District of Columbia
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
• By Carl Davis
The federal government and many states are unable to adequately maintain the nation's transportation infrastructure in part because the gasoline taxes intended to fund infrastructure projects are often poorly designed. Thirty states and the federal government levy fixed-rate gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even when the cost of infrastructure materials rises or when drivers transition toward more fuel-efficient vehicles and pay less in gas tax. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas…
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Meg Wiehe
For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in fostering strong communities by promoting equality of opportunity and helping states adequately fund public services. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Changes in the federal estate tax in recent years, however, caused states to reevaluate the structure of their…
The Hoya: DC Council Approves Eliminating Tampon Tax
November 30, 2016
“The bill has nevertheless encountered opposition from various organizations within the District. Richard Phillips, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank that focuses on state and tax policy issues, expressed concerns that the exemption would not be an efficient way to address some of the inherent […]
FAIR: ‘Real Estate Investors Should Be Treated Like Any Other Businessmen’
October 18, 2016
“The statement revealed nothing we didn’t know about Trump, but it did raise a few questions for some folks about taxes—who pays what and why. Richard Phillips is senior policy analyst at Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. He joins us by phone from Washington, DC. Welcome to CounterSpin, […]
State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
Despite this unlevel playing field states create for their poorest residents through existing policies, many state policymakers have proposed (and in some cases enacted) tax increases on the poor under the guise of "tax reform," often to finance tax cuts for their wealthiest residents and profitable corporations.
Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through State Tax Codes
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
Low- and middle-income working parents spend a significant portion of their income on child care. As the number of parents working outside of the home continues to rise, child care expenses have become an unavoidable and increasingly unaffordable expense. This policy brief examines state tax policy tools that can be used to make child care more affordable: a dependent care tax credit modeled after the federal program and a deduction for child care expenses.
Rewarding Work Through State Earned Income Tax Credits
• By Aidan Davis, Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a policy designed to bolster the earnings of low-wage workers and offset some of the taxes they pay, providing the opportunity for struggling families to step up and out of poverty toward meaningful economic security. The federal EITC has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since its enactment in the mid-1970s. Over the past several decades, the effectiveness of the EITC has been magnified as many states…
Options for a Less Regressive Sales Tax
• By Carl Davis
Sales taxes are one of the most important revenue sources for state and local governments; however, they are also among the most unfair taxes, falling more heavily on low- and middle-income households. Therefore, it is important that policymakers nationwide find ways to make sales taxes more equitable while preserving this important source of funding for public services. This policy brief discusses two approaches to a less regressive sales tax: broad-based exemptions and targeted sales tax…
AJC.com: Navigate the ins and outs of Social Security and taxes
September 13, 2016
“State policy on taxation of benefits varies. Twenty-nine states (including the District of Columbia) that have a broad-based income tax exempt all Social Security from tax, according to a tally by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Seven states tax some Social Security benefits but provide an exemption that is more generous than what […]
Indexing Income Taxes for Inflation: Why It Matters
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Read brief in PDF here. All of us experience the effects of inflation as the price of the goods and services we buy gradually goes up over time. Fortunately, as the cost of living goes up, our incomes often tend to rise as well in order to keep pace. But many state tax systems are […]
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: Modernizing West Virginia’s Marijuana Laws
• By ITEP Staff
“Over the last two decades, states across the country have modernized their marijuana laws to reflect the growing evidence that doing so will help reduce criminal justice costs, help treat some medical conditions, and boost tax revenues and their state’s economy. As of 2016, four states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational […]
Why Sales Taxes Should Apply to Services
• By Carl Davis
Read this Policy Brief in PDF here. General sales taxes are an important revenue source for state governments, accounting for close to one-third of state tax collections nationwide. But most state sales taxes have a damaging structural flaw: they typically apply to most sales of goods, such as books and computers, but exempt most services […]
State Treatment of Itemized Deductions
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Meg Wiehe
Read this Policy Brief in PDF Form Map of State Treatment of Itemized Deductions Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia allow a group of income tax breaks known as “itemized deductions.” [1] Itemized deductions are designed to help defray a wide variety of personal expenditures that affect a taxpayer’s ability to pay taxes, including charitable […]
ValueWalk: On Tax Day, Remember the Contributions of Unauthorized Immigrants
April 19, 2016
“According to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, unauthorized immigrants pay an estimated $11.64 billion in state and local taxes each year, adding significant amounts of money to the coffers of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.” Read more
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Georgia Work Credit Could Get Families a Better Deal at Tax Time
• By ITEP Staff
As Georgians put the finishing touches on their returns to meet today’s income tax filing deadline, one benefit many are missing out on is a tax credit that states can offer to help average families get a fair deal. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia provide taxpayers with a state-level match for the Earned […]
Inside Sources: On Tax Day, Remember the Contributions of Unauthorized Immigrants
April 15, 2016
“According to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, unauthorized immigrants pay an estimated $11.64 billion in state and local taxes each year, adding significant amounts of money to the coffers of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.” Read more
Washington Post: The ‘tampon tax’ fight has reached D.C.
April 4, 2016
“The statement from Bonds noted that the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy recently found that the poorest families pay state and local taxes at twice the effective rate of the richest families. It’s time to “stop taxing your period,” she said.” Read more
Inforum: Column: When it comes to taxes, it is good to be retired
April 4, 2016
“Twenty-nine states (including the District of Columbia) that have a broad-based income tax exempt all Social Security from tax, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Seven states tax some Social Security benefits but provide an exemption that is more generous than what is available at the federal level. Six states tax […]
Newsmax: When it Comes to Taxes, it Is Good to Be Retired Read more: When it Comes to Taxes, it Is Good to be Retired Important: Can you afford to Retire?
April 4, 2016
“Twenty-nine states (including the District of Columbia) that have a broad-based income tax exempt all Social Security from tax, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Seven states tax some Social Security benefits but provide an exemption that is more generous than what is available at the federal level. Six states tax […]
Higher Education Income Tax Deductions and Credits in the States
• By Carl Davis
Read full report in PDF Download detailed appendix with state-by-state information on deductions and credits (Excel) Every state levying a personal income tax offers at least one deduction or credit designed to defray the cost of higher education. In theory, these policies help families cope with rising tuition prices by incentivizing college savings or partially […]
Al Dia News: The most ridiculous thing Trump has proposed
February 29, 2016
“The ITEP study, that covers the 50 states and the District of Columbia, also points out that if President Obama’s executive actions on immigration –the ones Trump has vowed to rescind — were implemented, the combined nationwide state and local tax contributions by the undocumented would increase by $805 million. Comprehensive immigration reform would add […]
Morning Star: The Ins and Outs of Social Security Benefits and Taxes
February 26, 2016
“Twenty-nine states (including the District of Columbia) that have a broad-based income tax exempt all Social Security from tax, according to a tally by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Seven states tax some Social Security benefits but provide an exemption that is more generous than what is available at the federal level. Six […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2016)
• By Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated in March 2017 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page Public debates over federal immigration reform often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United […]
Rewarding Work Through State Earned Income Tax Credits
• By Aidan Davis, Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
See the 2016 Updated Brief Here Read the brief in a PDF here. that time, the EITC has been improved to lift and keep more working families out of poverty. The most recent improvements enhanced the credit for families with three or more children and for married couples. First enacted temporarily as part of the […]
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
• By Carl Davis
The federal government and many states are seeing shortfalls in their transportation budgets in part because the gasoline taxes they use to generate those funds are poorly designed. Thirty-one states and the federal government levy "fixed-rate" gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even as the cost of infrastructure materials inevitably increases over time. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over 22 years. And twenty states…
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.