Pennsylvania
Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said efforts to raise state taxes to pay for roads and bridges exploded this year. In 2013 and 2014, four states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) increased their gas taxes, while Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island indexed the gas tax to either […]
Read this report in PDF form Introduction For years, academics and transportation experts have been discussing the possibility of taxing drivers for each mile they travel on the nation’s roads. This “vehicle miles traveled tax” (VMT tax) could either supplement or replace the existing gas tax as the primary method of funding transportation infrastructure. To […]
The federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the single most important mechanism for funding maintenance and improvements to the nation's transportation infrastructure. Absent Congressional action, however, the HTF will face insolvency at the end of July. Unfortunately, despite the critical importance of infrastructure to the U.S. economy, the condition of the HTF has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that imminent insolvency has become entirely normal.
USA Today: The Tax Even Republicans Like
April 13, 2015
And one state can start a wave. For example, Virginia reformed its gas tax in 2013, making it easier for neighbors like Maryland and Pennsylvania to follow, says Carl Davis, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “States notice what other states are doing.” Iowa’s new law will help Smith’s case […]
State governments provide a wide array of tax breaks for their elderly residents. Almost every state that levies an income tax now allows some form of income tax exemption or credit for citizens over age 65 that is unavailable to non-elderly taxpayers. And most states provide special property tax breaks to the elderly. Unfortunately, too many of these breaks are poorly-targeted, unsustainable, and unfair. This policy brief surveys federal and state approaches to reducing taxes for older adults and suggests options for designing less costly and better targeted tax breaks for elderly taxpayers.
The Daily Item: Tax the Rich More
March 16, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania at No. 6 in the Institute’s “Terrible 10” states that taxes low income earners up to seven times as much of their income in taxes as the top 1 percent are taxed on their income. Washington, Florida and Texas top the list of the “Terrible 10” […]
The Albany Times Union: Bad But Could Be Worse
March 11, 2015
New York is regularly ranked as one of the worst states in the nation for taxes. But a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that New York’s tax policies are actually some of the best for average people. That’s because some tax structures grab a larger percentage of take-home pay of middle- […]
The Patriot News: There’s a Reason Pennsylvania Makes the Top 10 Terrible Tax States
March 11, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania at number six in the its “Terrible 10” states that tax low income earners up to seven times as much, as a percentage of income, as the top one percent are taxed. Washington, Florida and Texas top the list of the “Terrible 10” states, and Delaware, Montana […]
Philadelphia Inquirer: Your Tax Plan’s Weird
March 3, 2015
But the leaked details on the income tax and sales tax proposals make no sense. Most experts will tell you that one of the biggest problems in Pennsylvania is income inequality — and our tax policy contributes to that. (The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania as the 8th most regressive state in […]
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Better Choices Coalition Releases 19 Ideas to Make Pa.’s Tax System Fairer
March 3, 2015
“A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy named Pennsylvania the sixth most unfair state and local tax system for low- to moderate-income families. The recommendations we are making today not only raise sustainable revenue for critical services like education and health care, but also make our tax system fairer for all […]
The federal government and many states are seeing shortfalls in their transportation budgets in part because the gasoline taxes they use to generate those funds are poorly designed. Thirty-one states and the federal government levy "fixed-rate" gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even as the cost of infrastructure materials inevitably increases over time. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over 22 years. And twenty states have gone a decade or more without a gas tax increase.
