Personal Income Taxes
Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through Income Tax Credits
September 1, 2011 • By Meg Wiehe
Low- and middle-income working parents frequently spend a significant portion of their income on child care. As an increasing number of single parents take jobs, and as the number of two-earner families continues to rise, child care expenses are an unavoidable and increasingly unaffordable expense for these families. This policy brief looks at one way of making child care more affordable: the dependent care tax credit offered by the federal government and many states.
Why States That Offer the Deduction for Federal Income Taxes Paid Get it Wrong
August 1, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
As states continue to grapple with the impact of the most recent economic downturn, the budget revenue outlook for many states remains bleak. In this context, states must find ways to generate additional revenue without increasing the tax load on individuals and families struggling to make ends meet. For six states--Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and Oregon--one straightforward approach would be to repeal the deduction for federal income taxes paid. Repealing the deduction would help these states reduce their budgetary gaps and make their tax systems less unfair. This policy brief explains how the deduction for federal income taxes works…
How State Personal Income Taxes Work
August 1, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
The personal income tax can be--and usually is--the fairest of the main revenue sources relied on by state and local governments. When properly structured, it ensures that wealthier taxpayers pay their fair share and provides lower tax rates on middle-income families. The personal income tax can be used to offset regressive sales, excise and property taxes. This policy brief explains the basic workings of the income tax.
Indexing Income Taxes for Inflation: Why It Matters
August 1, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
Most of us don't need to be reminded about inflation. We experience it every day, as the price of the goods and services we buy gradually goes up over time. As the cost of living goes up, our incomes generally go up too, partially because of inflation. But many state tax systems are not designed to take account of inflation. The result is that income taxes often grow faster than incomes--even though lawmakers haven't actually passed any laws to make this happen. Some lawmakers have responded to this "hidden tax hike" by indexing their income taxes for inflation. This policy…
How State Tax Changes Affect Your Federal Taxes: A Primer on the “Federal Offset”
August 1, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
State lawmakers frequently make claims about how proposed tax changes would affect taxpayers at different income levels. Yet these lawmakers routinely ignore one important consequence of their tax reform proposals: the effect of state tax changes on their constituents' federal income taxes. Wealthier taxpayers can use the federal income tax to partially offset their state and local income and property taxes. This "federal offset" has important implications for how state tax changes affect people. This policy brief explains this important but often-forgotten link between state and federal taxes.
Income Tax Simplification: How to Achieve It
August 1, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
Simplicity is generally seen as a virtue in state tax systems. Simplicity makes it easier for taxpayers to understand (and to pay) their taxes, and makes it easier for tax administrators to collect taxes fairly. In recent years, state lawmakers have proposed a wide variety of income tax changes under the guise of simplification. Yet not all of these purported tax simplification measures are well-designed to achieve it--and some measures would unnecessarily reduce the fairness of the income tax. This policy brief evaluates options for making state income taxes less complicated.
Don’t Give Up on Pease: States Can Decouple from Recent Federal Tax Cuts for Wealthy Itemizers
April 10, 2011 • By Meg Wiehe
In 2011, thirty one states and the District of Columbia allow a group of income tax breaks known as “itemized deductions” (Figure 1). Itemized deductions are designed to help defray a wide variety of personal expenditures that affect a taxpayer’s ability to pay taxes, including charitable contributions, extraordinary medical expenses, mortgage interest payments and state […]
In It for the Long Haul: Why Concerns over Personal Income Tax “Volatility” Are Overblown
March 31, 2011 • By Matthew Gardner
The precipitous drop in state tax collections during the recent recession has prompted some observers to argue that relying on volatile state taxes is a recipe for budgetary disaster. The most recent version of this argument, made by the Wall Street Journal’s Robert Frank, suggests that the personal income tax in particular is highly volatile, […]
Should Illinois Tax Retirement Income?
