Recent Work by ITEP
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia tax these two fuel types at the same rate or very similar rates, as of April 2019, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute.
Consumption taxes (including general sales taxes, excise taxes on specific products, and gross receipts taxes) are an important revenue source for state and local governments. While five states lack state-level general sales taxes (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon), every state levies taxes on some types of consumption.
The property tax is the oldest major revenue source for state and local governments and remains an important mechanism for funding education and other local services. This map shows the share of state and local general revenue in each state that is raised through property taxes.
The tax rates identified in this map include state and local excise and sales taxes on diesel fuel, as well as various fees, as calculated by the American Petroleum Institute (API). These taxes are levied in addition to the federal government’s 24.4-cent-per-gallon diesel tax.
Income taxes vary considerably in their structure across states, though the best taxes are fine-tuned to taxpayers’ ability-to-pay.
Policymakers and the public widely agree that economic inequality is the social policy problem of our age. It threatens the livelihoods of millions of children and adults, and it even threatens our democracy. Although some say Americans could fix it themselves by simply rolling up their sleeves, as a sub-headline in a March U.S. News and World Report column implied, the reality is different.
State Rundown 5/16: Tensions Remain High Over Budgets and School Finances in Several States
May 16, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
Tax and budget negotiations remain at standstills in Louisiana and Minnesota, as school funding debates and teacher protests again captured headlines in several states. Oregon lawmakers, for example, finally passed a mixed-bag tax package that won’t improve tax equity but will raise much-needed revenue for education. Meanwhile their counterparts in Nebraska continue to debate highly […]
Corporate income taxes are an important source of revenue for state governments and ensure that profitable corporations benefiting from public services pay toward the maintenance of those services.
Presentation: NCSL Task Force on State and Local Taxation, Taxing Cannabis
May 10, 2019 • By Carl Davis
ITEP Research Director Carl Davis presented to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Task Force on State and Local Taxation on approaches to cannabis taxation and the recent report Taxing Cannabis.
State Rundown 5/9: Illinois Moves Closer to a Progressive Income Tax
May 9, 2019 • By ITEP Staff
Lawmakers in Illinois and Ohio have advanced major tax proposals but cannot rest just yet, as they must still get past the other legislative chamber. Their counterparts in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon, meanwhile, are all at impasses over education funding, as those in Texas left their school funding disagreement unresolved at least until they reconvene...in 2021. And in an era of many states pre-empting smaller jurisdictions by revoking local decision-making powers, leaders in Colorado and Delaware made moves in the opposite direction, entrusting cities and school districts with more local control.
ITEP in the News
The Guardian: Billionaire Fortunes Have Reached All-Time Highs Under Trump. So Has the Movement To Tax Them
The Guardian: Washington State’s ‘Historic’ Millionaire Tax Takes Aim at Super-Rich – Will It Succeed?
Video: ITEP's Amy Hanauer Discusses How to Make the Federal Tax Code Fairer on WHYY
Politico: Governors Forgo Past Response to High Gasoline Prices
Stateline: Gas Prices Rise Again As Some States Consider Tax Holidays
ITEP Work in Action
FACT Coalition: Take the Money and Run – Amidst Oil Price Windfalls, U.S. Oil Majors Continue to Pay Less Tax at Home than Abroad
Brookings: The Caregiving Crisis and the 2026 Vote
Gov. Evers Vetoes Bill Requiring Wisconsin to Opt Into Nationwide Expansion of Private Voucher Schools
Oxfam: The Case for Fairly Taxing the Rich in New York
Economic Policy Institute: How ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Helped Ensure a Swift Post-COVID Recovery
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