Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Select Media Mentions

The Western Front: Keeping Tuition Prices on Ice

January 30, 2015

What it really comes down to is money and where that money comes from. Why doesn’t the legislature start by looking at how we collect taxes in Washington? According to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, our state has the most regressive tax system in the nation. We’re one of […]

Seattle Times: Gov. Inslee’s Cap Gains Idea is DOA

January 30, 2015

The claim that Washington has the nation’s most unfair tax system comes from the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which favors progressive tax policies. We may quibble about the rankings — these things aren’t easy to measure — but the institute is right: Washington’s tax burden falls more heavily on lower-income taxpayers. It’s […]

The Atlantic: Robin Hood in Reverse

January 28, 2015

But according to a new report from The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the impact of those federal tax breaks is largely offset by the burden of state and local taxes. Here’s how state and local taxes break down as a percentage of income: The richest Americans pay the least. The tax mix changes […]

Inter Press Service: Banks, Inequality and Citizens

January 27, 2015

Every day we receive striking data on major issues which should create tumult and action, but life goes on as if those data had nothing to do with people’s lives. Well, in a just-released report, the U.S. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes that in 2015 the poorest one-fifth of Americans will pay on […]

The Hill: Tech Mounts Pre-Emptive Strike on Taxes

January 27, 2015

“Intangible income is so easily manipulated on paper,” said Matthew Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal group that has called out U.S. multinationals for what it sees as tax avoidance strategies. “You just can’t allow people to simply call it foreign income.” Read more

West Hawaii Today: How Progressive Is Our Tax System

January 26, 2015

On Jan. 15, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released a report ranking the states in terms of how progressive their tax systems are. A “progressive” tax system is one that asks wealthier taxpayers to pay more of their income than poorer taxpayers. Most states rely upon some form of net income tax […]

St. Cloud Times: Tax Plan Is Fair, Sustains State’s Prosperity

January 26, 2015

A national study out this month confirms Minnesota is doing a better job at sharing the responsibility for paying for public services among all taxpayers than most other states in the U.S. The study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy assesses the fairness of state and local tax systems by measuring the state […]

The Journal Gazette: Progress on Regressive Taxes

January 26, 2015

Indiana has the 10th most regressive tax structure in the nation, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Households in the lowest percentile, excluding seniors, pay 12 percent of annual income on state and local taxes. The top 1 percent pay just 5.2 percent. Indiana’s flat income tax rate of 3.4 percent “taxes […]

East Bay Express: It’s Time to Raise the State Gas Tax

January 26, 2015

Historically, gas taxes have been too low in the United States — certainly not high enough to sufficiently fund our infrastructure and transportation needs. That’s why many economists and nonpartisan think tanks, including the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, which tracks tax policies nationwide, support higher gas taxes to pay for road projects. Gas […]

KNOE (CBS Louisiana Affiliate): Study Says Those Who Earn the Least Pay the Most

January 26, 2015

They say nothing in this life is as certain as death and taxes, and for some taxes mean death to a living wage. A recent study by The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy says the lowest 40-percent of workers pay 10-percent of their income toward taxes, and the top 20-percent pay between 6.9 and […]

C-SPAN Washington Journal: President Obama’s Tax Policies

January 26, 2015

ITEP Executive Director Matt Gardner appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Jan. 24 to discuss President Obama’s tax proposal. Check out the video.

MSNBC: States See Slump in Lotto Sales (Video)

January 26, 2015

Meg Wiehe, ITEP state policy director, appeared on Weekends with Alex Witt, to talk about declining lotto sales. Check out the video.

The Boston Globe: Obama Is Taking on Inequality. How Does Massachusetts Fair?

January 24, 2015

In Massachusetts, lower-income people actually pay more of their money in taxes. If you are a middle-class family in Massachusetts, more than 9 percent of your income goes to state and local taxes, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. If you’re among the very wealthiest, it’s more like 5 percent.  Read more

Slate: Republicans Are Finally Talking About Income Inequality

January 24, 2015

The problem is that this shifts the tax burden from the top to the bottom. In other words, it’s upward redistribution of wealth that harms the least well-off. And while the vast majority of states have tax systems that hit low-income Americans the hardest, these effects are worst in conservative states, where the highest tax […]

Salon: Why Wealthy Americans Delusions about the Poor Are So Dangerous

January 24, 2015

The rich are certainly entitled to their own opinions — but, as the old saying goes, nobody is entitled to their own facts. With that in mind, here’s a set of tax facts that’s worth considering: Middle- and low-income Americans are facing far higher state and local tax rates than the wealthy. In all, a […]

Newsmax: Tax Reform Is a Key Driver Toward Economic Reform

January 24, 2015

State and local taxes are similarly regressive. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan research organization, average state and local taxes as a percentage of income in 2015 are 10.9 percent for the poorest fifth of Americans, 9.4 percent for the middle fifth and 5.4 percent for the wealthiest 1 percent.  […]

Columbia Basin Herald: District 13 Legislators Oppose Inslee’s Tax Proposal

January 24, 2015

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington state has the most regressive tax structure in the nation. Inslee said the capital gains tax would help make the tax structure more progressive. Read more

Maine Politics: LePage Urges Maine Real Estate Group to Support His Tax Reforms

January 24, 2015

Other groups, like the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy — whose advocacy arm the Center for Tax Justice has criticized the methodology of the Tax Foundation’s tax system rankings — provide a different perspective on tax system rankings. ITEP’s 2015 “Inequality Index” looks only at how the tax system affects people making different incomes, […]

Floyd County Times: Wealthiest Kentuckians Have Lowest Overall Tax Rate

January 24, 2015

A new study released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP) finds that low-income Kentuckians pay 49 percent more in state and local taxes as a share of their incomes than the state’s wealthiest one percent pay. The rate for moderate-income and middle […]

Morning Sentinel: Will Cutting Taxes Make Maine Stronger?

January 24, 2015

We can envision this future by looking at neighboring New Hampshire, which has neither general sales nor income tax, but relies heavily on the regressive property tax. There, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the poorest fifth pay 8.3 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest fifth […]

Wall Street Cheat Sheet: Here’s Proof You’re Getting Screwed on Your Taxes

January 21, 2015

Ever feel like you’re paying more than your fair share when it comes to taxes? If a new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) holds true, then it may be more than just a feeling. According to the ITEP’s study, individuals who earn lower incomes tend to get hit harder and […]

Newsweek: Why Obama Finally Took on the 1%

January 21, 2015

A sweeping attack on wealth inequality might have had more than an icicle’s chance in hell of passing back when Democrats had control of Congress. But Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit, says the administration did push to raise capital gains—every year—without success. It was […]

Tampa Bay Times: Gov. Scott Proposes Cell Phone, TV Tax Cut

January 21, 2015

A better approach, Woodall said, is to cut the communications services tax by the same rate, but replace the lost revenue by plugging some of the more than 200 exemptions to a tax system that the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy called the second-most regressive in the nation. Read more

The Express (Milwaukee): The Explosive Numbers on Walkers Taxes

January 21, 2015

Walker has successfully built a political career on tax-cut politics that many voters believe benefits them when, in reality, the middle class and the poor pay a higher tax rate in Wisconsin than the wealthiest 1%. That’s a real fact everyone should know. It’s documented in a new national study just released by the Institute […]

Chinook Observer: Tax Tale of Two States

January 21, 2015

New study re-emphasizes a longstanding reality: Oregonians have it much better than they imagine when it comes to taxes, while Washington residents ought to be rebelling   Although you’d never guess based on the complaining, Oregon lawmakers and voters have done quite a good job of designing a tax system that meets fundamental measures of […]

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].