Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

New Jersey

blog  

Better Tax Codes Help Boost Teacher Pay

May 16, 2024 • By Alex Welch

Better Tax Codes Help Boost Teacher Pay

There are a variety of factors that affect teacher pay. But one often overlooked factor is progressive tax policies that allow states to raise and provide the funding educators and their students deserve.

State Rundown 5/15: The Merry Merry Month of May(be)

Uncertainty abounds in state tax debates lately...

blog  

State Rundown 4/24: It’s Crunch Time

April 24, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 4/24: It’s Crunch Time

Many state legislative sessions are wrapping up...

Tax History Matters: A Q&A with Professor Andrew Kahrl, Author of ‘The Black Tax’

In his new book, The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America, Professor Andrew Kahrl walks readers through the history of the property tax system and its structural defects that have led to widespread discrimination against Black Americans.

New Jersey Policy Perspective: New Immigrants Drive Economic Growth in New Jersey

April 15, 2024

New Jersey’s fundamental strength lies in the rich tapestry of people who call the Garden State home, reflecting a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds. Nearly one in four residents (2.2 million) are immigrants,[i] who play a pivotal role in shaping the state’s identity. Immigrants bring a wealth of skills and talents that enrich New Jersey’s arts, cuisine, and entertainment, add to the intellectual achievements across various fields, and play essential roles in the private and public sectors. Across the state, immigrants make significant contributions to their local communities and the broader economy through their labor, entrepreneurial endeavors, and tax contributions.

Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes

State and local tax codes can do a lot to reduce inequality. But they add to the nation’s growing income inequality problem when they capture a greater share of income from low- or moderate-income taxpayers. These regressive tax codes also result in higher tax rates on communities of color, further worsening racial income and wealth divides.

State Rundown 3/28: Tax Cut Madness, But Our Brackets Bet on Tax Fairness

While madness is typically reserved for basketball in March, several high-profile, regressive tax cuts are making their way through state legislatures this week...

blog  

State Rundown 3/20: Investments Over Cuts

March 20, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 3/20: Investments Over Cuts

Over the past week Utah continued its slow march toward a more inequitable tax code...

blog  

States Move to Tax the Top in 2024

March 20, 2024 • By Marco Guzman, Miles Trinidad

States Move to Tax the Top in 2024

These forward-thinking states are demonstrating the wide variety of options for policymakers who want to raise more from the wealthiest people, rein in corporate tax avoidance, create fair tax codes and build strong communities.  

ITEP’s Marco Guzman Testifies in Favor of Tax Fairness Bills in Connecticut

March 11, 2024

Good afternoon, Senator Fonfara, Representative Horn, and members of the Committee, and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Marco Guzman and I'm a senior policy analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, and we’re a nonprofit research organization that focuses on state, local, and federal tax policy issues. 

State Rundown 3/6: Tax Cuts Aren’t Forever, or for Evers

Anti-tax interests finally found the end of the tax cutting appetite in a few states this week...

ITEP’s Kamolika Das Testifies on Pennsylvania’s Upside-Down Tax Code

March 4, 2024

Below is written testimony delivered by ITEP Local Policy Director Kamolika Das before the Pennsylvania House Finance Subcommittee on Tax Modernization & Reform on March 1, 2024. Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Kamolika Das, I live in South Philly, and I’m the Local Tax Policy Director at […]

State Rundown 2/28: States Keep Busy While Washington Stalls

State legislative sessions are in full swing with New Jersey and Oklahoma both particularly active this week...

The ‘Low-Tax’ Lie: States Hyped for Low Taxes Usually Only Low-Tax for the Rich

It’s hard to go a week without seeing a politician or a news article hype up a state as the place that everyone is moving to – or should move to – because of low taxes. However, there’s a big problem with these proclamations: they aren’t true.  

State Rundown 1/26: Wealth Taxes Drawing Interest Early in Legislative Sessions

Bills are moving and state legislative sessions are picking up across the country, giving elected officials the opportunity to consider two distinct paths when it comes to tax policy...

State Tax Watch 2024

January 23, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Tax Watch 2024

Updated July 15, 2024 In 2024, state lawmakers have a choice: advance tax policy that improves equity and helps communities thrive, or push tax policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, drain funding for critical public services, and make it harder for low-income and working families to get ahead. Despite worsening state fiscal conditions, we expect […]

How the Fairness of State Tax Codes Affects Public Education

The findings of Who Pays? go a long way toward explaining why so many states are failing to raise the amount of revenue needed to provide full and robust support for our public schools.

blog  

Worthwhile Ideas for a Stronger and Fairer D.C. Tax Code

January 17, 2024 • By Andrew Boardman, Kamolika Das, Marco Guzman

Worthwhile Ideas for a Stronger and Fairer D.C. Tax Code

The nation’s capital has a once-in-a-decade opportunity to advance a stronger and fairer local tax code. New draft recommendations from a key advisory panel will help leaders make the most of the moment.

blog  

In Most States, the Tax Code Makes Inequality Worse

January 9, 2024 • By Carl Davis

In Most States, the Tax Code Makes Inequality Worse

The vast majority of state and local tax systems are upside-down, with the wealthy paying a far lesser share of their income in taxes than low- and middle-income families. Yet a few states have made strides to buck that trend and have tax codes that are somewhat progressive and therefore do not worsen inequality.

The vast majority of state and local tax systems are upside-down, with the wealthy paying a far lesser share of their income in taxes than low- and middle-income families. That’s according to the latest edition of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Who Pays?, the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

New Jersey: Who Pays? 7th Edition

January 9, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

New Jersey: Who Pays? 7th Edition

New Jersey Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in New Jersey, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis includes nearly all (99.9 percent) state and local tax revenue collected in New Jersey. State and local tax shares of family income Top […]

Hidden in Plain Sight: Race and Tax Policy in 2023 State Legislative Sessions

Race was front and center in a lot of state policy debates this year, from battles over what’s being taught in schools to disagreements over new voting laws. Less visible, but also extremely important, were the racial implications of tax policy changes. What states accomplished this year – both good and bad – will acutely affect people and families of color.

blog  

Abortion-Restricting States Skimp on Funding for Children

November 9, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

Abortion-Restricting States Skimp on Funding for Children

States differ dramatically in how much they allow families to make choices about whether and when to have children and how much support they provide when families do. But there is a clear pattern: the states that compel childbirth spend less to help children once they are born.

Far From Radical: State Corporate Income Taxes Already Often Look Beyond the Water’s Edge

State lawmakers are increasingly interested in reforming their corporate tax bases to start from a comprehensive measure of worldwide profit. This provides a more accurate, and less gameable, starting point for calculating profits subject to state corporate tax. Mandating this kind of filing system, known as worldwide combined reporting (WWCR), would be transformative, as it would all but eliminate state corporate tax avoidance done through the artificial shifting of profits into low-tax countries.

State Tax Credits Have Transformative Power to Improve Economic Security

The latest analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau provides an important reminder of the compelling link between public investments and families’ economic well-being. Policy decisions can drastically reduce poverty and improve family economic stability for low- and middle-income families alike, as today’s data release shows.