Carl Davis
Carl Davis is the research director at ITEP, where he has worked since 2008. Carl works on a wide range of issues related to both state and federal tax policy. He has advised policymakers, researchers, and advocates on tax policy issues in nearly every state. Much of his work relates to the link between taxes and economic growth, and the shortcomings of dynamic scoring and supply-side economic theories.
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media mention August 23, 2018 The Hill: Treasury Issues Rules Taking Aim at Blue-State Workarounds to GOP Tax Law
Carl Davis, director of research at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, praised Treasury for taking the same approach to the SALT cap workarounds implemented by blue states… -
media mention August 22, 2018 CNBC: Upcoming IRS Rules Could Chill These Red-State Tax Credit Programs
How the IRS will ultimately proceed remains to be seen, yet experts agree that the agency may take a closer look at programs with generous tax credits. “It’s when you… -
media mention August 1, 2018 Kiplinger: Online Shopping Could Get Pricier
Generally, shoppers who buy from midsize online retailers will be the hardest hit, says Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. South Dakota’s rule requires… -
report July 24, 2018 Rep. Shuster’s Mixed Bag: Doubling the Gas Tax before Repealing It Entirely
This article examines the good aspects of Rep. Shuster’s infrastructure funding plan (a higher gas tax that is indexed to inflation), the bad (a flawed indexing formula and eventual gas tax repeal), and the downright ugly (tying the hands of a funding commission before their work even begins and refusing to ask more of high-income households).
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media mention July 5, 2018 The Bond Buyer: Where SALT Workarounds Are Being Promoted
he $10,000 federal cap on the deductibility of state and local taxes has led to a flurry of activity in red states to promote tax credits for taxpayers’ efforts to… -
media mention July 2, 2018 USA Today: Gas Taxes Rise Sunday in Seven States as AAA Projects Record Travel for July 4th
Massive teacher protests this spring in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky and other states prompted the Oklahoma Legislature to raise taxes on cigarettes, fuel and oil and gas production to pay for… -
media mention June 27, 2018 Bloomberg BNA: Fix’ for Federal Cap on State Tax Deduction? K-12 Tax Credits
But the very same charge can be made against the tax credit programs for private K-12 schools, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in its report. These programs… -
media mention June 27, 2018 Wall Street Journal: As Treasury Targets Workarounds to Tax Law, Impact May Extend Beyond High-Tax States
Tax experts say the federal government will find it difficult if not impossible to write rules to stop the workarounds in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut without also limiting… -
media mention June 27, 2018 Consumer Reports: Sales Tax Ruling May Have Limited Impact
Most states currently have some kind of sales tax, though the amount—and what items or services are taxed—varies widely from state to state. Some experts think states will need to… -
report June 27, 2018 The Other SALT Cap Workaround: Accountants Steer Clients Toward Private K-12 Voucher Tax Credits
On May 23, 2018, the IRS and Treasury Department announced that they “intend to propose regulations addressing the federal income tax treatment of certain payments made by taxpayers for which… -
blog June 26, 2018 Gas Taxes Rise in Seven States, Including an Historic Increase in Oklahoma
A rare sight is coming to Oklahoma. The last time the Sooner State raised its gas tax rate, the Berlin Wall was still standing, and Congress was debating whether to ban smoking on flights shorter than two hours. Fast forward 31 years, and Oklahoma is finally at it again. On Sunday, the state’s gas tax rate will rise by 3 cents and its diesel tax rate by 6 cents. Both taxes will now stand at 19 cents per gallon—still among the lowest in the country. But Oklahoma isn’t the only state where gas taxes will soon rise.
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media mention June 22, 2018 NPR: Supreme Court Ruling Means Some Online Purchases Will Cost More
While the court made clear that the states do not have unlimited power to require sales tax collection, “The court blessed South Dakota’s law,” said Carl Davis, research director for… -
media mention June 22, 2018 New York Times: Supreme Court Widens Reach of Sales Tax for Online Retailers
The decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., was a victory for brick-and-mortar businesses that have long complained they are put at a disadvantage by having to charge sales taxes… -
media mention June 22, 2018 CNBC: Here’s What That Supreme Court Sales Tax Decision Means for You
If you haven’t been doing this, you might get a nasty surprise at checkout if your state successfully pushes online merchants to collect those taxes. “This is about improved enforcement… -
media mention June 22, 2018 CNBC: Trump Celebrates Supreme Court Decision that Could Force His Online Store to Collect More Taxes
The store, which brands itself as “the official retail website of The Trump Organization,” currently names just four states in which it collects sales taxes. Before April, only two were… -
media mention June 22, 2018 Buffalo News: Sales Tax Ruling Will Help Stores Compete Against Online Retailers
Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington think tank, was quoted in The New York Times saying, “State and local governments have really… -
media mention June 22, 2018 Market Insider: Trump Praises Supreme Court Decision on Sales Tax
A Trump Organization representative did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on how the Supreme Court decision could affect TrumpStore.com. When New York was added to… -
blog June 21, 2018 Supreme Court Decision in Wayfair Is a Leap Forward for Sales Tax Modernization
For years, state and local governments have been dealing with a tax enforcement nightmare as out-of-state Internet retailers have refused to collect sales tax. That non-collection was facilitated by a… -
news release June 21, 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Decision Brings Overdue Fairness to Retail Sales Tax
Following is a statement by Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. Mr. Davis has authored numerous policy briefs regarding how online retailers that fail to collect sales taxes deprive states of necessary sales tax revenue and maintain an unfair advantage over bricks and mortar retailers.
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media mention June 9, 2018 Springfield (Mass) Republican: Tax Breaks That Help Students Attend Private School Could Be Repealed
“This is a brand new tax break that was created automatically by an obscure linkage to federal law, and whether lawmakers want to offer it or not is worth discussing,”… -
media mention June 4, 2018 CNBC: Donate to charitable funds and nab a tax break in these states — for now
How the IRS will ultimately proceed remains to be seen, but experts agree that the agency may take a closer look at programs with generous tax credits. “It’s when you… -
blog May 24, 2018 As IRS Prepares to Act, Red-State Taxpayers Profit from Use of SALT “Workaround Credits”
A new ITEP report explains the close parallels between the new workaround credits and existing state tax credits, including those benefiting private schools. The report comes the same day that the IRS and Treasury Department announced they would seek new regulations related to these tax credits. It notes that the SALT workarounds are emblematic of a broader weakness with the federal charitable deduction. And it cautions regulators to avoid a “narrow fix” that will only address the newest SALT workarounds (which, so far, have only been enacted in blue states) without also addressing other abuses of the deduction, which have long been employed by red states.
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media mention May 24, 2018 Reuters: U.S. Treasury Readies Crackdown on SALT Workarounds
But the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, warned that narrow action could have unintended consequences for federal charitable donations if the government imposes arbitrary distinctions between… -
media mention May 24, 2018 New York Times: I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap
Carl Davis, the research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, said that Alabama provides a 100 percent state tax credit for taxpayers who donate money… -
media mention May 24, 2018 Washington Times: Treasury Department Warns States over SALT Workarounds
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, issued a new report Wednesday warning the Treasury not to single out the blue states, saying if they’re going…