,000 a year — would be $267, or $22 a month, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for the Michigan League for Public Policy, an advocacy group in Lansing focused on poverty. […]

USA Today: The Tax Even Republicans Like

April 13, 2015

And one state can start a wave. For example, Virginia reformed its gas tax in 2013, making it easier for neighbors like Maryland and Pennsylvania to follow, says Carl Davis, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “States notice what other states are doing.” Iowa’s new law will help Smith’s case […]

Mother Jones: Why Do Progressive States Have Regressive Tax Codes?

April 13, 2015

This problem isn’t limited to conservative states: According to a recent report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), every state places a higher effective tax rate on the poor than it does on the rich. In fact, several of the nation’s most politically progressive states count among the worst when it comes […]

Meet the Press: #Nerdscreen, It’s Tax Time

April 12, 2015

Common sense would suggest that the more money you make, the higher tax rate you pay, but that’s not exactly right.     Read More

Pacific Business News: Hawaii Community Foundation Launches Fund to Support Immigrants

April 3, 2015

The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy found that in 2010, unauthorized immigrants in Hawaii paid more than $60.3 million in state and local taxes. If granted legal status, they would pay $79.6 million in state and local taxes. Read more

Boston Globe: Baker’s Position on Taxes Is Great for the Wealthy, and Not Many Others

April 3, 2015

In fact, many in Massachusetts have been taxed more than enough. Those in the lowest 20 percent of personal income pay more than twice as high a share to state and local taxes than those in the top 1 percent, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Add in the state’s growing reliance […]

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].