
Read this report in PDF form Introduction For years, academics and transportation experts have been discussing the possibility of taxing drivers for each mile they travel on the nation’s roads. This “vehicle miles traveled tax” (VMT tax) could either supplement or replace the existing gas tax as the primary method of funding transportation infrastructure. To […]
June 9, 2015
Some states, however, have decided not to wait for the federal government to make the change. So far, 10 states have taken their own limited steps to expand the number of retailers that must collect sales taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. New York was first, enacting legislation in 2008 requiring […]
May 6, 2015
A terrific report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) says that immigrants who entered the country illegally paid about $12 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. The revenue per state, of course, varies. ITEP found that these immigrants paid about $3 million in Montana (where few live), but over $3.2 billion in […]
May 6, 2015 • By Carl Davis, Richard Phillips
Read as a PDF. Table of Contents Introduction Why Tax Marijuana? Designing a State Tax on Marijuana How Much Revenue Would Marijuana Legalization Generate for States Factors that Could Negatively Impact Marijuana Revenue Factors that Could Positively Impact Marijuana Revenue Conclusion Endnotes Charts and Text Boxes Current Approaches to Taxing Retail Marijuana Sales How Should […]
April 20, 2015
Here’s a talking point for Democrats: President Obama’s executive actions on immigration will generate an extra $845 million in taxes annually from immigrants living here illegally. But that’s just a drop in the bucket compared with the $11.8 billion they already pay. Those estimates come from a new report by the well-regarded Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a […]
April 20, 2015
“According to the U.S. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. paid $11.84 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. ITEP’s analysis showed another bump of $845 million under the full implementation of executive actions in 2012 and 2014. The migration policy institute said over […]
April 15, 2015 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated February 2016 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page In the public debates over federal immigration reform, sufficient and accurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants is often lacking. The reality is the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States pay billions […]
April 15, 2015
A new study has found that the lowest-income families in California pay a greater share of their incomes in state and local taxes, on average, than other families, including those at the very top of the income ladder. The California Budget & Policy Center studied data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It […]
April 14, 2015
Momentum for creating a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in California is building. As we discussed in a recent report, a state EITC would foster economic security among low- and moderate-income workers by building on the federal credit of the same name. Several EITC proposals are currently being discussed in the Capitol, and to […]
April 14, 2015
A fair tax system is one that asks individuals and families to contribute to public services based on their ability to pay. However, California’s system of state and local taxes asks disproportionately more from lower-earning families. After taking into account Californians’ ability to deduct state and local taxes for federal income tax purposes (discussed below), […]
April 2, 2015
When it comes to tax fairness, California gets high marks for its income tax, which targets the wealthy, but a demerit for its sales tax, which ranks among the highest in the nation, according to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, based in Washington, D.C. “Any tax that is based on what you consume […]
March 16, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania at No. 6 in the Institute’s “Terrible 10” states that taxes low income earners up to seven times as much of their income in taxes as the top 1 percent are taxed on their income. Washington, Florida and Texas top the list of the “Terrible 10” […]
March 12, 2015
“A state EITC would allow low- and middle-income working families to keep more of their earnings and help rebalance California’s system of state and local taxes, which currently asks low-income families to pay a larger share of their income in taxes than high-income families.” Read the full report here.
March 11, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks Pennsylvania at number six in the its “Terrible 10” states that tax low income earners up to seven times as much, as a percentage of income, as the top one percent are taxed. Washington, Florida and Texas top the list of the “Terrible 10” states, and Delaware, Montana […]
March 2, 2015
One of the most popular MarketWatch articles this week was 10 states with the worst taxes for average Americans, based on a report called “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States,” released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). According to ITEP’s data, as reviewed by 24/7 […]
January 20, 2015
California is not an easy place to do business. Our taxes and regulations are legendary. But the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy this month released its fifth “Who Pays?” report. And the Golden State ends up nearly on top when it comes to the fairness of taxes for a state’s residents. The report says […]
January 16, 2015
“A new study by a liberal think tank says Oregon’s tax system is one of the least regressive in the country as the result of the lack of a sales tax and its refundable income tax credit for lower-income citizens. The Washington, D.C. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that only two states — […]
January 15, 2015
“In The Washington Post, Niraj Shoshi reports, “State taxes favor those with the highest incomes. That’s according to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report, which finds that on average the bottom fifth of earners pay proportionally twice as much of their incomes in state and local taxes as the […]
January 5, 2015
Questions about who has really benefited from Texas fiscal policies will be heard more often, and the answers will be ugly. As the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy observes, Texas has one of the most regressive tax systems in the land: its poorest 20% pay about four times as much of their average income […]
December 4, 2014
A new CBP report discusses the benefits of establishing a California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the key policy considerations in creating this state credit. Read the full report.
November 24, 2014
Myth # 1: They don’t pay taxes Undocumented immigrants are already U.S. taxpayers. Collectively, they paid an estimated $10.6 billion to state and local taxes in 2010, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a research organization that works on tax policy issues. Contributions varied by state. In Montana they contributed $2 […]
November 20, 2014
Re “Movie shows MJC’s bias “ (Letters, Nov. 16): The recent letter complaining about illegal immigrants stated that they do not pay income taxes. This is not correct. A study by the non-profit, non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that: “Undocumented immigrants currently pay $1.2 billion in personal income taxes, $1.2 billion in […]
November 6, 2014
Arguments aside, some, including Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), said the law including sports franchises in the Goodwill tax write-off was a bad one. In a blog post, Gardner said, “It’s bad enough that the goodwill tax rule allows companies to deduct costs they may never incur […]
August 14, 2014
By Kelsey Snell Trendy craft beer sales are booming, and cities and states are hoping tax breaks will help them elbow their way into a seat at the bar. Targeted tax breaks are a favorite tool for states looking to capitalize on a growing industry, and states from California to New York are all hoping […]
July 7, 2014
In this report we compare the effects of $10 (AB10) and $13 (SB935) minimum wage levels in California. We show that AB10 restores some of the ground lost by low-paid workers in recent years, but it maintains the inflation-adjusted minimum wage at about the same level as in 1988. The Leno bill, SB935, goes much […]