ITEP – Page 81 – Informing tax policy debate nationwide

blog September 12, 2019
Why Are Ideologues Trying to Downplay Poverty and Economic Inequality?

Our elected officials should pause and check the pulse of the nation. The public is aware of the great income divide and likely isn’t keen on an agenda that would use sleight of hand to “reduce” poverty and spend less on domestic programs—particularly when that agenda is in tandem with using the tax code to further boost income for the wealthy.
blog September 12, 2019
State Rundown 9/12: Work Continues to Flip the Script on Backwards Tax Codes

Residents of several states are spending their palindrome week reading ballot initiatives forwards and backwards to decide whether or not to support them, including measures to improve education funding in California and Idaho, allow Alaska and Colorado to invest more in public services, and constitutionally prohibit income taxation in Texas. New Jersey lawmakers are giving the same thorough treatment to the state’s corporate tax subsidies. And advocates in Chicago, Illinois, have a bold proposal to flip the script on upside-down taxes there. But devotees of good policy and honest government in North Carolina won’t want to re-read yesterday’s news in any order.
blog September 12, 2019
Sen. Wyden’s Anti-Deferral Accounting Proposal Could Be a Game-Changer
Today, Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, fulfilled a promise he made several months ago to release a proposal that…
September 12, 2019
Comments on Senate Finance Committee Paper on Anti-Deferral Accounting

Comments on Senate Finance Committee Paper on Anti-Deferral Accounting
report September 12, 2019
Promoting Greater Economic Security Through A Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit: Analyses of Six Policy Design Options

A new report reveals that a city-level, Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit would boost the economic security of 546,000 to 1 million of the city’s working families. ITEP produced a cost and distributional analysis of six EITC policy designs, which outlines the average after-tax income boost for families at varying income levels. The most generous policy option would increase after-tax income for more than 1 million working families with an
average benefit, depending on income, ranging from $898 to $1,426 per year.
blog September 10, 2019
Census Numbers Show the Power of the Tax Code to Direct Resources to Low-Income Families

Refundable federal tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), lifted 7.9 million people out of poverty in 2018. This latest analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates the power of federal programs to alleviate poverty and help low-income families keep up with the increasing cost of living.
blog September 10, 2019
How Tax Policy Can Help Mitigate Poverty, Address Income Inequality

Analysts at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy have produced multiple recent briefs and reports that provide insight on how current and proposed tax policies affect family economic security and income inequality.
report September 10, 2019
Major Federal Tax Credit Proposals

In 2019, several federal lawmakers have introduced tax credit proposals to significantly expand existing tax credits or create new ones to benefit low- and moderate-income people. While these proposals vary a great deal and take different approaches, all build off the success of the EITC and CTC and target their benefits to families in the bottom 60 percent of the income distribution who have an annual household income of $70,000 or less.
map September 6, 2019
How Do State Tax Sales of Over-the-Counter Medication?
While most states levy general sales taxes on items that consumers purchase every day, those taxes often contain carveouts for some necessities such as rent,…
blog September 4, 2019
Why Local Jurisdictions’ Heavy Reliance on Fines and Fees Is a Tax Policy Issue

The exposé (Addicted to Fines: Small Towns Are Dangerously Dependent) raises two important issues that policymakers have the power to address. One, lack of revenue at the local level is linked to a broader challenge with state tax systems. Two, fines and fees often entrap lower-income people in a cycle of debt and, in some jurisdictions, ultimately criminalize poverty by casting unpaid fines as misdemeanor crimes.