Recent Work by ITEP

Preventing an Overload: How Property Tax Circuit Breakers Promote Housing Affordability

May 11, 2023 • By Brakeyshia Samms, Carl Davis

Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.

State Rundown 5/10: Momentum on State Tax Credits Continues to Build

May 10, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

This week, in states across the country the momentum to center improvements to family economic security remains strong...

Voters Could Approve Local Capital Gains Tax in Oregon

May 10, 2023 • By Kamolika Das

At nearly every turn, Oregon’s tax policies widen inequality; as a result, the top 1 percent pay less state and local taxes as a share of income than the poorest residents. Taxing capital gains at the local level is an important and exciting move in the other direction – to tax income from wealth and use it to address crucial needs.

The House’s Debt Ceiling Smoke Screen: The GOP Budget Plan Gives Cover for Tax Cuts for the Rich

May 9, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

While it isn’t reasonable in the first place for Congress to debate whether it will pay the bills it has already incurred, some of the same lawmakers who are holding the economy hostage to exact budget cuts have decided to make the conversation even more irrational by proposing to increase deficits with tax cuts that enrich the already rich.

Congress Should Raise Taxes on the Rich, But That’s a Totally Separate Issue from the Debt Ceiling

May 9, 2023 • By Steve Wamhoff

Congress absolutely should raise taxes on the rich and on corporations to generate revenue and improve the fairness of our tax code. President Biden has several proposals to do exactly that. But this is an entirely separate question from whether we should raise the debt ceiling to honor the debts the nation has already incurred and avoid an economic apocalypse.

Minnesota Poised to Enact Landmark Loophole-Closing Corporate Tax Reforms

May 7, 2023 • By Matthew Gardner

With Minnesota poised to enact worldwide combined reporting of corporate income taxes, business lobbyists are pulling out all the stops to make state lawmakers believe the apocalypse is upon them.

Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates

May 4, 2023 • By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

State Rundown 5/3: Policy Debates Unfold from Capitol to Capital

May 3, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

While the conversations on the debt ceiling heat up in the nation's capital, debates on state tax policy also continue to unfold in capitol buildings across the nation...

The GOP is Finally Ready to Raise Taxes. (Or, When a Tax Hike is Not a Tax Hike.)

May 3, 2023 • By Joe Hughes

House Republicans recently voted to rescind the green energy and electric vehicle tax credits that were enacted last Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. This newfound willingness to raise taxes stands in contrast to the recent position of almost the entire House Republican Caucus.

Minnesota Lawmakers Re-Envision State Tax System to Center Equity

May 3, 2023 • By Neva Butkus

Minnesota’s House, Senate and Governor’s office have each proposed their own vision as to how the state should maximize its $17.5 billion surplus and raise new revenue, and these tax plans make one thing clear: Minnesota lawmakers are serious about using tax policy to advance tax equity and improve the lives of Minnesotans.