New Jersey
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Tax Increase to Fund Transportation Should Be Combined with Credit to Help Low-Income Families
January 26, 2015
As New Jersey policymakers close in on a deal to boost New Jersey’s transportation funding, a bold solution that raises at least $1 billion in new revenue a year through new gas taxes is essential if New Jersey wants to take advantage of one of its greatest economic assets – its location – and rebuild […]
New Jersey Policy Perspective: New Jersey’s Upside-Down Tax System
January 21, 2015
Low-income and middle-class New Jerseyans pay greater shares of their incomes in state and local taxes than wealthy residents, according to a new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). Read the full report
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 […]
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 […]
Ashbury Park Press: NJ’s tax system fairer than most, though still unequal
January 16, 2015
“New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, though low- and middle-income residents still devote a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy. A study released Wednesday by New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says that despite New Jersey’s progressive income tax […]
New Jersey Online: N.J. low- and middle-income families pay larger share of income in state taxes,
January 16, 2015
“New Jersey’s poor and middle-class families pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the rich, but the tax structure is more progressive than three-quarters of the states, according to a study released today. While the state’s progressive income taxes charge the wealthy a higher rate, property, sales and gasoline taxes consume a […]
Courier-Post: Lawmakers still confident transportation solution near
January 16, 2015
“Eight states increased their gas taxes last year, including five that added automatic adjustments to keep pace with inflation or fuel prices, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
Times of Trenton: Hits and Misses
January 16, 2015
“The poorest 20 percent of New Jersey households pay 10.7 percent of their income in state taxes while the richest 1 percent pay 7.1 percent according to the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
New Jersey News Room: New Jersey’s Upside-Down Tax System: The Lower Your Income, The More You Pay
January 15, 2015
“Low-income and middle-class New Jerseyans pay more of their incomes to state and local taxes than wealthy residents, according to a new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). The study, Who Pays?, analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major […]
Ashbury Park Press: Lawmakers still confident transportation solution near
January 15, 2015
“Eight states increased their gas taxes last year, including five that added automatic adjustments to keep pace with inflation or fuel prices, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
The Daily Journal: NJ’s tax system fairer than most
January 15, 2015
“New Jersey’s state and local tax system is fairer than most states, but low- and middle-income residents still fork over a larger share of their income to taxes than the wealthy, according to a new study. New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy authored the study. Despite New Jersey’s progressive […]
Marketplace: Is Cheaper Gas an Opening for Higher Taxes?
December 22, 2014
Federal money is drying up, as the national gas tax has remained at 18.4 cents per gallon. And more fuel-sipping cars on the road mean Americans are buying less gas to tax. Thus the urgency. “When we see pretty fiscally conservative governors in states like New Jersey and Wisconsin either openly talking about gas tax […]
NPR: Gas Tax Hike to Fuel Fixes to Roads and Bridges
December 9, 2014
“There’s kind of been a switch that’s been flipped,” says Carl Davis, a senior analyst with the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Davis says gas tax increases are now on the table in states across the country, from New Jersey to Utah to South Carolina to South Dakota. Democratic governors in Delaware, Vermont […]
Read the Report in PDF Form The Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2013, the national poverty rate was 14.5 percent, a slight drop from last years’ rate of 15 percent and the first decline since 2006.1 However, the poverty rate remains 2.0 […]
For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in helping states to adequately fund public services in a way that improves the progressivity of state tax systems. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Recent changes in the federal estate tax, however, culminating in the "fiscal cliff " deal of early 2013, have forced states to reevaluate the structure of their estate and inheritance taxes. Unfortunately, the trend of late has tended toward weakening…
New Jersey Policy Perspective: Highest-Income New Jerseyans Would Still Pay Lowest Share of Income to Taxes After Proposed Changes
June 27, 2014
Read the Full Report
Heartlander: As States Mull Sales Tax Holidays, Analysts Bemoan the Policy
June 10, 2014
Heather Kays from River Edge, New Jersey. Meg Wiehe, policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said 16 to 20 states hold similar tax holidays as a way to increase sales, and none of the anticipated economic goals are achieved. “The policy intent was that there’s a time of year that families […]
The gasoline tax is the single largest source of funding for transportation infrastructure in the United States, but the tax is on an unsustainable course. Sluggish gas tax revenue growth has put strain on transportation budgets at the federal and state levels, and has led to countless debates around the country about how best to pay for America's infrastructure.
The Star Ledger: NJ Millionaires Tax Could Help Plug Budget Hole
May 22, 2014
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board, May 20, 2014 Gov. Chris Christie has promised to announce a plan this week to put our state budget on life support. He’s suggested he will do whatever it takes — politics be damned — to close the $807 million hole we are facing: “Everything is on the table to balance […]
An updated version of this brief was published on February 9, 2017. Read this report in pdf. Every state levies taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, usually just called “gas taxes.” These taxes are an important source of state revenue—particularly for transportation—but their poor design has resulted in sluggish revenue growth that fails to […]
Transportation Topics: Gas Tax Buying Power at All-Time Low in Some States
May 19, 2014
By Michael Fuetsch, May 19, 2014 The gasoline tax is so low and has not been raised for so long in 10 states, that the levy’s purchasing power has fallen to historic lows, a new study said. States where this has occurred are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah, and […]
The Star-Ledger: NJ’s Gas Tax Cut in Half When Adjusted for Inflation
May 19, 2014
By Alex Napoliello, May 19, 2014 New Jersey’s gas tax is at an all-time low. That may not be a surprise for those who have been following a recent proposal to raise the tax. But what may be a shock is that the state’s gas tax is almost half of what it was in 1927. […]
In most states, the gasoline tax is set at a fixed number of cents per gallon of gas. South Carolina drivers, for example, have been paying 16 cents per gallon in state tax for more than a quarter century.1 But while this type of fixed-rate gas tax may appear to be flat over time, its lack of change in the face of inflation means that its "real" value, or purchasing power, is steadily declining. In ten states, this decline has brought the state's inflation-adjusted gas tax rate to its lowest level in the state's history.
The Bergen Record: Christie: “Nothing off the Table,” in Filling NJ’s $807B Budget Gap
April 30, 2014
(Original post) By John Reitmeyer, April 30, 2014 Governor Christie said “there’s nothing off the table” as he considers ways to plug a projected $807 million budget gap with just two months left in New Jersey’s fiscal year. “I’m going to use every tool at my disposal to get a balanced budget,” he said. […]
