Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

New York

NPR: As Back-To-School Shopping Begins, Consumers May Turn Frugal

August 1, 2013

As August begins, retailers are stepping up sales promotions to attract back-to-school shoppers. And several states are offering tax-free shopping to encourage purchases.

The Advocate: Sales tax holiday begins Friday

July 31, 2013

  [email protected] July 31, 2013 State sales tax will take a holiday this weekend, giving consumers a chance to save on the purchases of clothes, appliances, electronics and other goods. Lifting the 4 percent state sales tax is a tradition that dates to the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when legislators wanted to help storm […]

Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2012. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.

Bloomberg BNA: Sales Tax Slice: Attention Shoppers – A Sales Tax Holiday is Occurring in a State Near You

July 15, 2013

(Original Post) Thursday, July 11, 2013 by Rebecca Helmes Your kids may have just finished school for the summer, but it’s time to start devising your back-to-school shopping plan.  A break from sales taxes may come as a welcome respite for consumers and retailers.  But these tax vacations have been consistently panned from a fiscal […]

NY Daily News: Republicans give immigrants a reality check on expecting immigration reform

July 15, 2013

(Original Post) Forget about a comprehensive immigration bill. And so much for a bipartison bill out of the House. By Albor Ruiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS A reality check. That’s what the Republican tactic on immigration reform, announced last Wednesday by the Speaker of the House after a much-publicized closed-door meeting with his party, […]

About.com: Unauthorized Immigrants Paying Plenty in Government Taxes

July 15, 2013

(Original Post) By Dan Moffett, About.com GuideJuly 15, 2013 A nonpartisan Washington think tank says that unauthorized immigrants generally pay as much in taxes as U.S. citizens and they would pay a lot more to the state, local and federal governments if comprehensive immigration reform happens. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released […]

Art Voice: Making Believe in Big

July 11, 2013

(Original Post) by Bruce Fisher Issue v12n28 (07/11/2013) A future based on the rich entertaining the poor? When the Indianapolis Colts play the Denver Broncos on October 20, 2013 in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the average ticket price, according to a ticket website called Vivid Seats, will be $467. That is the before-tax weekly […]

Newsday: Immigrant status change could mean millions in tax revenue for NY

July 10, 2013

(Original Post) Originally published: July 9, 2013 8:56 PM Updated: July 9, 2013 9:31 PM By VÍCTOR MANUEL RAMOS  [email protected] Granting legal status to immigrants who entered the United States illegally could net New York $224 million in additional state and local tax revenues, mirroring a national spike in contributions, according to a new analysis […]

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Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions (2013)

July 10, 2013 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe

In the public debates over federal immigration reform, much has been made of the argument that undocumented immigrants would be a drain on federal, state and local government resources if granted legal status under reform. But it is also true that the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are already taxpayers, and that their local, state and federal tax contributions would increase under reform.

CNN Money: Just in Time for the Holiday, 8 States Raise Gas Taxes

July 2, 2013

(Original Post) POSTED BY RYAN HOLEYWELL | JULY 1, 2013 Drivers hitting the road for the Independence Day holiday will encounter higher gas taxes in eight states, according to data compiled by Citizens For Tax Justice. While the changes could frustrate drivers — if they notice the slight hikes — there’s a silver lining: many […]

The Barre Montpelier Times Argus: Kids count

June 28, 2013

  June 28,2013 Once again Vermont finished high in the ranking of children’s well-being released earlier this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation’s Kids Count survey of the states measures children’s well-being in 16 categories relating to economic well-being, health, education and family and community. These include categories such as the number […]

June 4, 2013. A new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that legalizing undocumented immigrants, paired with labor standards enforcement, would boost economic productivity. Reform would remove barriers to advancement for newly legalized immigrants, create a level playing field for businesses, and align our systems of taxation, social services, and social insurance so that […]

New America Media: Data Reveals Immigrants’ Financial Contribution to States

May 17, 2013

(Original Post) Asian Journal, News Report, Posted: May 16, 2013 LOS ANGELES – In California, Asian and Hispanic immigrants pay nearly $30 billion in federal taxes, $5.2 billion in state income taxes, and $4.6 billion in sales taxes each year. In New York, immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in economic output in the state. […]

