District of Columbia
Improving Tax Fairness with a State Earned Income Tax Credit
• By Meg Wiehe
The simplest, most effective, and most targeted way to begin to counteract regressive state tax codes is a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia already have some version of a state EITC. Each one is modeled on the federal credit, making it easy for taxpayers to claim and simple for state tax officials to administer. This report explains how all states - even those who already have…
DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Making DC’s Tax System Fair: Progress in the 2015 Budget
• By ITEP Staff
Most DC residents — like most Americans — agree that income tax rates should be graduated by income. Low-income households should pay the lowest rate, so that there is an incentive to work and they can support their basic needs. This kind of progressive approach also means tax rates get higher as incomes rise and […]
D.C. Tax Revision Commission: Final Report
• By ITEP Staff
On Dec. 18, 2013, the D.C. Tax Revision Commission unanimously approved a set of recommendations designed to improve the District’s tax system and help its residents and businesses prosper.The Commission’s recommendations are a roadmap to a more fair, competitive, and efficient tax system. Read the Full Report
Economic Progress Institute: Improve Rhode Island’s Earned Income Tax Credit to Help Hard-working Rhode Islanders
• By ITEP Staff
Rhode Island is among 25 states and the District of Columbia that offer a state EITC, but unlike most states, the credit is only partially refundable. Just over 83,000 Rhode Island taxpayers claimed the state’s EITC in Tax Year 2012 . The average credit was $119. Of those taxpayers receiving a credit, 73,119 received a […]
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-two 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 twenty years. And almost half…
The Record: The 5-cent solution – gas tax for New Jersey
March 24, 2014
(Original Post) MARCH 21, 2014, 4:53 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014, 4:53 PM BY CARL DAVIS THE RECORD Carl Davis is senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state and local tax policy issues. IF YOU WERE to ask five […]
USA Today: Needing money for roads, states mull gas tax hikes
March 11, 2014
(Original Post) Larry Copeland, USA TODAY 10:13 a.m. EDT March 11, 2014 The federal gas tax hasn’t been raised in more than two decades The federal gas tax, long used to help states pay for roads and bridges, hasn’t been raised since Bill Clinton was president. The prices of asphalt, steel and heavy machinery — […]
Stateline: Hunting Lost Revenue in Offshore Tax Havens
March 10, 2014
(Original Post) By Elaine S. Povich, Staff Writer Some states are going after multinational corporations which avoid state taxes by stashing some of their earnings in offshore tax havens, an effort aimed at recouping some of the more than $20 billion states lose to such gimmicks each year. Shifting income to subsidiaries in places like […]
New Jersey News Room: Many of America’s Most Profitable Corporations, Including N.J.-Based Honeywell, Pay Little or No Federal Income Taxes
February 28, 2014
THURSDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2014 08:56 BY JON WHITEN AND JENICE ROBINSON SPECIAL TO NEWJESEYNEWSROOM.COM Washington, D.C. – A comprehensive five-year study of 288 highly profitable Fortune 500 companies finds that 111 of them paid no federal corporate income tax in at least one of the last five years while one-third paid a U.S. tax rate […]
North Carolina Justice Center: Duke Energy the subject of another scathing report
• By ITEP Staff
One of North Carolina’s largest, most profitable (and most controversial) corporations is the subject of renewed criticism today. A new report co-released last night by the Washington, DC-based groups Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy along with the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center reveals that Duke Energy has […]
Mint Press News: Expiring Tax Deductions Prompt Talk Of Reform For State, Federal Tax System
December 30, 2013
(Original Post) Without congressional action to extend state and federal tax deductions, 11 million taxpayers will lose $17 billion. By Jo Erickson | December 26, 2013 As the year ends nine federal tax provisions will expire, causing some to pay more in state and local sales taxes. Most critics agree that state and federal taxes […]
Personal Income Tax Reform: Improving the Fairness of Taxes in the District of Columbia
• By Carl Davis
DC's tax system is markedly regressive. This is driven largely by the regressive impact of the city's sales, excise, and property taxes. The personal income tax is the only effective tool that DC has available for offsetting this regressivity. In the comments below I discuss four options for fine-tuning DC's income tax to lessen its impact on moderate- and middle-income taxpayers. I also describe four options for funding those tax cuts with policies that would…
CNN Money: Chamber of Commerce- Raise gas tax to fix roads
October 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney October 21, 2013: 1:41 PM ET The U.S. should raise federal gas taxes to help fix roads and bridges, according to an influential business group in Washington. “Twenty years. It’s been 20 years since we had an increase in the federal fuel tax. What kind of car were you […]
The Fiscal Times: You Won’t Believe Which State Taxes Its Poor the Most
September 24, 2013
(Original Post) BETH BRAVERMAN The Fiscal Times September 23, 2013 Washington State may have one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the country, but its poorest citizens pay more than residents of any other state. The poorest 20 percent of Washington residents pay 16.9 percent of their income in taxes, while the top 1 […]
A Federal Gas Tax for the Future
• By Carl Davis
Gas tax revenues are on an unsustainable course. Over the last five years, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from the general fund to the transportation fund in order to compensate for lagging gas tax revenues. By 2015, the transportation fund will be insolvent unless an additional $15 billion transfer is made. Larger transfers will be needed in subsequent years.
