Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

California

Las Vegas City Life: It only took 121 days for lawmakers to ignore tax reform, be good to gays and fawn over the Ghost Rider

June 10, 2013

4:00 pm – June 05, 2013 by LAUNCE RAKE The Nevada Legislature met in 2013, aware that its solemn duty was to address the profound issues affecting every citizen of the state, most especially a tax and funding system that everyone, from all parties and industries, agreed was completely dysfunctional. And so, 120 days-plus-one after […]

Reno News & Review: It happens

May 23, 2013

(Original Post) By Dennis [email protected] This article was published on 05.23.13. Nevada has a crappy tax system. Here’s why. It was sweltering. Januaries in Carson City are cold, of course, but the Nevada Assembly hall was jammed with bodies and television lights. Even on a weekday evening people traveled to the capitol for these occasions. […]

New America Media: Data Reveals Immigrants’ Financial Contribution to States

May 17, 2013

(Original Post) Asian Journal, News Report, Posted: May 16, 2013 LOS ANGELES – In California, Asian and Hispanic immigrants pay nearly $30 billion in federal taxes, $5.2 billion in state income taxes, and $4.6 billion in sales taxes each year. In New York, immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in economic output in the state. […]

The Huffington Post: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Apple Reaping Billions Of Dollars From Little-Known Tax Break

April 24, 2013

(Original Post) By Jillian Berman    Posted: 04/24/2013 3:38 pm EDT  |  Updated: 04/24/2013 3:44 pm EDT Hundreds of Fortune 500 companies are reaping billions at the expense of Uncle Sam because of a legal tax break that critics claim defies “common sense.” Over the past three years 280 Fortune 500 companies have taken home a […]

MSN News: Two-thirds of Americans oppose gas tax hikes

April 24, 2013

(Original Post) According to Gallup, Americans may object to increasing gas prices while the economy is still unstable. By Douglas Newcomb As state legislatures across the U.S. debate whether to raise gas taxes to repair crumbling roads, a new Gallup poll finds that two-thirds of Americans would vote against gas tax hikes in their home […]

The Motley Fool: The 7 States With the Lowest Gasoline Taxes

April 22, 2013

(Original Post) The price of gasoline is constantly on people’s minds. The prices you see on those gas-station signs everywhere you drive are tough enough to swallow, but what you may not know is the extent to which gas taxes contribute to those prices. The federal tax is $0.184 per gallon, and states add their […]

State revenues plummet in recessions, just when states can least afford the loss.  Some proposals to address this flaw in state tax systems would change the systems’ structure — for instance, by replacing state personal income taxes with sales taxes — but wouldn’t solve the problem and would exacerbate others in state tax systems.  States […]

Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once noted that “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” State and local taxes support our public schools, colleges, and universities; streets and highways; public hospitals that form the backbone of the state’s trauma care system; parks and beaches; the public health infrastructure that ensures that our […]

Governing: The Risks of Relying on User Fees

March 29, 2013

(Original Post) In the past three years, states and cities have brought in billions of dollars in additional user fees. But there are pitfalls to this form of revenue boost. BY: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene | April 2013 The political debate that pits the desire to generate new revenues against the drive to cut […]

San Jose Mercury News: California’s gas tax and what we do with it

March 15, 2013

(Original Post) By Gary Richards [email protected]:   03/14/2013 12:01:00 AM PDT Q Gary, here’s your chance to be an unbelievable hero. I’m a senior and remember back in the ’50s when California had the best roads in the U.S. But back then, all gas taxes had to be used for road repair or construction. Then, along […]

Steamboat Pilot and Today: Steamboat joins growing group of cities looking to grow their stake in the outdoor manufacturing industry

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Scott Franz Sunday, March 10, 2013 There’s nothing modest about Outdoor Retailer’s winter trade show in Salt Lake City. #For four days in January, the downtown Salt Palace Convention Center becomes a dizzying labyrinth of booths manned by the world’s most famous outdoor manufacturers. #It’s a place where a large SmartWool banner […]

