ITEP – Page 156 – Informing tax policy debate nationwide

report February 1, 2013
Kansas Governor's New Plan Increases Taxes on Poor Yet Slashes Revenue by $340 Million

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback proposed, for the second straight year, major tax changes during his State of the State speech. These new changes include lowering the tax rates to 1.9 and 3.5 percent, eliminating itemized deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes paid, and raising the sales tax.
report January 23, 2013
More Inaccuracies, Bigger Omissions: Arthur Laffer's Newest Study of Income Tax Repeal Falls Short

Arthur Laffer’s consulting firm–Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics (ALME)–has released a report purporting to show that North Carolina could usher in an economic boom if it repeals its personal and corporate income taxes and replaces them primarily with a much larger sales tax. Prepared for the Civitas Institute, “More Jobs, Bigger Paychecks” relies on an economic analysis that is fundamentally flawed to the point of making it entirely useless.
report January 11, 2013
Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes Amounts to a Tax Increase on Bottom 80 Percent of Louisianans

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has said that he supports the elimination of the state’s personal and corporate income taxes. In fiscal year 2012, Louisiana collected nearly $3 billion in revenues from its personal and corporate income taxes.
report December 13, 2012
Previewing Tax Reform in the States: National Trends and State-specific Prospects for 2013

Following an election that left half the states with veto-proof legislative majorities, 39 states with one-party rule and more than a dozen with governors who put tax reform high on their agendas, 2013 promises to be a big year for changes to state tax laws.
brief December 1, 2012
Tax Principles: Building Blocks of A Sound Tax System

The fundamental purpose of taxation is to raise the revenue necessary to fund public services. While there are many ways to achieve this goal, a widely agreed-upon set of principles should be used to evaluate tax systems. This policy brief provides a basic overview of five commonly cited principles of sound tax policy: equity, adequacy, simplicity, exportability, and neutrality.
report October 1, 2012
Five Steps Toward a Better Tax Expenditure Debate

Almost without exception, state lawmakers do not closely scrutinize special tax credits, exemptions, and other “tax expenditures” on a regular basis. A recent report by the Pew Center on the States found, for example, that half the states have done nothing even remotely rigorous in the last five years to determine if even a single one of their economic development tax incentives is working.
report September 13, 2012
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools

The tax systems of virtually every state are pushing poor families deeper into poverty. But state tax systems also have the potential to play a role in fighting poverty. The four low-income tax credits discussed in this report are among the most cost-effective anti-poverty strategies available to lawmakers: the Earned Income Tax Credit, property tax circuit breakers, targeted low-income tax credits, and child-related tax credits. This report identifies the states in which each of these credits is offered, and provides specific recommendations tailored to policymakers in each state as they work to combat poverty.
report August 27, 2012
Most of Indiana Tax Rate Cut Would Flow to Upper-Income Taxpayers
Alternative Could Provide Larger Tax Cuts for Most Hoosiers Indiana gubernatorial candidate, and current U.S. Representative, Mike Pence recently unveiled his plan to cut the…
brief August 1, 2012
Corporate Income Tax Apportionment and the "Single Sales Factor"

One of the thorniest problems in administering state corporate income taxes is how to distribute the profits of multi-state corporations among the states in which they operate. Ultimately, each corporation’s profits should be taxed in their entirety, but some corporations pay no tax at all on a portion of their profits. This problem has emerged, in part, due to recent state efforts to manipulate the “apportionment rules” that distribute such profits. This policy brief explains how apportionment rules work and assesses the effectiveness of special apportionment rules such as “single sales factor” as economic development tools.
brief August 1, 2012
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes

For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in helping states to adequately fund public services in a way that exempts middle- and low income taxpayers.