Washington Post: The state that taxes the poor the most is… a blue one
September 23, 2013
(Original Post) By Niraj Chokshi, Published: September 21 at 10:00 am The state that easily handed President Obama a victory last November while passing voter-approved referendums legalizing same-sex marriage and marijuana consumption also happens to have the nation’s highest tax burden on the poor. Poor families in Washington state pay 16.9 percent of their total […]
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools
• By Meg Wiehe
New Census Bureau data released this month show that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high, despite other signs of economic recovery. The national 2012 poverty rate of 15 percent is essentially unchanged since 2010 , but still 2.5 percentage points higher than pre-recession levels. This means that in 2012, 46.5 million, or about 1 in 6 Americans, lived in poverty.1 The poverty rate in most states also held steady with five states…
Columbia Journalism Review: Invasion of the Job Snatcher
September 9, 2013
(Original Post) As the Missouri media takes up arms against Rick Perry, some facts and context get lost in the fray By Deron Lee FAIRWAY, KS — Texas and Missouri no longer square off as Big 12 opponents, but governors Rick Perry and Jay Nixon—with some help from Missouri’s media—have ignited a new interstate rivalry. […]
Associated Press: Liu Calls for Legalized Pot in NYC
August 14, 2013
New York City Comptroller John Liu is proposing a historic overhaul of the city's marijuana laws, believing that legalizing medical marijuana and allowing adults to possess an ounce of pot for recreational use would pump more than $400 million into the city's coffers.
NY Daily News: Republicans give immigrants a reality check on expecting immigration reform
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) Forget about a comprehensive immigration bill. And so much for a bipartison bill out of the House. By Albor Ruiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS A reality check. That’s what the Republican tactic on immigration reform, announced last Wednesday by the Speaker of the House after a much-publicized closed-door meeting with his party, […]
KY Forward: Fifty-state study shows immigration reform would boost Kentucky revenues $23.2 million
July 10, 2013
With fiscal costs and benefits figuring large in the immigration reform debate, a new analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimates that unauthorized immigrants are already paying $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes nationwide, including $58.8 million in Kentucky. The study also estimates that Kentucky stands to gain […]
Accounting Today: Immigration Reform Expected to Increase State Tax Revenues $2 Billion
July 10, 2013
Unauthorized immigrants are already paying $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes, according to a new analysis that estimates an additional $2 billion revenue increase for the 50 states and the District of Columbia if undocumented immigrants who currently in the U.S. are allowed to work legally. The study, from the Institute on […]
PR Newswire: Undocumented Immigrants Pay $11 Billion Annually In State And Local Taxes; Immigration Reform Would Increase State Revenues By $2 Billion
July 10, 2013
NEW 50-STATE STUDY FROM THE INSTITUTE ON TAXATION AND ECONOMIC POLICY WASHINGTON, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With fiscal costs and benefits figuring large in the immigration reform debate, a new analysis shows that unauthorized immigrants already pay $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes, and estimates the revenue increases for all […]
MSN Money: 8 states where the gas tax just went up
July 3, 2013
(Original Post) From Connecticut to Wyoming, lawmakers are turning to these hikes to fund long overdue road and infrastructure projects. By Bruce Kennedy It’s the summer driving season, and while gas prices traditionally rise this time of year, they’ve been falling of late. But July 1 was the start of a new fiscal year for […]
Testimony: Evaluating the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Reforms in DC’s Bill 20-199
• By Carl Davis
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Matt Gardner. I am the Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a Washington-DC-based nonprofit research group. ITEP's research focuses on federal and state tax policy with an emphasis on sustainability and fairness in the tax laws.
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