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 January 4, 2023 Vox: The Ultrarich are Getting Cozy in America’s Tax Havens at Everyone Else’s Expense
More states are slashing or eliminating taxes, lessening the burden mostly for the wealthy. What does that cost the rest of us? Read more. -
media mention November 11, 2022 Policy for the People Podcast: Our Labor, Their Fortunes: Billionaires Capture Oregon’s Wealth
Wealth inequality is at mind-boggling levels in Oregon and elsewhere. Listen to Research Director Carl Davis talk about the trends here. -
blog October 31, 2022 Tax Foundation’s ‘State Business Tax Climate Index’ Bears Little Connection to Business Reality
The big problem with the Index is that it peddles a solution that not only falls short of the goal of generating business investment, but one that actively harms state lawmakers’ ability to provide the kinds of public goods – like good schools and modern, efficient transportation networks – that businesses need and want.
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media mention October 13, 2022 Insider: These Are the Wealthiest US States, According to a New Report — and a Wealth Tax on the Country’s Richest Would Raise $415 Billion
Wealth inequality has been on the rise over the last few decades, and some states have residents sitting on a whole lot of cash. A new report from the Institute on… -
report October 13, 2022 The Geographic Distribution of Extreme Wealth in the U.S.
More than one in four dollars of wealth in the U.S. is held by a tiny fraction of households with net worth over $30 million. Nationally, we estimate that wealth over $30 million per household will reach $26 trillion in 2022 with roughly one-fifth of that amount ($4.5 trillion) held by billionaires.
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media mention September 3, 2022 Yahoo: Handful of States Debate Whether to Tax Forgiven Student Loans
A handful of states could still end up taxing President Biden’s recently announced student loan forgiveness of up to $20,000. Read more. -
blog June 10, 2022 Rising Prices: Another Reason to Be Wary of Tax Cutting Right Now
Many state lawmakers see any economic challenge as an excuse to cut taxes and in 2022, some are citing inflation as a reason to do so. All eyes today are… -
media mention June 2, 2022 Wall Street Journal: States Help Business Owners Save Billions in Federal Taxes
“That’s logical from any individual state’s perspective, but in the big national scheme of things, it’s hard to see how this is a good thing,” said Carl Davis, research director… -
media mention April 27, 2022 The Hill: Pot taxes surpass those from alcohol in legalization states
The report, from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, found the 11 states where marijuana is legal pulled in just shy of $3 billion in excise taxes on pot… -
blog April 19, 2022 Cannabis Taxes Outraised Alcohol by 20 Percent in States with Legal Sales Last Year
In 2021, the 11 states that allowed legal sales within their borders raised nearly $3 billion in cannabis excise tax revenue, an increase of 33 percent compared to a year earlier. While the tax remains a small part of state budgets, it’s beginning to eclipse other “sin taxes” that states have long had on the books.
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media mention March 30, 2022 WVTF Radio: A gas tax holiday may not lead to savings for Virginia drivers
About a third of the savings will go to the oil industry, according to research into how this worked when Indiana and Illinois had a gas tax holiday. But that… -
blog March 16, 2022 State Gas Tax Holidays are Nothing to Celebrate
It’s unlikely that state gas tax holidays will meaningfully benefit consumers, and they come with risks for states’ infrastructure quality.
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media mention December 21, 2021 Zero Hedge: American “Super Rich” Feel “Immense Relief” As ‘BBB’ Tax Hikes Are Canceled
Of course, a bunch of admittedly left-leaning economists say the Democrats’ plan would help “reduce inequality.” Though many of Democrats’ more radical tax proposals were scaled back or dropped in… -
media mention December 20, 2021 Bloomberg: Super-Rich Americans Feel Relief as Tax Hikes Canceled for Now
Though many of Democrats’ more radical tax proposals were scaled back or dropped in negotiations, the bill would be “a meaningful step for reducing inequality,” said Carl Davis, research director… -
media mention December 10, 2021 Bloomberg: SALT Debate Forces Rich Americans to Confront Widening Tax Gap
Lawmakers in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma have also approved cuts to their top personal income tax going into effect either this year… -
media mention December 7, 2021 Tax Notes: Looking Ahead: State Tax Policy Trends To Watch Next Year
This pod cast features ITEP research director Carl Davis: https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2021/12/07/looking-ahead-state-tax-policy-trends-to-watch-next-year/?sh=7f2a4ba02add -
report November 18, 2021 Analysis of the House of Representatives’ Build Back Better Legislation
If the bill becomes law, in 2022 federal taxes would go up for the average taxpayer among the richest one percent and down for the average taxpayer in other income groups.
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blog November 9, 2021 Paying The Estate Tax Shouldn’t Be Optional for the Super Rich
ProPublica this year released multiple exposés revealing how the nation’s wealthiest individuals and families avoid taxes on an unimaginable scale. Most recently, it uncovered Republican and Democratic elected officials and political… -
media mention October 6, 2021 Yahoo! Finance: Democrats’ tax plan makes ‘baby steps’ toward racial wealth equity
By lifting up families at the bottom through tax credits and taxing affluent households more, Democrats can help narrow the racial wealth gap. But their latest plan may not be… -
blog October 4, 2021 State Income Tax Reform Can Bring Us Closer to Racial Equity
To pave the way for a more racially equitable future, states must move away from poorly designed, regressive policies that solidify the vast inequalities that exist today.
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report October 4, 2021 State Income Taxes and Racial Equity: Narrowing Racial Income and Wealth Gaps with State Personal Income Taxes
10 state personal income tax reforms that offer the most promising routes toward narrowing racial income and wealth gaps through the tax code.
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blog September 28, 2021 Reforming Federal Capital Gains Taxes Would Benefit States, Too
Congress’s action or inaction on federal tax changes under consideration in the Build Back Better plan could have important implications for states on many fronts. One critical area of note is at the foundation of income tax law: setting the definition of income that most states will use in administering their own income taxes.
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blog September 3, 2021 Frequently Asked Questions about Proposals to Repeal the Cap on Federal Tax Deductions for State and Local Taxes (SALT)
Even though Democrats in Congress uniformly opposed the TCJA because its benefits went predominately to the rich, many Democratic lawmakers now want to give a tax cut to the rich by repealing the cap on SALT deductions.
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report August 26, 2021 Options to Reduce the Revenue Loss from Adjusting the SALT Cap
If lawmakers are unwilling to replace the SALT cap with a new limit on tax breaks that raises revenue, then any modification they make to the cap in the current environment will lose revenue and make the federal tax code less progressive. Given this, lawmakers should choose a policy option that loses as little revenue as possible and that does the smallest amount of damage possible to the progressivity of the federal tax code.
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media mention July 16, 2021 Bloomberg: TurboTax Maker Intuit Opts Out of IRS Free File Program
Carl Davis, director of research at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said he supports such an idea. The shift would mean the IRS could work directly with taxpayers,…