Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

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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 […]

Evanston Now: Illinois Tax System Among the Most Regressive

January 21, 2015

A new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says Illinois residents face one of the most regressive state and local tax systems in the nation. The institute — which defines regressive taxation as a system in which lower income people pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those who […]

WWLP (Mass.): Wealthiest Taxpayers Paying Smallest Percentage of Income

January 21, 2015

A new study is showing that both in Massachusetts and nationwide, the highest income residents pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes, compared to lower and middle income taxpayers. The study done by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy looked at four taxes: income, real estate, excise or car tax, and sales tax. […]

The Greensboro News and Record: Taxes’ Low Blows

January 21, 2015

“State legislators opened their 2015 session saying they want to ease the tax burden on “regular folks.” That will be a turnaround. “Regular folks” — those who earn moderate incomes or less — pay a larger share of their incomes in state and local taxes than do the very wealthy in North Carolina. The Institute […]

Newsweek: Obama’s State of the Union. What to Expect

January 20, 2015

The issue most recently pegged by the White House, and the one least likely to gain any traction in Congress, is reforming the tax code. Obama’s plan would raise taxes on the very wealthy to pay for tax cuts for middle- and low-income families. It would do this in three ways: First, it would close […]

Jackson Clarion Ledger: Poor’s Tax Burden High

January 20, 2015

With Gov. Phil Bryant’s push for a tax cut this legislative session as context, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has released a report that says the tax rate as a percentage of income for poor Mississippians is twice that for the state’s wealthy. The study by Washington, D.C.-based ITEP found lower-income Mississippians pay […]

Honolulu Star Advertiser: Isles Second Highest in Taxes on the Poor

January 20, 2015

Hawaii has the second-highest taxes on the poor and the 15th most unfair state and local tax systems in the country, according to a recent report from a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued its 2015 report “Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems” this week. The report […]

The Oregonian: Pity Washington’s Unhappy Legislators

January 20, 2015

Last week brought another complication for Washington’s tax situation, as the annual report of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in the other Washington, found that once again Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country. Since Washington is so heavily dependent on the sales tax, the poorest fifth of Washingtonians pay […]

Pittsburg Tribune Review: Incoming Gov. Targets Higher Earners

January 20, 2015

The newly released 2015 “Who Pays” report from the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found Pennsylvania has the sixth-most-inequitable tax system in the nation. Combining the total burdens of sales, property and income taxes, the report found the top 1 percent of earners pay 4.2 percent of their income in taxes. The lowest […]

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].