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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blog April 1, 2024 Five Things to Know About Tax Foundation’s Critique of Maryland’s Worldwide Combined Reporting Proposal
Maryland lawmakers are considering enacting worldwide combined reporting (WWCR), also known as complete reporting. This policy offers a more accurate, and less gameable, way to calculate the amount of profit… -
media mention February 20, 2024 Audio: ITEP’s Carl Davis Talks to Ohio Newsroom About That State’s Upside-Down Tax Code
Ohio’s poorest residents pay a greater percentage of their income to state and local taxes than the richest Ohioans, according to a recent report from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It found that Ohio has the 15th most unequal tax system in the country.
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report February 6, 2024 Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality
Historic and ongoing discrimination have created stark racial disparities in the US, and the racial retirement wealth gap is one such example.
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ITEP Work in Action February 5, 2024 Video: ITEP’s Carl Davis Discusses ‘Who Pays?’ at Rhode Island Revenue Roundtable
ITEP researcher Carl Davis joins the Economic Progress Institute (EPI) for Rhode Island’s Revenue Roundtable.
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media mention January 30, 2024 Audio: ITEP’s Carl Davis Discusses Idaho’s Regressive Tax System
Idaho has the 36th most regressive tax system in the nation, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
The Who Pays report says that low- and middle-income families in Idaho pay more in taxes than the wealthy, and the institute also says that disparity has only gotten worse over the last five years.
May Roberts, Policy Analyst at the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, and Carl Davis, Research Director at the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, joined Idaho Matters to break down the study.
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ITEP Work in Action January 29, 2024 ITEP’s Carl Davis: Who Pays Vermont Taxes?
ITEP Research Director Carl Davis gave a presentation on Vermont’s tax system to that state’s Ways and Means Committee on January 25, 2024. Click here for the slide deck. -
media mention January 29, 2024 CBS News: Vermont Wants to Fix Income Inequality by Raising Taxes on the Rich
Across the U.S., the rich generally pay a lower share of their income in taxes than low earners, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). A recent analysis by the left-leaning think tank found that the average effective state and local tax rate paid by residents to their home state is 7.2% for the top 1% of earners; for the lowest-earning 20%, that rate tops 11%.
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blog January 24, 2024 New Mexico Making Tremendous Progress Making Taxes Less Regressive
Recent tax reforms have helped to bring greater balance to New Mexico’s tax code. A new in-depth look at taxes in all 50 states finds New Mexico is an emerging leader, though there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
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media mention January 23, 2024 Audio: ITEP’s Carl Davis Discusses North Carolina’s Upside-Down Tax Code
Ever since Republicans took control of the North Carolina legislature in 2011, they’ve passed income tax cut after income tax cut and bragged repeatedly of the supposed enormous benefits this has afforded to average North Carolinians
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blog January 22, 2024 Latest Kansas Tax Plan Would Provide an Estimated $875,000 Tax Cut to Charles Koch
Last week, both houses of the Kansas legislature approved a significant tax cut centered around replacing the state’s graduated rate income tax structure with a flat tax instead. The bulk… -
blog January 19, 2024 How the Fairness of State Tax Codes Affects Public Education
The findings of Who Pays? go a long way toward explaining why so many states are failing to raise the amount of revenue needed to provide full and robust support for our public schools.
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media mention January 12, 2024 MarketWatch: Moving to Florida Might Not Be the Tax Play It’s Cracked Up to Be — Unless You’re Loaded
Florida, Texas and Tennessee have become hot real-estate markets in recent years, in part because they offer the allure of low taxes and cheap living costs. But a new analysis of how… -
media mention January 10, 2024 The Guardian: Forty-Four of 50 US States Worsen Inequality with ‘Upside-Down’ Taxes
A total of 44 of the 50 US states worsen inequality by making the wealthy pay a lesser share of their income in taxes than lower income people, a new… -
media mention January 9, 2024 HuffPost: Most States Have Tax Codes That Are Rigged To Benefit The Wealthy: Report
A sweeping new analysis of taxes across the country reveals that in four out of every five states, the top 1% are paying a lower tax rate than their middle-class and… -
blog January 9, 2024 In Most States, the Tax Code Makes Inequality Worse
The vast majority of state and local tax systems are upside-down, with the wealthy paying a far lesser share of their income in taxes than low- and middle-income families. Yet a few states have made strides to buck that trend and have tax codes that are somewhat progressive and therefore do not worsen inequality.
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brief November 7, 2023 Far From Radical: State Corporate Income Taxes Already Often Look Beyond the Water’s Edge
State lawmakers are increasingly interested in reforming their corporate tax bases to start from a comprehensive measure of worldwide profit. This provides a more accurate, and less gameable, starting point for calculating profits subject to state corporate tax. Mandating this kind of filing system, known as worldwide combined reporting (WWCR), would be transformative, as it would all but eliminate state corporate tax avoidance done through the artificial shifting of profits into low-tax countries.
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brief November 2, 2023 America Used to Have a Wealth Tax: The Forgotten History of the General Property Tax
Over time, broad wealth taxes were whittled away to become the narrower property taxes we have today. These selective wealth taxes apply to the kinds of wealth that make up a large share of middle-class families’ net worth (like homes and cars), but usually exempt most of the net worth of the wealthy (like business equity, bonds, and pooled investment funds).The rationale for this pared-back approach to wealth taxation has grown weaker in recent decades as inequality has worsened, the share of wealth held outside of real estate has increased, and the tools needed to administer a broad wealth tax have improved.
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ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2023 ITEP’s Carl Davis: Who Pays New Mexico Taxes?
ITEP Research Director Carl Davis gave a presentation on New Mexico’s tax system to that state’s Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee on October 19, 2023. Click here for the… -
media mention October 20, 2023 Wall Street Journal: How Will States Pay for Roads When Gas Taxes Evaporate?
As electric vehicles become more popular and gasoline sales decline, governments are struggling to find new ways to fund infrastructure. Read more. -
media mention October 15, 2023 Forbes: Mapping Billionaire Wealth: Where The Richest Americans Live Now Vs. Two Decades Ago
Extreme wealth has been consolidating in the United States. Read more. -
map August 15, 2023 Does Your State Offer Tax Credits for Private K-12 School Voucher Contributions?
Twenty-one states provide public support to private and religious K-12 schools through school voucher tax credits.
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ITEP Work in Action August 8, 2023 Video: ITEP’s Carl Davis Presents ‘Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality’ at UPenn’s Wharton School
ITEP Research Director Carl Davis presents “Tax Policy to Reduce Racial Retirement Wealth Inequality,” coauthored with ITEP’s Brakeyshia Samms, at the 2023 Pension Research Council Symposium “Diversity, Inclusion, and Inequality:… -
blog June 12, 2023 Illinois Voucher Tax Credits Don’t ‘Invest in Kids,’ They Invest in Inequality
By allowing their school privatization tax credit to expire at the end of the year, Illinois lawmakers can take a meaningful step toward better tax and education policy, and a clear show of support for our nation’s public education system.
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media mention May 16, 2023 The Texas Tribune: Why Tax Policy Experts Fear the Texas House Plan to Lower Property Taxes Could Have Dire Ripple Effects
Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities… -
blog May 11, 2023 States are Talking About the Wrong Kind of Property Tax Cuts
Concerns over property tax affordability have been at the forefront this year as housing prices have climbed and property tax bills have often increased along with them. As lawmakers mull a range of property tax cuts, circuit breakers are the best possible approach—and these policies are receiving far too little attention in the states.