Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Select Media Mentions

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 […]

Cherry Hill Post Courier: NJ’s Tax System Fairer Than Most Though Still Unequal

January 20, 2015

New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, but low- and middle-income residents still devote a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy, according to a new study out Wednesday. New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, authors of the study, said that […]

Cherry Hiss Post Courier: NJ’s Tax System Fairer Than Most Though Still Unequal

January 20, 2015

New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, but low- and middle-income residents still devote a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy, according to a new study out Wednesday. New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, authors of the study, said that […]

Chattanooga Times Free Press: She Still Struggles But Now She Has Hope

January 20, 2015

Georgia and Tennessee are not among the 29 states to pass legislation boosting the minimum wage above the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. A report released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Tennessee’s tax rates are among the top 10 most regressive in the nation, meaning the poor […]

The Oklahoman: Tax Burden Is Heave for Many Oklahomans

January 20, 2015

TAX cut opponents often argue that Oklahoma already has a relatively low tax burden. A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows this is not true for many families. The ITEP study — “Who Pays?” — analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major state and […]

Tulsa World: The Poor Pay More

January 20, 2015

The poor pay more. State taxes favor the wealthy. Every state and local tax system is regressive. Those provocative conclusions, reached in a controversial new study, are going to ignite a fiery debate over who’s really the most overburdened by state and local taxes and whether existing tax systems do as much harm as good. […]

Norman Transcript: Report Show Low-Income Oklahomans Pay Highest State Taxes

January 20, 2015

  A new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Oklahoma Policy Institute finds that low- and middle-income Oklahomans pay more than two times more in taxes as a percentage of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The study “Who Pays?” analyzes tax systems in all 50 states […]

Seattle Times: Inslees Capital Gains Tax Pitch

January 20, 2015

“The capital-gains tax on the wealthy — even when combined with a tax credit Inslee has proposed for the state’s poorest families — would not bump Washington from its No. 1 ranking as the nation’s most regressive tax code, according to Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which ranks […]

Pioneer News: New Tax Report Shows Inequities

January 20, 2015

A recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has shown that in nearly every state low and middle income families pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than wealthy families. The analysis showed that families with incomes below $32,000 pay 10% rate in local and state taxes. […]

PoliticsUSA: Despite Kansas’s Continuing Economic Disaster, Sam Brownback

January 20, 2015

A sales tax increase will not affect the rich proportionally, and according to The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, states with high sales tax are ‘fundamentally unfair” to poor, and lower-middle-income Americans; particularly in states with no income tax because they “disproportionally eat into low-wage workers’ meager incomes.” The Tax Institute’s list of the […]

New York Times: How Expensive It Is to Be Poor

January 20, 2015

And yet, whatever the poor earn is likely to be more heavily taxed than the earnings of wealthier citizens, according to a new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. As The New York Times put it last week: “According to the study, in 2015 the poorest fifth of Americans will pay on […]

MSNBC: Running out of Options, Brownback Revisits Tax Policy

January 20, 2015

The Politico report quoted Meg Wiehe, state policy director at the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, saying, “We’ve seen this exploding budget gap, and this year, after three years of this experience, the recognition is they have to put a halt on these tax cuts.” said    Which is a polite way of […]

LA Weekly: California Has the Second Fairest Taxes in the US

January 20, 2015

California is not an easy place to do business. Our taxes and regulations are legendary. But the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy this month released its fifth “Who Pays?” report. And the Golden State ends up nearly on top when it comes to the fairness of taxes for a state’s residents. The report says […]

Baltimore Post-Examiner: Maryland Taxes Are Fairer Than Most

January 20, 2015

Maryland ranked as the 38th least “unfair” state in Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s  semi-annual taxation report, published on Wednesday. This means Maryland’s tax policies are considered more fair than three-quarters of the states.The report “Who Pays” outlines the percentages of local and state taxes as a percentage of income for all 50 states […]

Star-Ledger: Reducing Taxes for Some in NJ Would Hurt the Poor Even More

January 20, 2015

The Garden State, like every other state, calls on low-income and middle-class New Jerseyans to pay greater shares of their incomes in state and local taxes than their wealthy neighbors. New data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s latest Who Pays? report lays it out:  New Jersey’s poorest households – those earning less […]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In Rex Sinquefield’s Vision, Mom’s Generation is Written off

January 20, 2015

The current sales and excise tax burden on somebody who earns about $32,000 in Missouri is a little more than 5 percent of their income, according to the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Meanwhile, the sales tax burden on somebody of Mr. Sinquefield’s income range is less than 1 percent. The opposite is […]

Public News Service: Illinois Poor Face Unfair Tax Burden

January 20, 2015

A new study finds Illinois’ poorest residents are paying almost three times more in taxes than the top one percent of earners. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the state takes a much greater share of income from middle and low income families than from the wealthy. Read more A new study […]

WITF: PA’s taxes among the most regressive

January 16, 2015

A new report finds Pennsylvania remains on a list of the “Terrible 10” states with the most regressive tax policies. The non-partisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy finds that the poorest residents pay nearly three times what the wealthy pay in taxes as a share of income. Middle-income earners pay twice as much as […]

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].