March 24, 2011 • By Matthew Gardner
Earlier this month, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton suggested that limiting the state’s generous income tax break for retirement income “would just be a matter of fairness.” Senator Cullerton’s suggestion gives Illinois policymakers a welcome opportunity to reflect on the appropriate design of senior-citizen income tax relief in Illinois. This paper summarizes the mechanisms used […]
ITEP’s Testimony on EITC Legislation
March 16, 2011 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony focuses on House Bill 581, which would create a Missouri Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In particular, my testimony will discuss the impact of this bill on the overall fairness of Missouri’s tax system. Read the Full Report (PDF)
Topsy-Turvy: State Income Tax Deductions for Federal Income Taxes Turn Tax Fairness on its Head
March 10, 2011 • By Carl Davis, Meg Wiehe
The budget outlook for state governments is bleak. Despite evidence that revenues are rebounding, there is a general acknowledgement that ?broad fiscal conditions remain fragile. The need for public investments—particularly health care for low-wage or unemployed workers and their families—is greater than ever. An increasing number of states are struggling to keep their fiscal year […]
A Capital Idea
January 15, 2011 • By Carl Davis, Meg Wiehe
The budget outlook for the states is improving, but uncertain. In this context, states must find ways to generate additional revenue that create neither additional responsibilities for individuals and families struggling to make ends meet nor additional distortions in the economy as a whole. For eight states – Arkansas, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, […]
“Writing Off” Tax Giveaways: How States Can Help Balance Their Budgets by Reforming or Repealing Itemized Deductions
August 24, 2010 • By Carl Davis, Meg Wiehe
“Writing Off” Tax Giveaways examines options for reforming itemized deductions in the thirty-one states, plus DC, that offer such deductions. The study, released on August 24, 2010, focuses on five potential reforms: repealing itemized deductions entirely, capping the maximum size of itemized deductions, converting itemized deductions to a credit, instituting a phase-out for upper-income taxpayers, […]
Leaving Money on the Table: “Federal Offset” Provides Incentive for States to Rely on Progressive Income Taxes
April 10, 2010 • By ITEP Staff
Seven states—Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming—have chosen to make up for the lack of an income tax by increasing their reliance on general sales taxes.1 The result is an “upside down” state tax system, which imposes higher effective tax rates on middle- and low-income families than on the best-off taxpayers. But […]
ITEP’s Testimony Before the MD House Ways & Means Committee on Preserving Maryland’s “Millionaires’ Tax”
March 23, 2010 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on Senate Bill 913, which would temporarily extend, through 2014, the “millionaires’ tax” that is currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. This testimony emphasizes that the “millionaires’ tax” makes Maryland’s tax system at least somewhat less unfair than it otherwise would be; that claims about the negative impact […]
ITEP’s Testimony on HB 2034 Income Tax Reforms
March 18, 2010 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on one bill introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives: HB 2034, which would reform the state’s individual income tax structure. My testimony will discuss the impact of this bill on the yield and fairness of Missouri’s income tax. HB 2034 would raise over a billion dollars a year to fund […]
ITEP’s Testimony Before the MD Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Preserving Maryland’s “Millionaires’ Tax”
March 11, 2010 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on Senate Bill 913, which would temporarily extend, through 2014, the “millionaires’ tax” that is currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. This testimony emphasizes that the “millionaires’ tax” makes Maryland’s tax system at least somewhat less unfair than it otherwise would be; that claims about the negative impact […]
Five Reasons to Preserve Maryland’s “Millionaires’ Tax”
January 8, 2010 • By ITEP Staff
In 2008, to compensate for the anticipated loss of revenue due to the repeal of a law subjecting the provision of computer services to the state’s sales tax, Maryland enacted a temporary change in its income tax. That change, which is in effect only through the end of this year, created a new top income […]
Ready, Set, Reform – How the Income Tax Can Help Make the Illinois Tax System Fairer and More Sustainable
May 15, 2009 • By ITEP Staff
The Illinois tax system faces a crisis of both adequacy and equity. The state must confront a projected $11.6 billion budget shortfall over the next two fiscal years that will likely require a variety of difficult spending and tax policy choices, and also faces a fundamental long-term mismatch between its spending needs and the revenues […]
Fact Sheet on HB64 Income Tax Proposal
April 23, 2009 • By ITEP Staff
Missouri House Bill 64 would change the state’s personal income tax in three important ways: • Expand the starting point for the 6 percent top income tax bracket from $9,000 to $50,000 of taxable income.• Increase the deduction for federal income taxes paid from $10,000 for married couples($5,000 for single filers) to $15,000 for married […]
Fact Sheet on SB71 Proposed Income Tax Rate Cut
April 23, 2009 • By ITEP Staff
This policy brief examines the impact of the principal tax change in House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 71, which would decrease each of the state’s income tax rates by 0.5 percent. Missouri’s income tax rate structure currently starts at 1.5 percent for filers with taxable income below $1,000 and increases in thousand dollar increments […]
Budget Hikes Taxes on Low-Income Families to Pay for High-End Capital Gains Cuts
April 7, 2009 • By ITEP Staff
On Friday, April 3, the Georgia General Assembly passed a budget for fiscal year 2010 that includes a major new tax cut (an exclusion for long-term capital gains income) and a substantial tax increase (eliminating a state-funded property tax relief program). A new analysis by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) […]
A Capital Idea: Repealing State Tax Breaks for Capital Gains Would Ease Budget Woes and Improve Tax Fairness
March 15, 2009 • By ITEP Staff
This report explains what capital gains are, how they are treated for tax purposes, and who typically receives them. It also details the consequences of providing preferential tax treatment for capital gains income for states’ budgets, taxpayers, and economies in nine key states. Lastly, it responds to claims about both the relationship between capital gains […]
ITEP Testimony on Governor’s Plan: Improving the Income Tax
November 1, 2007 • By ITEP Staff
My testimony today focuses on the proposed changes to Maryland’s personal income tax put forward by Governor O’Malley and the impact that those changes would have on Marylanders at different income levels. Before I present the substance of my analysis of the Governor’s proposal, however, I would like to describe three important contexts for you […]
Analysis of Proposed Capital Gains Tax Cut
July 15, 2006 • By ITEP Staff
The Ohio legislature is considering a proposal to scrap the current Ohio rule that taxes capital gains (profits from selling stock, investment real estate, etc.) at the same rates as other income. The plan would reduce the maximum Ohio tax rate on capital gains as follows: In 2007, from the currently scheduled 6.555 percent to […]
The personal income tax is typically the fairest revenue source relied on by federal and state governments. A properly structured personal income tax could offer an important boost in progressivity to what are otherwise overwhelmingly regressive state tax structures.
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia levy broad-based personal income taxes. ITEP’s personal income tax resources provide both general and state-specific information about the impact as well as the mechanics and merits of personal income taxes.
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