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 November 4, 2018 The Hill: IRS Sparks New Fight Over School Donations
However, other groups at the hearing, including representatives of public schools and the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), defended the application of the IRS guidance to the… -
media mention October 29, 2018 PolitiFact: Does Vermont Have the ‘Most Progressive’ Tax System in the Country?
Carl Davis, the research director for ITEP, said he doesn’t believe it would be accurate to call Vermont the most progressive state. California has a much higher top rate for the wealthiest taxpayers, he said.
“In our research Vermont does not have the most progressive system in the nation, but it is certainly far less regressive than the vast majority of states,” Davis said.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Washington Examiner: Think tank: Texas Isn’t a Low-tax State if You’re Poor
Carl Davis for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: [ M]any states traditionally considered to be “low-tax states” are actually high-tax for their poorest residents. The “low tax” label is typically assigned to states that either lack a personal income tax or that collect a comparatively low amount of tax revenue overall. But a focus on these measures can cause lawmakers to overlook the fact that state tax systems impact different taxpayers in very different ways, and that low-income taxpayers in particular often do not experience these states as being even remotely “low tax.”
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media mention October 18, 2018 The Pitt News: Editorial: Riding High: United States Should Follow Canada’s Pot Legalization
“We don’t know the size of the marijuana market right now,” Carl Davis, senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told The Huffington Post. “But we do know that legalization would lead to a positive revenue impact on the income and sales tax side.”
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media mention October 17, 2018 KUOW: Washington State Tops ‘Terrible Ten’ List for Taxes
Washington State’s tax system is widening the gap between the rich and the poor. That’s according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) based in Washington, D.C.
“What you see is that Washington’s tax system couldn’t possibly be further from hitting people evenly,” Carl Davis said. “People are having to devote very different shares of their household budgets to funding state and local government.”
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blog October 17, 2018 Low-Tax States Are Often High-Tax for the Poor
ITEP analysis reveals that many states traditionally considered to be “low-tax states” are actually high-tax for their poorest residents. The “low tax” label is typically assigned to states that either lack a personal income tax or that collect a comparatively low amount of tax revenue overall. But a focus on these measures can cause lawmakers to overlook the fact that state tax systems impact different taxpayers in very different ways, and that low-income taxpayers often do not experience these states as being even remotely “low tax.”
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report October 11, 2018 ITEP Comments and Recommendations on Proposed Section 170 Regulation (REG-112176-18)
The IRS recently proposed a commonsense improvement to the federal charitable deduction. If finalized, the regulation would prevent not just the newest workarounds to the $10,000 deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), but also a longer-running tax shelter abused by wealthy donors to private K-12 school voucher programs. ITEP has submitted official comments outlining four key recommendations related to the proposed regulation.
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media mention October 5, 2018 NPR: It’s Been 25 Years Since The Federal Gas Tax Went Up
Yet over those 25 years, the cost of building and maintaining roads, bridges and transit has shot up, leaving the highway trust fund, which pays the federal portion of highway and transit projects, running on empty.
“The whole reason this tax exists is to keep our roads paved and to keep our bridges from falling down,” says Davis. “And to do that effectively, it needs to collect a sustainable amount of revenue over time to cover the cost of paving roads and maintaining bridges, and it can’t do that if it’s just not updated for decades at a time.”
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blog October 2, 2018 Twelve States Offer Profitable Tax Shelter to Private School Voucher Donors; IRS Proposal Could Fix This
A proposed IRS regulation would eliminate a tax shelter for private school donors in twelve states by making a commonsense improvement to the federal tax deduction for charitable gifts. For years, some affluent taxpayers who donate to private K-12 school voucher programs have managed to turn a profit by claiming state tax credits and federal tax deductions that, taken together, are worth more than the amount donated. This practice could soon come to an end under the IRS’s broader goal of ending misuse of the charitable deduction by people seeking to dodge the federal SALT deduction cap.