The Advocate: Tax overhaul linked to business rankings

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Mark Ballardand Michelle Millhollon Capitol news bureau March 11, 2013 At the top of a “talking points” memo handed to legislators, Gov. Bobby Jindal justifies overhauling the state’s tax system in order to increase the state’s ranking on an index drafted by the Tax Foundation. Stephen Moret, Jindal’s secretary of the state […]

The Austinist: Texas Economy Trails Slowly Behind Income Tax States

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) A new report just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows the Lone Star State economy lagging far behind states that have income taxes. Reviewing economic data over the past decade In measures of growth per capita, median household income growth, and average annual unemployment rates, the study show Texas […]

Think Progress: Contrary To GOP Rhetoric, Low-Tax States Have Worse Economic Growth

March 1, 2013

(Original Post) By Pat Garofalo on Feb 28, 2013 at 3:45 pm Republicans love to claim that low-tax states such as Texas enjoy a disproportionate amount of economic success, while higher-tax states like California are economic basket cases. Republican governors in several states are using that rationale to propose gutting their state income taxes (and, […]

The Fiscal Times: State Income Taxes- One Piece of a Complex Revenue Pie

February 25, 2013

(Original Post) By BRUCE BARTLETT, The Fiscal TimesFebruary 22, 2013 State taxes are once again making headlines. When California recently raised its top income tax rate to 13.3 percent, pro golfer Phil Mickelson threatened to leave the state for the no-income tax world of  sunny Florida. Republicans in several states are pushing to abolish their […]

New York Times: The Alluring Myth of the Tax-Fleeing Millionaire

February 15, 2013

(Original Post) By JAMES B. STEWARTPublished: February 15, 2013 Last month, Vladimir V. Putin hugged his newly minted fellow Russian citizen, the actor Gerard Depardieu, posing for cameras at the Black Sea port of Sochi. “I adore your country,” Mr. Depardieu gushed — especially its 13 percent flat tax on personal income. Sochi may not […]

Politico: Ambitious governors dominate tax debate

January 23, 2013

(Original Post) By: Rachael BadeJanuary 22, 2013 04:41 PM EST Looking for the next big tax debate? Talk to a governor — preferably one with presidential ambitions. From Louisiana to New York, and Wisconsin to Massachusetts, some of the nation’s most prominent governors in both parties — more than a few of whom have grander […]

Roth & Company: How progressive can state taxes be?

January 17, 2013

(Original Post) November 19th, 2009 by Joe Kristan The Iowa Fiscal Partnership has generated some headlines by passing around their take on a new study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: Study says Iowa tax system unfair to poor Report: Iowa tax code favors wealthiest residents Report: Iowa tax system hurts low and […]

California Budget Project: California’s Tax System

January 14, 2013 • By ITEP Staff

Read the Original Full Power Point Presentation

The core of the COTCE proposals would reduce the state’s reliance on the personal income tax by reducing the number of rates and the maximum tax rate, eliminate the corporate income tax and the state’s share of the sales and use tax, and replace the revenues lost by imposing a new business net receipts tax […]

One option for helping to bridge the state’s budget gap would be to reinstate the 10 percent and 11 percent tax rates for high-income Californians. Adding a 10 percent tax rate for married taxpayers with taxable incomes above $277,132 ($138,566 single) and an 11 percent rate for married taxpayers with taxable incomes exceeding $554,265 ($277,132 […]

California Budget Project: Who Pays Taxes in California?

January 14, 2013 • By ITEP Staff

Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once noted that, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” State and local taxes support our public schools, streets and highways, public hospitals that form the backbone of the state’s trauma care system, parks and beaches, the public health infrastructure that ensures that our food is safe […]

California Budget Project: Who Pays Taxes in California?

January 14, 2013 • By ITEP Staff

Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once noted that, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” State and local taxes support our public schools, streets and highways, public hospitals that form the backbone of the state’s trauma care system, parks and beaches, the public health infrastructure that ensures that our food is safe […]