Recent Work by ITEP

State Rundown 9/26: Shady State Business Tax Subsidies Coming to Light

September 26, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Lawmakers in Michigan and New Hampshire made progress toward enacting their state budgets, though Michigan may yet end up in a government shutdown. Leaders in Wyoming advanced a proposal to create a limited tax on large corporations to raise some revenue and add a progressive element to their state’s tax code. Georgia agencies are forced to recommend their own funding cuts amid state income tax cuts. And business tax subsidies are looking particularly bad in Maryland, where subsidy money has been handed out without verification that companies were creating jobs, and New Jersey, where a false threat to leave the…

A Well-Designed Carbon Tax Could Curb Emissions, Offset Costs for Many Families

September 26, 2019 • By Carl Davis

A well-designed carbon tax package—that is, levied at a sufficiently high rate and paired with equitable offsets for lower- and middle-income families—could improve both our environment and the fairness of our tax system.

Maine Reaches Tax Fairness Milestone

September 26, 2019 • By Guest Blogger

Lawmakers in Maine this year took bold steps toward making the state’s tax system fairer. Their actions demonstrate that political will can dramatically alter state tax policy landscape to improve economic well-being for low-income families while also ensuring the wealthy pay a fairer share.

State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools: 2019 Update on Four Key Policies in All 50 States

September 26, 2019 • By Aidan Davis

This report presents a comprehensive overview of anti-poverty tax policies, surveys tax policy decisions made in the states in 2019 and offers recommendations that every state should consider to help families rise out of poverty. States can jump start their anti-poverty efforts by enacting one or more of four proven and effective tax strategies to reduce the share of taxes paid by low- and moderate-income families: state Earned Income Tax Credits, property tax circuit breakers, targeted low-income credits, and child-related tax credits.

Options for a Less Regressive Sales Tax in 2019

September 26, 2019 • By Aidan Davis

Sales taxes are one of the most important revenue sources for state and local governments; however, they are also among the most unfair taxes, falling more heavily on low- and middle-income households. Therefore, it is important that policymakers nationwide find ways to make sales taxes more equitable while preserving this important source of funding for public services. This policy brief discusses two approaches to a less regressive sales tax: broad-based exemptions and targeted sales tax credits.

Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through State Tax Codes in 2019

September 26, 2019 • By Aidan Davis

The high cost of quality child care is a budget constraint for many working families and particularly daunting for parents who are working but earning low wages. Most families with children need one or more incomes to make ends meet which means child care expenses are an increasingly unavoidable and unaffordable expense. This policy brief examines state tax policy tools that can be used to make child care more affordable: a dependent care tax credit modeled after the federal program and a deduction for child care expenses.

Property Tax Circuit Breakers in 2019

September 26, 2019 • By Aidan Davis

State lawmakers seeking to make residential property taxes more affordable have two broad options: across-the-board tax cuts for taxpayers at all income levels, such as a homestead exemption or a tax cap, and targeted tax breaks that are given only to particular groups of low- and middle-income taxpayers. This policy brief surveys the advantages and disadvantages of the circuit breaker approach to reducing property taxes.

Boosting Incomes and Improving Tax Equity with State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2019

September 26, 2019 • By Aidan Davis

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a policy designed to bolster the incomes of low-wage workers and offset some of the taxes they pay, providing the opportunity for families struggling to afford the high cost of living to step up and out of poverty toward meaningful economic security. The federal EITC has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since its enactment in the mid-1970s. Over the past several decades, the effectiveness of the EITC has been magnified as many states have enacted and later expanded their own credits.

Wealth Tax Proposals from Warren and Sanders: What You Should Know

September 25, 2019 • By Steve Wamhoff

Earlier this year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed a federal wealth tax on a handful of U.S. households with the highest net worth. Sen. Bernie Sanders has just announced his own wealth tax proposal, which is similar to Warren’s. A few other presidential candidates say they support the concept although they have not provided any details. Here's what you need to know about the potential for a federal wealth tax.

Business Roundtable Members’ Social Responsibility Pledges are Easily Made, and Easily Broken

September 20, 2019 • By Matthew Gardner

It was this side of last month that the Business Roundtable made headlines by announcing its new vision of the purpose of a corporation. More than 180 corporate leaders signed the statement, which declared corporations will prioritize the communities in which they work⁠—instead of shareholder value. But for some corporations, the Business Roundtable statement is yesterday’s news, and they are commencing with business as usual.