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.
Arizona
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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
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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
A new 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.
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November 13, 2017 How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Arizona Residents’ Federal Taxes
The Senate tax bill released last week would raise taxes on some families while bestowing immense benefits on wealthy Americans and foreign investors. In Arizona, 48 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 12 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.
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November 6, 2017 How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Arizona Residents’ Federal Taxes
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, includes some provisions that raise taxes and some that cut taxes, so the net effect for any particular family’s federal tax bill depends on their situation. Some of the provisions that benefit the middle class — like lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to expire or become less generous over time. Some of the provisions that benefit the wealthy, such as the reduction and eventual repeal of the estate tax, become more generous over time. The result is that by 2027, the benefits of the House bill become increasingly generous for the richest one percent compared to other income groups.
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October 4, 2017 GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Arizona with 60.1 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would not benefit everyone in Arizona equally. The richest one percent of Arizona residents would receive 60.1 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $470,200 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $59,210 in 2018, which would increase their income by an average of 4.4 percent.
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August 17, 2017 In Arizona 38.6 Percent of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million
A tiny fraction of the Arizona population (0.4 percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But this elite group would receive 38.6 percent of the tax cuts that go to Arizona residents under the tax proposals from the Trump administration. A much larger group, 47.8 percent of the state, earns less than $45,000, but would receive just 4.0 percent of the tax cuts.
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July 20, 2017 Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Arizona with 51 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Arizona would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,355,400 in 2018. They would receive 51 percent of the tax cuts that go to Arizona’s residents and would enjoy an average cut of $99,090 in 2018 alone.
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blog May 17, 2017 Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being… -
report May 17, 2017 Public Loss Private Gain: How School Voucher Tax Shelters Undermine Public Education
One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax policies that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools.
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ITEP Work in Action January 24, 2017 The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Questions and Answers About Arizona’s State Budget and Taxes 2017
State budgets and taxes are the foundation for achieving our common priorities that will lead to more quality jobs, a strong economy, and thriving communities. This publication provides information and… -
ITEP Work in Action January 10, 2017 The Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Arizona’s State Budget and Taxes: What Every Arizonan Needs to Know About Growing Our Economy
When all types of state and local taxes are combined—income, sales and property—families with incomes in the bottom fifth pay nearly three times what families in the top 1 percent… -
media mention October 5, 2016 Tucson Weekly: What is ‘The Tax Foundation,’ and Why Does It Rank Arizona 21st in Tax Policies?
“A more liberal-leaning group, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, has a different take on Arizona’s tax structure. It comes close to agreeing with the Tax Foundation on the… -
media mention July 28, 2016 Phoenix Business Journal: Why pay-by-the-mile fees are on the horizon across the country
“The shortfall is dramatic. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that in 2013, the purchasing power of gas tax dollars had declined 22 percent since 1997, plus alternative… -
media mention June 7, 2016 Tucson Weekly: Raising Taxes Is Front Page News (and It’s About Damn Time)
“Anyone making $80,000 or less a year is paying two to three times the tax rate of Arizona’s one percenters. Wealthier people may pay a higher percentage in state income…