Arizona
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ITEP Work in Action May 13, 2022 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: $2 Billion Tax Cuts for the Rich are Irresponsible
Last year, the legislature passed huge tax cuts whose benefits will only be seen by the richest Arizonans. Once these new tax cuts go into effect, they will reduce state… -
ITEP Work in Action May 26, 2021 The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Flat Tax Exacerbates Inequalities for Households of Color
Arizona’s elected leaders have created a tax code that is upside down and regressive– meaning that those with low incomes pay a much higher share of their income in taxes… -
blog May 12, 2021 Arizonans Voted to Tax the Rich. Now Lawmakers Want to Undo Most of That.
In 2018, Arizona teachers took part in a national wave of teacher walkouts, protesting inadequate education funding and some of the lowest teacher pay in the nation—direct results of the state’s penchant for deep tax cuts and its decision to levy some of the lowest tax rates in the country on high-income families.
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ITEP Work in Action April 28, 2021 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: The flat tax falls flat for most Arizonans
The Arizona legislature is poised to permanently cut over a billion dollars in state revenues, the largest tax cut in the last three decades. This cut will make Arizona’s tax… -
ITEP Work in Action April 13, 2021 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Arizona’s regressive tax policy contributes significantly to economic and racial injustice
Tax policy plays a role in the fight for economic and racial justice. The type of tax and how it is structured matters. A new report issued by the Institute… -
blog November 30, 2020 After the Dust Has Settled: How Progressive Tax Policy Fared in the General Election
While the results of the 2020 presidential election are all but set in stone—and a sign of life for progressive policy—the results of state tax ballot initiatives are more of a mixed bag. However, the overall fight for tax equity and raising more revenue to invest in people and communities is trending in the right direction.
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blog October 22, 2020 Voters Have the Chance in 2020 to Increase Tax Equity in Arizona, Illinois, and California, And They Should
There’s a lot at stake in this election cycle: the nation and our economy are reeling from the effects brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and states remain in limbo as they weigh deep budget cuts and rush to address projected revenue shortfalls.
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ITEP Work in Action January 28, 2020 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: In Search of a State Budget That Creates Opportunity for All
While all families in Arizona help pay for health, education and public safety through state and local taxes, low-income and middle-income families pay a larger portion of their income in… -
ITEP Work in Action January 26, 2020 The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: In Search 2020
In Search of State Budget That Creates Opportunity for All When all types of state and local taxes are combined—income, sales, and property—families with income in the lowest 20 percent… -
ITEP Work in Action November 5, 2019 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: More Money for Public Education Will Benefit Arizona Small Businesses
Most small business owners will continue to be taxed at some of the lowest personal income tax rates in the nation. Small business owners whose profits and wages from their… -
ITEP Work in Action July 11, 2019 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Using Increased Revenues from Conformity on More Tax Cuts is Fiscally Irresponsible
Arizona Should Use Increased Revenues to Prepare for Next Recession Instead of Giving Tax Cuts While a recession does not appear imminent, the current economic expansion began in June 2009… -
ITEP Work in Action February 5, 2019 Wrong Priorities: It Doesn’t Make Sense to Give a Tax Cut to the Rich While Arizona Asks Children in Public Schools to Wait
Arizona stands to gain $130 million to $230 million in General Fund revenues if it conforms the Arizona tax code to the federal tax changes enacted in 2017. Rather than directing those additional revenues to better prepare for the next economic downturn or toward increased investments in our public schools, SB1143 and HB2522 will direct the additional revenues toward a tax cut that will benefit the wealthiest Arizonans.
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ITEP Work in Action January 2, 2019 Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Wrong Priorities: It Doesn’t Make Sense to Give a Tax Cut to the Rich While Arizona Asks Children in Public Schools to Wait
Arizona stands to gain $130 million to $230 million in General Fund revenues if it conforms the Arizona tax code to the federal tax changes enacted in 2017. Rather than… -
October 17, 2018 Low Tax for Whom? Arizona is a “Low Tax State” Overall, But Not for Families Living in Poverty
Arizona’s tax system has vastly different impacts on taxpayers at different income levels. For instance, the lowest-income 20 percent of Arizonans contribute 13 percent of their income in state and local taxes — considerably more than any other income group in the state. For low-income families, Arizona is far from being a low tax state; in fact, it is tied with Texas as the sixth highest-tax state in the country for low-income families.
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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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October 17, 2018 Arizona: Who Pays? 6th Edition
ARIZONA Read as PDF ARIZONA STATE AND LOCAL TAXES Taxes as Share of Family Income Top 20% Income Group Lowest 20% Second 20% Middle 20% Fourth 20% Next 15% Next… -
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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September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – Arizona
The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called… -
report June 27, 2018 The Other SALT Cap Workaround: Accountants Steer Clients Toward Private K-12 Voucher Tax Credits
On May 23, 2018, the IRS and Treasury Department announced that they “intend to propose regulations addressing the federal income tax treatment of certain payments made by taxpayers for which… -
ITEP Work in Action May 30, 2018 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Arizona Proposal Would Finance School Funding Boost, Make Tax Code Less Regressive
The measure would also make Arizona’s tax code somewhat less regressive. Currently, the poorest 20 percent of households pay 12.5 percent of their annual income to state and local taxes… -
blog May 1, 2018 Newly Unveiled Ballot Initiative Aims to Tax Arizona’s Top 1 Percent to Fund Education
Today marks Day 4 of the Arizona teachers’ walkout. After decades of tax cuts and underfunding of public education, education advocates are now driving the debate and urging lawmakers to act. Their newest proposal would raise taxes on incomes above half a million dollars for married couples, or above $250,000 for single taxpayers—that is, the same wealthy taxpayers that just received a generous tax cuts under last year’s federal tax overhaul.
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December 16, 2017 How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Arizona Residents’ Federal Taxes
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low-… -
blog December 14, 2017 Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill
For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.
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report December 14, 2017 Tax Bill Would Increase Abuse of Charitable Giving Deduction, with Private K-12 Schools as the Biggest Winners
In its rush to pass a major rewrite of the tax code before year’s end, Congress appears likely to enact a “tax reform” that creates, or expands, a significant number of tax loopholes.[1] One such loophole would reward some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals with a strategy for padding their own bank accounts by “donating” to support private K-12 schools. While a similar loophole exists under current law, its size and scope would be dramatically expanded by the legislation working its way through Congress.[2]
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December 6, 2017 How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Arizona Residents’ Federal Taxes
The House passed its “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” November 16th and the Senate passed its version December 2nd. Both bills would raise taxes on many low- and middle-income families in every state and provide the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors substantial tax cuts, while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. The graph below shows that both bills are skewed to the richest 1 percent of Arizona residents.