Recent Work by ITEP

Evaluating Special Session Revenue-Raising Options

February 26, 2010 • By ITEP Staff

In a special legislative session starting March 1, the New Mexico Legislature will consider a variety of revenue-raising options to close the state’s budget deficit. Some of the options under consideration—especially those approved by the state Senate earlier this year—would fall much more heavily on low- and middle-income families than on the best-off New Mexicans. […]

Determining the Statewide Sales Tax Rate Under SJR 29 and HJR 56

February 9, 2010 • By ITEP Staff

Senate Joint Resolution 29 and House Joint Resolution 56 are currently being debated in the Missouri Legislature. The proposals would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to dramatically change the state’s revenue structure by eliminating the individual income and corporate income/franchise taxes and replacing them with a greatly expanded sales tax. The new statewide […]

Testimony on SJR 29: Income Tax Repeal

January 28, 2010 • By ITEP Staff

In evaluating SJR 29, policymakers should have a clear understanding of how broad the tax base could actually be under such a plan, what the tax rate would actually have to be in order to make the plan revenue-neutral overall, and how the plan overall would affect Missourians at different income levels. My testimony presents […]

Five Reasons to Preserve Maryland’s “Millionaires’ Tax”

January 8, 2010 • By ITEP Staff

In 2008, to compensate for the anticipated loss of revenue due to the repeal of a law subjecting the provision of computer services to the state’s sales tax, Maryland enacted a temporary change in its income tax. That change, which is in effect only through the end of this year, created a new top income […]

Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States 3rd Edition

November 18, 2009 • By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner

Who Pays? is a comprehensive analysis of state and local tax systems in all fifty states. The study, released on November 18, 2009, shows that on average, state and local tax systems require the poorest taxpayers to pay the highest effective tax rates. Read the Full Report (PDF)

A Progressive Strategy for Meeting Illinois’ Current and Future Revenue Needs

October 19, 2009 • By Matthew Gardner

Over the course of the past year, Illinois’ personal income tax has received a great deal of attention. In March, Governor Pat Quinn put forward a plan to raise the existing income tax rate of 3 percent to 4.5 percent and to increase the value of personal and dependent exemptions from $2,000 to $6,000; the […]

Where Have All of Maryland’s Millionaires Gone?

September 29, 2009 • By ITEP Staff

A more thorough examination of preliminary tax return data for 2007 and 2008 suggests that, while Maryland millionaires may have moved, their most likely destination was a different income group. Read the Full Report (PDF)

Perspective on Arizona’s Tax Structure – Past, Present, and Future (PowerPoint)

August 24, 2009 • By ITEP Staff

Download the Powerpoint Presentation

Recent Assertions about State Tax Increases Don’t Hold Much Water [Revised Aug 7, 2009]

August 7, 2009 • By ITEP Staff

A more careful examination of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data for the period from 1997 to 2006 reveals a far different picture, however. They show that the number of “rich” taxpayers (federal income tax filers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) in excess of $200,000) rose considerably in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York over the […]

Testimony before the Maryland Business Tax Commission

July 9, 2009 • By ITEP Staff

Consequently, combined reporting represents the most comprehensive option available to states seeking to halt the erosion of their corporate tax bases and to curtail corporate tax avoidance. It ensures that form – specifically, the form in which corporations choose to organize themselves, which may be manipulated to reduce their tax liabilities – does not triumph […]