Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Ohio

Audio: ITEP’s Carl Davis Talks to Ohio Newsroom About That State’s Upside-Down Tax Code

February 20, 2024

Ohio’s poorest residents pay a greater percentage of their income to state and local taxes than the richest Ohioans, according to a recent report from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It found that Ohio has the 15th most unequal tax system in the country.

Policy Matters Ohio: New Data Show Just How Upside-Down Ohio’s Tax Code Is

January 29, 2024

In 2023, the lowest-paid Ohioans spent more than twice as much of their income on state and local taxes than the highest-paid, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

Ohio: Who Pays? 7th Edition

January 9, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

Ohio Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in Ohio, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis includes nearly all (99.6 percent) state and local tax revenue collected in Ohio. State and local tax shares of family income Top 20% Income Group […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Tax Policy For the People

November 10, 2023

Every family in Ohio should be able to afford healthy food, a safe home, health care and the other elements of a good life. Ohio has the resources to make this a reality. Too often, however, our elected officials choose to use those resources to enrich their already wealthy supporters and do whatever else it […]

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2023’s State and Local Tax Ballot Measures: Voters to Weigh in on Property Taxes, Wealth Taxes, and More

October 24, 2023 • By Jon Whiten

Even in this slow year for candidate elections, the decisions that voters in states and cities make could strengthen or weaken revenue for needs in their communities and could change how taxes are distributed across the income spectrum. In the places where tax fairness is on the ballot, much is at stake.

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Needs a Property-Tax Circuit Breaker

October 1, 2023

Sharp rises in home assessment values are bringing property-tax relief to the forefront at the Statehouse in Columbus. While various bills may provide a partial answer to the property tax squeeze being felt by some Ohioans, there is a better solution. It’s one that has been embraced by states across the country: A property-tax circuit […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Legislators Squander Golden Opportunity

July 7, 2023

The operating budget includes a $1-billion-per-year income-tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy, does nothing for Ohioans in the lowest-income 20%, and temporarily increases taxes for some middle-income households. Read more.

Policy Matters Ohio: Senate Tax Plan Pits the Rich Against the Rest of Us

June 15, 2023

The Ohio Senate has voted to weaken the state’s fiscal foundations in order to hand out billions of dollars to wealthy households. The changes to the state’s personal income taxes, currently included in the Senate’s version of the budget bill, will disproportionately benefit the rich, they will lead to temporary tax increases on some middle-income […]

Policy Matters Ohio: A Better Earned Income Tax Credit Will Help Ohio’s Working Families

June 6, 2023

Ohio’s leaders can use the tax system to increase economic stability for every family in the state. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a proven, powerful tool to do just that. In 2021, the federal EITC lifted about 5.3 million people above the poverty line, including nearly 3 million children. Read more.

Policy Matters Ohio: How Ohio’s Income Tax Works – and How the House Budget Would Change It

April 25, 2023

The proposed changes to the state’s personal income tax in the House substitute budget bill are another blow to Ohio’s only tax that is based on the ability to pay, weakening the public programs, institutions, and supports that make the state strong. Read more.

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 33 Before the House Finance Committee

April 4, 2023

This general assembly has the good fortune of budgeting in a time of surplus. Smart federal policy drove cash to people and businesses so when the worst of covid passed, the economy could rebound. The federal government has also sent crisis dollars to states, propping up potential shortfalls and funding major investments in many areas […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony on HB 1 Before the House Ways and Means Committee

March 15, 2023

This bill proposes a substantial rewriting of Ohio’s property and personal income taxes. It is an overly complicated, poorly designed bill that does not achieve what the sponsor claimed it would. It represents a massive wealth transfer from Ohio’s communities to a wealthy few. It is based on unsound economic reasoning and, if passed, it […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Speaker’s #1 priority – Tax cut for the rich

February 23, 2023

One of Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens’ top-priority bills, House Bill 1, is a massive giveaway to the rich, and the first of two such proposals by leading Republicans in Ohio’s House. According to a new analysis by Policy Matters Ohio, HB 1 slashes funding to children and all manner of local services, does nothing […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Increase Family Security and Expand Opportunity in Ohio

