Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Arizona

blog  

State Rundown 10/26: Off-Year Ballot Measures and State & Local Tax Policy

• By ITEP Staff

November elections are creeping closer and closer and while that typically means a new batch of lawmakers are elected, it also means voters have another chance to help shape state and local tax policy...

blog  

Kyrsten Sinema’s Latest Fight to Protect Tax Breaks for Private Equity

• By Steve Wamhoff

Sen. Sinema's bill to stop a seemingly arcane business tax increase that was enacted as part of the 2017 Trump tax law would be hugely beneficial to the private equity industry.

brief  

States are Boosting Economic Security with Child Tax Credits in 2023

• By Aidan Davis, Neva Butkus

Fourteen states now provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states created new Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in seven states expanded existing credits. To maximize impact, lawmakers should consider making their credits fully refundable, not including an earnings requirement, setting a maximum amount per child instead of per household, setting state-specific phase-out ranges that target low- and middle-income families, indexing to…

blog  

State Rundown 8/10: Pump the ‘Breaks’ on Sales Tax Holiday Celebrations

• By ITEP Staff

August is here, school is starting, and with that comes back to school shopping...

blog  

States and Localities are Making Progress on Curbing Unjust Fees and Fines

• By Andrew Boardman

Too many state and local governments tap legal-system collections, rather than adequate tax systems, to fund shared essentials like public safety and education. But a growing number of states and localities are choosing a better approach. Momentum for change has continued to build in 2023, with no fewer than seven states enacting substantial improvements.

blog  

State Rundown 6/22: Some Tax Debates Heat Up as Others Cool Off

• By ITEP Staff

Summer is here and many states nearing the end of their legislative sessions. Temperatures are rising in more ways than one in some state legislatures while others seem to be cooling off.

blog  

State Rundown 6/14: Summer Breeze & State Tax Policies

• By ITEP Staff

As the sweet days of summer pass, the scent of jasmine isn't the only thing blowing through the minds of state lawmakers, as tax policy discussions remain at the forefront...

blog  

Illinois Voucher Tax Credits Don’t ‘Invest in Kids,’ They Invest in Inequality

• By Carl Davis

By allowing their school privatization tax credit to expire at the end of the year, Illinois lawmakers can take a meaningful step toward better tax and education policy, and a clear show of support for our nation’s public education system.

blog  

State Rundown 6/7: The Budget Race Continues

• By ITEP Staff

Across the country, the marathon budget season has held pace, with a steady stream of bills continuing to cross the finish line...

blog  

The Real Impact of State Tax Cuts

• By Aidan Davis

This op-ed was originally published by Route Fifty and co-written by ITEP State Director Aidan Davis and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Advisor for State Tax Policy Wesley Tharpe. There’s a troubling trend in state capitols across the country: Some lawmakers are pushing big, permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and […]

Arizona Center for Economic Progress: Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Will Further Solidify An Unequal Federal Income Tax Structure for Generations

• By ITEP Staff

A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) predicts that making permanent the temporary provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will cost nearly $290 billion in 2026. H.R. 976, the TCJA Permanency Act, would permanently enshrine the portions of the TCJA that were set to expire in 2025. In Arizona, […]

blog  

State Rundown 5/18: Credits, Cuts, and Corporate Revenue Raisers

• By ITEP Staff

This past week, in statehouses around the country, tax policy decisions are moving fast as budgets were signed and budget plans were released and passed...

report  

Preventing an Overload: How Property Tax Circuit Breakers Promote Housing Affordability

• By Brakeyshia Samms, Carl Davis

Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.

blog  

State Rundown 5/10: Momentum on State Tax Credits Continues to Build

• By ITEP Staff

This week, in states across the country the momentum to center improvements to family economic security remains strong...

report  

Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates

• By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

blog  

Racial Justice Requires Tax Justice: Our Analysis Helps Deliver Both

• By Amy Hanauer

ITEP’s analytical approach, our comprehensive microsimulation model, and our unique state-level capacities enable us to do pioneering analyses that enrich the debate on racial justice in tax policy that no other entity can do.

Testimony of ITEP’s Marco Guzman Before the Nevada Assembly Committee on Revenue

• By Marco Guzman

For a video of Marco’s testimony, click here. Thank you, Assemblywoman Anderson, and thank you chairman and members of the Assembly for the opportunity to speak on the topic of Nevada’s state tax system. My name is Marco Guzman, and I am a Senior State Policy Analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]

blog  

State Rundown 4/6: More SALT, Please

• By ITEP Staff

This week, a bill out of Arkansas that would cut the top personal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate found its way to the governor’s desk...

blog  

State Rundown 3/30: A Win for Tax Equity in The Evergreen State

• By ITEP Staff

Over the past week Washington state saw a major victory for tax fairness after the state Supreme Court held the state’s capital gains tax—passed in 2021—constitutional...

news release  

Lured by Promises of Financial Gain, Wealthy Families are Flocking to Voucher Tax Shelters and Eroding Public Education in the Process

• By ITEP Staff

Contact: Jon Whiten – jon@itep.org  Lawmakers in several states are discussing enacting or expanding school voucher tax credits, which reimburse individuals and businesses for “donations” they make to organizations that give out vouchers for free or reduced tuition at private K-12 schools, as a new brief released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]

brief  

Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts

• By Carl Davis

Wealthy families are overwhelmingly the ones using school voucher tax credits to opt out of paying for public education and other public services and to redirect their tax dollars to private and religious institutions instead. Most of these credits are being claimed by families with incomes over $200,000.

blog  

State Rundown 3/1: The Long March to the Finish Line

• By ITEP Staff

This week, several big tax proposals took strides on the march toward becoming law...

blog  

State Rundown 2/23: Tax Dominos Take Shape, Begin to Fall as Session Heats Up

• By ITEP Staff

The 2023 legislative session is in full swing, and dominos continue to be set up as others fall...

blog  

The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year

• By Carl Davis

The word “tax” appears 97 times and counting in one recent summary of governors’ addresses to state legislators so far this year. The policy visions that governors are bringing, however, vary enormously. While there's good reason to worry about tax cuts for wealthy families and the flattening or elimination of income taxes, there are at least five great tax ideas coming directly out of governors’ offices this year.

blog  

State Rundown 2/1: February Brings New (and Some Old) Tax Policy Conversations

• By ITEP Staff

Tax bills across the U.S. are winding their way through state legislatures and governors continue to set the tone for this year’s legislative sessions...