Recent Work by ITEP
State lawmakers seeking to make residential property taxes more affordable have two broad options: across-the-board tax cuts for taxpayers at all income levels, such as a homestead exemption or a tax cap, and targeted tax breaks that are given only to particular groups of low- and middle-income taxpayers. One such targeted program to reduce property taxes is called a “circuit breaker” because it protects taxpayers from a property tax “overload” just like an electric circuit breaker: when a property tax bill exceeds a certain percentage of a taxpayer’s income, the circuit breaker reduces property taxes in excess of this “overload”…
Today's poverty and income data show that income continues to concentrate at the top; in fact, the top 20 percent continue to capture 51.5 percent of income. Meanwhile, average income for the poorest 20 percent of households is less today than it was 18 years ago.
We Crunched Some Numbers to Show What Tax Reform for Working People Really Looks Like
September 12, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Throughout President’s Trump’s presidential campaign and from his first day in office until now, his administration has favored and promoted policies that benefit the wealthy and corporations even as it claims to be the working people’s champion. If more recent economic data are a reflection of what we’ll see in the long-term due to the Trump Administration’s recent tax cuts, wealth will continue to accrue at the top while income remains stagnant or barely budges for low- and moderate-income families. Policy can make a difference: ITEP Staff shows how the Grow American Incomes Now (GAIN) Act would help millions of…
Repealing the Federal Tax Law’s Cap on State and Local Tax (SALT) Deductions Is No Improvement
September 11, 2018 • By Steve Wamhoff
National and State-by-State Data Available for Download Nearly Two-Thirds of Benefits from Repealing the SALT Cap Would Go to the Richest 1 Percent Lawmakers who opposed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the federal tax law enacted by President Trump and his allies in Congress last December, rightfully pointed out that the law benefits […]
ITEP's analysis found that when all the major provisions of TCJA are in effect, the richest fifth of households will receive 71 percent of the law’s benefits. It also found that if the temporary provisions are extended at through 2026, the richest fifth of households will receive 65 percent of the benefits of that extension that year.
New Study Confirms Offshore Earnings are Flowing into Stock Buybacks, Not Jobs and Investments
September 7, 2018 • By Richard Phillips
A new study by the Federal Reserve found that the evidence so far suggests that the new repatriation tax break has resulted in a surge in stock buybacks and little discernable impact in investment by its biggest beneficiaries, just as critics predicted.
ITEP Testimony “Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force”
August 23, 2018 • By Lisa Christensen Gee
Read the testimony in PDF WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO: THE ARKANSAS TAX REFORM AND RELIEF TASK FORCE Lisa Christensen Gree, Senior State Tax Policy Analyst Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force August 22, 2018 Thank you for the opportunity to submit these […]
State Rundown 8/22: Wayfair Fallout Could Hit the Pavement Soon
August 22, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Arizona voters learned this week that they will have an opportunity this fall to restore school funding through a progressive tax measure. The effects of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision could soon be seen on Michigan and Mississippi roads, as leaders in both states have proposed devoting new online sales tax revenues to infrastructure needs. And new research highlighted in our “What We’re Reading” section discredits one-size-fits-all prescriptions for state economic growth such as supply-side tax-cut orthodoxy, advocating instead for more nuanced and state-specific policymaking.
State Rundown 8/16: November Ballots and 2019 Debates Coming into Focus
August 16, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
Even as the haze from western wildfires reduced visibility across the nation this week, voters got more clarity on what to expect to see on their ballots this fall, particularly in California (commercial property taxes and corporate surcharges), Colorado (income taxes for education), Missouri (gas tax update), and North Dakota (recreational cannabis). Meanwhile, although Virginia lawmakers won’t return until 2019, they got a preview of a clear-headed federal conformity plan they should strongly consider. And look to our “What We’re Reading“ section for further enlightenment from researchers on the [in]effectiveness of charitable contribution credits, the [lack of] wage growth for…
1964: Unconditional War on Poverty; 2018: Unconditional War on the Poor
August 15, 2018 • By Misha Hill
During his first State of the Union address in January 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson declared a War on Poverty in response to a national poverty rate of more than 19 percent. The legislative result of this war was an early education program, expanded funding for secondary education, job training and work opportunity programs and the […]
ITEP in the News
Audio: ITEP's Kamolika Das on the Need for States to Raise Revenue in the Wake of 2025 Trump Tax Law
Business Insider: Mamdani Says if the State Won’t Tax the Wealthiest New Yorkers, He’d Have To Tax the Middle Class as a ‘Last Resort’
KCUR: Eliminating Missouri’s Income Tax Could Actually Cost You More — Unless You’re Rich
Thomson Reuters: OBBB Put Pressure on States to Raise Revenues, Analysts Say
The Hill: Want ‘Affordability?’ Start by Retooling Your State’s Regressive Tax System.
ITEP Work in Action
Policy Matters Ohio: The Great Ohio Tax Shift, 2026
Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center: Testimony Regarding an Act To Manage Federal Tax Changes in Massachusetts
Economic Policy Institute: Everything You Need To Know About “No Tax on Overtime”
The Cascadia Advocate: Five More Claims Against the Million-Dollar Earners’ Tax That Don’t Check Out: Debunking Republicans’ Opposition to SB 6346
Mackinac Center: Lawmakers Should Reject Sales Tax Holidays
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