Recent Work by ITEP

TurboTax Is a Case Study for Why the IRS Should Administer Free File Program

March 9, 2020 • By Jenice Robinson

TurboTax and other online tax preparation companies rely on complicating tax filing and limiting competition as part of their business model.

Talking Taxes in Alaska

March 6, 2020 • By Carl Davis

Alaska’s tax system underwent major changes in the 1970s when oil was found at Prudhoe Bay. Lawmakers repealed the state’s personal income tax (making Alaska the only state ever to do so) and began balancing the state’s budget primarily with oil tax and royalty revenue instead. But as oil prices and production levels have declined, a yawning gap has opened between state revenues and the cost of providing vital public services.

State Rundown 3/4: Sun Shining on Progressive Tax Efforts This Week

March 4, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

Wisconsin’s expansion of a capital gains tax break for high-income households represents a dark spot on this week’s state fiscal news, and the growing threat of COVID-19 is casting an ominous shadow over all of it, but otherwise the picture is pleasantly sunny, featuring small steps forward for sound, progressive tax policy. An initiative to create a graduated income tax in Illinois, for example, got a vote of confidence from a major ratings agency, while a similar effort went public in Michigan and two progressive income tax improvements were debated in Rhode Island. Gas tax updates made encouraging progress in…

ITEP Testimony Regarding Connecticut Senate Bill 16, An Act Concerning the Adult Use of Cannabis

March 4, 2020 • By Carl Davis

This testimony explains the advantages of the cannabis tax structure proposed in Connecticut’s Senate Bill 16 and offers additional background information as well as ideas for potential changes to the bill.

Administration Once Again Touts Misleading Information on 2017 Tax Law

March 3, 2020 • By Matthew Gardner

The Trump administration has remained consistently on message about its 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. More than two years after the passage of the law, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is still forlornly attempting to portray it as a boon for working families, despite mounds of evidence to the contrary. Earlier this week the Treasury […]

The Latest Wildly Misleading Argument Against Taxing the Rich

March 2, 2020 • By Steve Wamhoff

Anti-tax activists’ convoluted claims that the rich pay too much in taxes broke new ground with an op-ed published last week in the Wall Street Journal. Penned by former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and John Early, a former official of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the piece is particularly misleading. The so-called evidence in support of their argument against raising taxes on the rich fails to correctly calculate effective tax rates.

State Rundown 2/27: Leaps Forward Needed for Tax Justice

February 27, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

This weekend’s Leap Day should be a welcome extra day for state lawmakers, advocates, and observers who care about tax and budget policy, as there is an overflow of proposals and information to digest. Most importantly, as emphasized in our “What We’re Reading” section, there are never enough days in a month to do justice to the importance of Black History Month and Black Futures Month. In state-specific debates, Oregon and Washington leaders are hoping to take a leap forward in raising funds for homelessness and housing affordability measures. Lawmakers in West Virginia and Wisconsin could use a day to…

Federal Inaction on the Gas Tax is Costing Us Dearly

February 26, 2020 • By Carl Davis

Lawmakers should keep in mind that transportation funding woes can be traced to the federal government’s extremely outdated gas tax rate, which has not been raised in more than 26 years⁠—not even to keep up with inflation.

Tax Cuts Floated by White House Advisors Are an Attempt to Deflect from TCJA’s Failings

February 21, 2020 • By ITEP Staff, Jenice Robinson, Steve Wamhoff

Now that multiple data points reveal the current administration, which promised to look out for the common man, is, in fact, presiding over an upward redistribution of wealth, the public is being treated to pasta policymaking in which advisors are conducting informal public opinion polling by throwing tax-cut ideas against the wall to see if any stick. But the intent behind these ideas is as transparent as a glass noodle.

State Rundown 2/20: Property Taxes and School Finance Take Center Stage

February 20, 2020 • By ITEP Staff

Property taxes and education funding are a major focus in state fiscal debates this week. California voters will soon vote on borrowing billions of dollars to fill just part of the funding hole created in large part by 1978’s anti-property-tax Proposition 13. Nebraska lawmakers are debating major school finance changes that some fear will create similar long-term fiscal issues. And Idaho and South Dakota leaders are looking to avoid that fate by reducing property taxes in ways that will target the families who most need the help. Meanwhile, Arkansas, Nevada, and New Hampshire are taking close looks at their transportation…