Boston Globe: Big seller Boston Beer asks for small-brewer tax break

May 17, 2013

(Original Post) By Noah Bierman|  Globe Staff   May 13, 2013 WASHINGTON — It’s early to be drinking, but just after 10:30 a.m. on a weekday, Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams beer, pops open a bottle of lager and regales his audience with stories. It’s no barroom banter. Koch is standing behind a […]

In addition to this Budget Overview section, this briefing also includes a section on the Economic Context for deliberations regarding the state’s 2013-2014 budget and a section on Tax Policy, a major focus of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s work. Read the Full Report (PDF)

One sometimes hears that recent state income tax increases on the rich could cause them to leave Connecticut for New York and points south. Academic research has shown that taxes are simply not a significant factor in families’ moving decisions. Nonetheless, some believe they are, and so it is important for policymakers to understand how […]

The Morning Sentinel: Bipartisan plan to overhaul state income taxes unveiled today

May 10, 2013

(Original Post) By Steve Mistler [email protected] House Bureau AUGUSTA — A Maine family of four earning $50,000 a year would save about $647 on its state income taxes under a sweeping tax reform proposal to be aired in a public hearing today before the Legislature’s Taxation Committee. However, that same family also would pay hundreds […]

The American Prospect: You’ve Got Sales Tax

May 6, 2013

(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]

Hartford Courant: Rich Paying More Broadens Opportunity For All

April 22, 2013

(Original Post) April 19, 2013|By WADE GIBSON | COMMENTARY, The Hartford Courant Most people would agree that Connecticut’s wealthiest residents should pay a greater share of their income in taxes than middle- and working-class residents. With 100, 1,000 or even 10,000 times more disposable income than the average resident, the state’s richest individuals can afford […]

State revenues plummet in recessions, just when states can least afford the loss.  Some proposals to address this flaw in state tax systems would change the systems’ structure — for instance, by replacing state personal income taxes with sales taxes — but wouldn’t solve the problem and would exacerbate others in state tax systems.  States […]

The Huffington Post: RILA Business Group Urges Congress To Cut Corporate Taxes

April 9, 2013

(Original Post) The Huffington Post  |  By Jillian Berman     Posted: 04/08/2013 6:29 pm EDT  |  Updated: 04/09/2013 11:53 am EDT Walmart, Apple, J.Crew and scores of other famous retailers are members of a group pushing for changes in the corporate tax code that would benefit companies that stash more cash abroad. The Retail Industry […]

USA Today: Wyo. named most tax-friendly state; N.Y. worst

April 1, 2013

(Original Post) 24/7 Wall Street6a.m. EDT March 30, 2013 According to Census data released this week, state and local tax revenue rose in the U.S, for the 13th quarter in a row. With April 15 less than three weeks away, America’s business owners will complete their personal taxes along with the rest of the country. […]

The Journal News: New York drivers pay highest gas taxes

March 15, 2013

At $4 per gallon of fuel, 69 cents in tax is paid at the pump Mar 14, 2013 Written by Theresa Juva-Brown As if the yo-yoing of gasoline prices isn’t puzzling enough, try understanding all the fuel taxes drivers pay in New York. New York City-area drivers pay eight separate taxes at the pump. From […]

The Advocate: Tax overhaul linked to business rankings

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Mark Ballardand Michelle Millhollon Capitol news bureau March 11, 2013 At the top of a “talking points” memo handed to legislators, Gov. Bobby Jindal justifies overhauling the state’s tax system in order to increase the state’s ranking on an index drafted by the Tax Foundation. Stephen Moret, Jindal’s secretary of the state […]

The Austinist: Texas Economy Trails Slowly Behind Income Tax States

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) A new report just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows the Lone Star State economy lagging far behind states that have income taxes. Reviewing economic data over the past decade In measures of growth per capita, median household income growth, and average annual unemployment rates, the study show Texas […]