Many state governments are struggling to repair and expand their transportation infrastructure because they are attempting to cover the rising cost of asphalt, machinery, and other construction materials with fixed-rate gasoline taxes that are rarely increased.
Publication Search Results
-
brief March 5, 2021 How Long Has It Been Since Your State Raised Its Gas Tax?
-
report February 24, 2021 Comparing Flat-Rate Income Tax Options for Alaska
Alaska lawmakers are facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis. The state is more dependent than any other on oil tax and royalty revenues but declines in oil prices and production levels have sapped much of the vitality of these revenue sources. One way of diversifying the state’s revenue stream and narrowing the yawning gap between state revenues and expenses would be to reinstitute a statewide personal income tax. Alaska previously levied such a tax until 1980. This report contains ITEP’s analysis of the distributional impact and revenue potential of a variety of flat-rate income tax options for Alaska, based on draft legislation provided by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee.
-
February 11, 2021 Testimony to Washington State Legislature House Finance Committee on HB 1496
Read as PDF Following is testimony of ITEP Senior State Tax Policy Analyst Dylan Grundman O’Neill submitted to Washington State Legislature House Finance Committee in support of HB 1496. “Hello… -
report January 26, 2021 Child Tax Credit Enhancements Under the American Rescue Plan
President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan, includes a significant expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). The president’s proposal provides a $125 billion boost in funding for the program, which would essentially double the size of the existing federal credit for households with children. Combined with existing law, the CTC provisions in Biden’s plan would provide a 37.4 percent income boost to the poorest 20 percent of families with children who make $21,300 or less a year.
-
brief January 15, 2021 ANALYSIS: Cash and Tax Provisions in Biden’s Economic Recovery Plan
The $1.9 trillion economic recovery plan, known as the American Rescue Plan, announced by President-elect Biden contains, among other provisions, expanded cash payments and changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
-
brief September 25, 2020 State Taxation of Capital Gains: The Folly of Tax Cuts & Case for Proactive Reforms
The federal tax system and every state treat income from capital gains more favorably than income from work. Preferential capital gains tax treatment includes exclusions and seldom-discussed provisions like deferral and stepped-up basis, as well as more direct tax subsidies for profits realized from local investments and, in some instances, from investments around the world. This policy brief explains state capital gains taxation, examines the flaws in state capital gains tax breaks, and proposes reform options that will help make state tax systems more progressive and more equitable.
-
September 17, 2020 Webinar: What’s Tax Got to Do With It?
Tax justice is necessary to achieve racial, social and economic justice. We need race-forward tax policies that create opportunity for everyone, demand corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share… -
report September 17, 2020 Illinois’s Flat Tax Exacerbates Income Inequality and Racial Wealth Gaps
Flat or graduated personal income taxes have varying effects on the annual individual tax liabilities of taxpayers at different income levels. Less examined is how tax structures affect income inequality and racial wealth gaps. This brief illustrates how Illinois’s historic flat income tax structure compares to the proposed Fair Tax through a multi-year retrospective analysis. It shows that Illinois’s flat income tax in lieu of a graduated rate tax used by most states amounts to a tax subsidy for the wealthiest Illinoisans that compounds income inequality and racial wealth gaps.
-
brief September 15, 2020 Boosting Incomes and Improving Tax Equity with State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2020
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a policy designed to bolster the incomes of low-wage workers and offset some of the taxes they pay, providing the opportunity for families struggling to afford the high cost of living to step up and out of poverty toward meaningful economic security. The federal EITC has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since its enactment in the mid-1970s. Over the past several decades, the effectiveness of the EITC has been amplified as many states have enacted and expanded their own credits.
-
brief September 15, 2020 Tax Justice is…
Racial justice requires tax justice. Economic justice requires tax justice. Climate and health justice require, yes, tax justice.