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media mention October 1, 2018 Politico: Morning Tax
Today also marks 25 years since the last federal gas tax increase, which was raised to its current 18.3 cents per gallon in 1993. Plenty of people have talked about… -
blog September 25, 2018 An Unhappy Anniversary: Federal Gas Tax Reaches 25 Years of Stagnation
The federal gas tax was last raised on Oct. 1, 1993, the same year that the classic movie Groundhog Day was unveiled to the American public. In the film, Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) gets caught in a time loop and spends decades reliving the same cold, February day in Punxsutawney, Penn. Those of us lamenting the 25-year stagnation of the federal gas tax can’t help but feel some of that same sense of repetition.
Federal lawmakers occasionally discuss updating the gas tax, but top lawmakers have yet to put in the effort needed to shepherd such a change into law. In fact, after passage of a top-heavy income and estate tax cut last year, the chances of boosting the federal gas tax anytime soon are probably slimmer than ever.
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blog September 20, 2018 IRS Reopens Tax Loophole Sought by Sen. Toomey, but it Won’t Work in Pennsylvania
A recent IRS clarification, which appears to have been a pet project of Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), has been widely interpreted as reopening a loophole the agency had proposed closing just weeks earlier. But while the announcement creates an opening for aggressive tax avoidance in many states, Pennsylvania, ironically enough, isn’t one of them.
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media mention September 12, 2018 Politico Morning Tax: Let’s Talk SALT
Cuomo is far from the only Democratic governor or lawmaker to unload on the SALT cap as, essentially, a broadside against progressive states. But at least one liberal think tank… -
media mention September 11, 2018 Education Week: How a Proposed Tax Rule Could Hurt School Vouchers
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017, wealthy residents in states such as New York and California face sizable increases in their federal tax bills because of… -
media mention September 11, 2018 The Journal News: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Anti-Trump Tax Plan Crumbling in Face of IRS Regulations
Similar programs give state tax credits on 100 percent of the donations in states such as Alabama, Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina. It’s a system that has proved profitable for… -
media mention September 6, 2018 Politico: A SALT Shake up
So what happens now after this new clarification? “Under the right circumstances, some business owners are going to keep getting more back in tax cuts than they ever contributed to… -
media mention August 25, 2018 Atlanta Journal Constitution: IRS Proposal Could Hurt Georgia Rural Hospital, School Tax Credits
The change will have no impact on many Georgians because they don’t itemize their deductions when they file their tax returns. “For about 90 percent of people who are just… -
media mention August 24, 2018 The Montgomery Advertiser: IRS Proposes Regulations that Could Impact Alabama Accountability Act Donors
Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, said the regulations “make a lot of sense as far as what is charity and… -
media mention August 24, 2018 CNBC: Cutting SALT–It Could Be the Last Day for This Tax Saving Strategy
There are 18 states with private school voucher tax credits, including programs in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina. A number of them offer credits to contributing taxpayers on a dollar-for-dollar… -
media mention August 24, 2018 Bloomberg: New Yorkers Have Four Days to Try to Beat SALT Cap
Residents of states that have had charitable tax break programs in effect for some time, such as Georgia and South Carolina, that benefit hospitals or schools, will probably have an… -
media mention August 24, 2018 Washington Post: New Treasury Proposal Would Stop Attempts to Weaken Tax Law
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media mention August 24, 2018 The Hill: IRS Was Correct to Include Private School Credits in New Tax Regulations
Following is an excerpt of an op-ed by Carl Davis, ITEP researcher director, regarding the new regulations issued by the Treasury Department: Last year’s federal tax overhaul has cast a… -
media mention August 23, 2018 Reuters: U.S. Treasury, IRS move to block states dodging tax deduction cap
Under the proposed rule, however, a New York taxpayer could not receive a federal charitable deduction for the portion of their donation to the fund for which they received a… -
news release August 23, 2018 Proposed IRS Regulations Would End SALT Workarounds and Rightly Tamp Down on School Voucher Tax Shelters
The main difference between states that recently passed SALT workaround legislation and states that provide overly generous credits for donations to private schools are their political leanings. Private school supporters were hoping for a special carve out that would allow their tax shelter to remain intact, but the IRS was correct not to pick winners and losers.
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media mention August 23, 2018 Politico Morning Tax: Still More SALT Intake
Carl Davis of the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also pointed out that Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) — who have had staff meet with…