District of Columbia
Change.org: D.C. Needs Fairer Taxes, Not More Safety Net Cuts
January 3, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) by Kathryn Baer November 18, 2010 12:56 PM (PT) Like state and local governments across the country, the District of Columbia is facing a budget shortfall. We’ve got a $175 million gap that’s got to be closed right now. And our total local budget (pdf) is only somewhat over $6.1 billion. […]
American Way of Life Magazine: The Home Front: Where the Recession Really Matters
January 3, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) If the recession ended a year ago, why does it feel like our economy is still in shambles? Turn on any news station and you will be bombarded with people and institutions to blame. It’s the Obama administration’s fault. It’s the Republicans’ fault. It’s Wall Street’s fault. It’s the banks’ fault. […]
The Birmingham News: Our View: The nation’s lowest-tax state reaps the nation’s highest amount from its poorest taxpayers
December 21, 2012
(PDF of Original Post) Alabama stands atop two national rankings. Auburn fans should be upset. But so should fans of the Crimson Tide. Obviously, we’re not talking BCS and AP pre-season college football rankings. Instead, we’re talking about two seemingly contradictory rankings of the state’s tax system that expose just how screwy it is. Alabamians […]
Birmingham News: OUR VIEW: It’s awful that Birmingham is tied for the highest sales tax rate in the nation among cities with more than 200,000 people
December 21, 2012
(PDF of Original Post) