Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Select Media Mentions

Bangor Daily News: Is Maine Headed for a Consumption Tax?

March 11, 2015

This under-taxed group includes several large corporations, some tax-exempt nonprofits and more. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy lists Wal-Mart and other giants among companies that avoid state income taxes, typically by allocating the sources of their income among the states by inscrutable, if legal, accounting practices. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]

Pekin Daily Times: Illinois Taxes Hit Vulnerable the Hardest

March 6, 2015

Illinois has the fifth most regressive tax system in the country, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That means low-income and middle-class people are hit the hardest. “The problem with our state tax systems is that we are asking far more of those who can afford the least,” said Meg Wiehe, a […]

The Florida Times Union: Good Idea to Lower Cell Phone Taxes

March 4, 2015

As Florida TaxWatch reports, “The high rate makes the tax punitive and distortionary, and makes the state less competitive than other states, particularly in terms of reducing investment in broadband network infrastructure.” Meanwhile, the poor in Florida bear some of the heaviest tax burdens in the nation, reports the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]

The Memphis Daily News: Eliminating Hall Income Tax Raises New Problems

March 4, 2015

While Tennessee depends primarily on sales taxes for state revenue, the Hall tax was projected to bring $260 million into state coffers in fiscal 2014, about $98 million of which would go back to the local governments where those taxpayers live. That revenue would disappear, and 63 percent of the tax cuts would go to […]

The Boston Globe: Wide Support for Lifting Earned Income Credit

March 4, 2015

Eldridge’s proposal would cost the state $372 million a year in tax revenue, up from $112 million currently, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington research organization. Baker and Tarr’s proposal would increase its annual cost to $223 million. Read more

Orlando Sentinel: Affordable Housing Bears Higher Tax Burden

March 4, 2015

However, heavy reliance on property taxes and lack of an income tax were among the reasons a January report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranked Florida as one of the nation’s most regressive tax states. Only Washington had a tax structure that was more punitive on low-income families. The bottom 20 percent […]

Chicago Sun Times: More Education Cuts

March 4, 2015

Meanwhile, our system of taxes hits low-income families the hardest. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy named us one of the 10 “Most Regressive State Tax Systems,” with the third-highest “Taxes on the Poor.” Yet if just 20 large Illinois companies had paid state taxes at the required statutory rate over the past five […]

The Seattle Times: Washington Suffers Most Regressive Tax System in the U.S.

March 4, 2015

In the latest Who Pays? report by the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington state has “by far” the most regressive tax system in the nation. Poor residents here pay 16.8 percent of family income in state and local taxes while the wealthiest 1 percent pay only 2.4 percent. By comparison, the percentage […]

Law360: Five States that Could Follow Iowa’s Gas Tax Hike

March 4, 2015

As inflation pushes up the cost of construction materials such as cement and gravel, gas tax rates haven’t kept pace, meaning that revenues raised by states for transportation and other infrastructure projects can’t be stretched as far, according to Carl Davis, senior policy analyst for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more

Bluffton Today: Legislators Must Act to Safeguard Roads

March 4, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy made recommendations including linking an increase to inflation/gas prices/construction costs. Georgia, currently at a total 45.9 cents, has proposed a gradual increase over time. A long-term, dedicated solution is needed. While gas prices are at their lowest in years, we need state and federal legislators to act now […]

Philadelphia Inquirer: Your Tax Plan’s Weird

March 3, 2015

But the leaked details on the income tax and sales tax proposals make no sense. Most experts will tell you that one of the biggest problems in Pennsylvania is income inequality — and our tax policy contributes to that. (The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania as the 8th most regressive state in […]

Bloomberg: Deficits in States Have Alabama’s Governor Risking Career

March 2, 2015

Alabama’s state and local government taxes per resident are the lowest in the U.S., according to the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. It also has the 12th-worst tax structure in terms of disproportionate impact on the poor, according to Meg Wiehe, state policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. […]

Marketwatch: 10 Biggest Financial-Market Events This Week

March 2, 2015

One of the most popular MarketWatch articles this week was 10 states with the worst taxes for average Americans, based on a report called “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States,” released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). According to ITEP’s data, as reviewed by 24/7 […]

Marketwatch: 10 States with The Worst Taxes for Average Americans

March 2, 2015

According to “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States,” a report released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Washington has by far the most regressive tax system nationwide. To identify the 10 states with the worst tax systems for average Americans, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed ITEP’s […]

The Herald News:

March 2, 2015

Consumption taxes (like sales taxes on food and clothing, gas taxes, and so-called sin taxes on cigarettes and liquor) fall on the middle and working classes’ backs far more than the backs of the wealthy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has found that while the bottom fifth of earners devote 10 percent of […]

The Columbus Dispatch: Debate over Ohio’s Shift from Income to Sales Taxes Continues

March 2, 2015

But Policy Matters says that figure does not include all taxes being raised, including the commercial-activity tax on gross receipts. Using figures calculated by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Cleveland research group estimates that the latest proposed tax changes would leave the bottom 60 percent of earners, on average, paying more in […]

Toledo Blade: Instead of Another Tax Cut, Ohio Should Focus on Tax Fairness

March 2, 2015

Here are some facts and figures about Ohio’s lopsided income distribution and tax burdens, gleaned from Mr. Herzenberg’s study and separate new reports by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Economic Policy Institute: You’re part of Ohio’s 1 percent if you make more than $356,000 a year. The average annual income […]

The Toledo Blade: Governor’s Tax Plan Would Wide Inequality

February 27, 2015

Yet an analysis of his tax proposal by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy concludes that the wealthiest 1 percent of Ohio taxpayers — those who made more than $388,000 last year — would get an average tax cut of $11,906 a year from the governor’s plan. By contrast, the lowest 60 percent […]

Associated Press Mississippi: Differing Tax Cut Plans Advance in Mississippi House

February 27, 2015

Opponents warn Gunn’s plan means Mississippi’s remaining taxes would fall more heavily on the poor, as a proportion of income. Projections from the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy show the lowest-earning 20 percent of taxpayers, making $16,000 or less, would save an average of $13 a year. Those in the top 1 percent […]

Gainesville Times: Study Says Poor Bear the Brunt of Sales Tax Hikes

February 23, 2015

Georgia’s poorest residents will pay a larger share of their income this year in state and local taxes than the wealthiest earners, according to a new study from the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, a nonprofit Washington think tank. That burden could grow as Republican lawmakers in the state legislature push for lower income […]

Seattle Times: Trickle-Down Theory Makes Less Sense Than Ever

February 23, 2015

Current state income-tax rates are bad for the poor and comparably good for the rich, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. While the rich pay more in dollars than the poor, the rate on the top 1 percent of the richest Americans is 5.4 percent while the rate on the 20 percent […]

Dallas Business Journal: Texas Great for Businesses But Terrible for Most People

February 23, 2015

While many Lone Star State business organizations tout Texas’ tax climate when pitching corporate relocations, those same tax policies are among the worst in the nation when boiled down to the family level, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Texas has the third-most regressive tax structure in the […]

WFSP (Arizona): Arizona’s Unfair Tax System Targets the Poor/Middle Class

February 20, 2015

Arizona’s local and state tax system targets the middle class, and the poorest people in the state pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than the richest people do, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In fact, the Tax Inequality Index, released in January 2015, ranks Arizona’s local and state […]

New Jersey Spotlight: NJ Needs to Do the Right Thing–Raise Taxes

February 20, 2015

Of course, New Jersey’s middle class and working poor are already taxed at substantial rates. However, according to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the top one percent of families in earnings pay a state and local tax rate that is 3.6 percentage points lower than families in the bottom […]

San Francisco Chronicle: Tax Fairness Could Boost Resources for Roads, Schools Pensions

February 20, 2015

Last month, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the poorest 20 percent of households pay on average more than twice the effective state and local tax rate (10.9 percent) as the richest 1 percent of taxpayers (5.4 percent). That preceded the new report from the left-leaning groups Good Jobs First and […]

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].