November 14, 2022

The expanded federal child tax credit (CTC) improved the lives of millions of children and families. We outline how a simple solution — direct payments to families with children — helped families pay for basic household expenses, relieved parents of stress, and made families more stable and secure. But now, because Congress failed to act, […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Tax Cuts Would Go Mostly to the Very Affluent

June 29, 2021

Instead of using Ohio’s public resources to build strong, resilient communities, the General Assembly approved income-tax cuts that would favor the very wealthiest Ohioans, while providing only modest benefits for moderate-income Ohioans and nothing at all to the state’s poorest. Benefiting especially from the elimination of the top bracket of the tax, the most affluent […]

Policy Matters Ohio: ­Ohio Income-tax Cuts Would Reward the Wealthiest

June 29, 2021

Income-tax cuts approved by the General Assembly in the budget bill would favor the very wealthiest Ohioans, while providing only modest benefits for moderate-income Ohioans and nothing at all to the state’s poorest. Benefiting especially from the elimination of the top bracket of the tax, the most affluent 1% of Ohioans would see an average […]

Policy Matters Ohio: House Budget chooses tax cuts over more support for key public programs

April 15, 2021

The 2022-23 state budget presents Ohio lawmakers with an opportunity to rebuild communities so all people, no matter what they look like or how much money they have, can thrive and succeed. But instead of using all available options to support communities, the Ohio House Republican majority proposed a budget that would cut income taxes […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio’s Tax Structure and Racial Disparities

February 11, 2021

Our success as a state and a nation depends on whether all people, regardless of race, have the opportunity to thrive. From the beginning, American policies and practices oppressed, exploited and excluded Black, brown and Indigenous people, who still face obstacles to good jobs, housing, educational opportunities and health care. As a result, wealth held […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Needs a Corporate Profits Tax

January 12, 2021

Moreover, the 2017 federal tax law has put more money in the pockets of many Ohio business owners. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slashed corporate taxes and provided a big new tax break for owners of partnerships, S Corporations and other businesses known as “passthrough entities” because their profits are taxed under the individual […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Ohio Tax Shift Away From the Wealthy: The Pattern Repeats

August 8, 2019

The main tax measures in Ohio’s new budget bills will bring tax increases on average for lower- and middle-income taxpayers, while those at the top of the income scale on average will see cuts. Overall, the bottom 95% of taxpayers with annual income below $208,000 a year will average increases, while those in the top […]

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Many States Move Toward Higher Taxes on the Rich; Lower Taxes on Poor People

July 18, 2019 • By Meg Wiehe

Several states this year proposed or enacted tax policies that would require high-income households and/or businesses to pay more in taxes. After years of policymaking that slashed taxes for wealthy households and deprived states of revenue to adequately fund public services, this is a necessary and welcome reversal.

Policy Matters Ohio: Refundability Now

June 4, 2019

The federal credit is so effective that 29 states, including Ohio, have used it as a model for their own EITCs, calculating the state credit’s value as a percentage of the federal one. However, Ohio’s credit leaves out the most important part: refundability.

Policy Matters Ohio: The Good and the Bad in the House Tax Plan

May 15, 2019

The tax plan approved by the Ohio House last week would sharply limit an income-tax break for business owners that costs more than $1 billion a year while providing few benefits to the Ohio economy. At the same time, it would eliminate the bottom two brackets of the income tax and cut rates by 6.6%. […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Senate Transportation Budget Zeroes Out Public Transit, Slightly Improves EITC

March 25, 2019

Last week, the Ohio Senate took a leap backwards by removing $100 million for public transit from the Transportation Budget allocated by the Ohio House of Representatives. They also took small steps to otherwise improve equity by expanding Ohio’s Earned Income Tax Credit. Read more

Policy Matters Ohio: Loopholes Upon Loopholes

March 12, 2019

As noted, of the three deductions, by far the most taxpayers took advantage of the deduction for self-employment taxes. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which has a model of the federal and Ohio tax systems, roughly estimates that 330,000 of the Ohio taxpayers who had business income and took the self-employment tax deduction […]