NPR All Things Considered: Failing Bridges Take a Toll
February 11, 2015
“Asphalt costs are higher, machinery costs are higher. Construction workers’ wages are usually higher,” says Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. “So the revenues that we’re chipping in aren’t keeping pace with the costs that we have.” Davis says the federal government can borrow money to fund transportation projects. […]
Major tax overhauls are on the agenda in a record number of states, and “Who Pays?” documents in state-by-state detail the precise distribution of state income taxes, sales and excise taxes and property taxes paid by each income group as of January 2013. It is a critical baseline against which future proposals can be measured. […]
Slate: Republicans Are Finally Talking About Income Inequality
January 24, 2015
The problem is that this shifts the tax burden from the top to the bottom. In other words, it’s upward redistribution of wealth that harms the least well-off. And while the vast majority of states have tax systems that hit low-income Americans the hardest, these effects are worst in conservative states, where the highest tax […]
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays? Pa.’s Tax System Grows More Regressive: Low-Income Pay Highest Share of Income in Taxes
January 21, 2015
Pennsylvania’s ranking worsened on a biennial report card measuring the fairness of state and local taxes, according to a study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. Middle-income Pennsylvanians pay two times more in taxes as a share of income than the wealthiest earners, and […]
Pittsburg Tribune Review: Incoming Gov. Targets Higher Earners
January 20, 2015
The newly released 2015 “Who Pays” report from the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found Pennsylvania has the sixth-most-inequitable tax system in the nation. Combining the total burdens of sales, property and income taxes, the report found the top 1 percent of earners pay 4.2 percent of their income in taxes. The lowest […]
WITF: PA’s taxes among the most regressive
January 16, 2015
A new report finds Pennsylvania remains on a list of the “Terrible 10” states with the most regressive tax policies. The non-partisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy finds that the poorest residents pay nearly three times what the wealthy pay in taxes as a share of income. Middle-income earners pay twice as much as […]
WESA: PA’s Taxes Among the Most Regressive
January 16, 2015
“A new report finds Pennsylvania remains on a list of the “Terrible 10” — states with the most regressive tax policies. The non-partisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy finds that the poorest residents pay nearly three times what the wealthy pay in taxes as a share of income. Middle-income earners pay twice as much […]
The Citizens Voice: Tax burden unfair
January 16, 2015
As legislative leaders in Harrisburg refuse to implement a tax on Marcellus Shale gas extraction and to close tax loopholes for wealthy interests, a new study reveals the consequences of such policy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, has conducted an analysis of all 50 states and found that Pennsylvania’s […]
News Works: Pennsylvania’s taxes among the most regressive
January 16, 2015
“A new report finds Pennsylvania remains on a list of the “Terrible 10” states with the most regressive tax policies. The nonpartisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy finds that the poorest residents pay nearly three times what the wealthy pay in taxes as a share of income. Middle-income earners pay twice as much as […]
Salon: Defiant Sam Brownback vows to move toward zero income tax — and make Kansas even more unequal
January 16, 2015
“A study released this week underscores one of the most pernicious effects of such a tax regime: It exacerbates inequality. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that “[v]irtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair,” with state and local taxes eating disproportionately into lower-income workers’ wages. But the effect was far worse in […]
The Scranton Times-Tribune: State tax policy averts fairness
January 16, 2015
“As legislative leaders in Harrisburg refuse to implement a tax on Marcellus Shale gas extraction and to close tax loopholes for wealthy interests, a new study reveals the consequences of such policy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, has conducted an analysis of all 50 states and found that Pennsylvania’s […]
The Patriot-News: Pennsylvania’s taxes are regressive; is that fair? The Numbers Racket
January 16, 2015
“You will be shocked – shocked! – to learn that in Pennsylvania, state and local taxes are a much heavier burden on the poor and middle class than they are on the wealthiest residents. The poorest fifth of non-elderly Pennsylvania families pay 12 percent of their income in state and local taxes, according to The […]
USA Today: New Year Brings Hundreds of New Laws
January 5, 2015
Drivers in five states could see gasoline prices rise with gas tax increases, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax watchdog group. The biggest increase is in Pennsylvania, 9.8 cents, followed by Virginia, 5.1 cents; Maryland, 2.9 cents; North Carolina, 1 cent; and Florida, 0.3 cents. New York, Nebraska, Vermont, West […]
NPR: Gas Tax Hike to Fuel Fixes to Roads and Bridges
December 9, 2014
“There’s kind of been a switch that’s been flipped,” says Carl Davis, a senior analyst with the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Davis says gas tax increases are now on the table in states across the country, from New Jersey to Utah to South Carolina to South Dakota. Democratic governors in Delaware, Vermont […]
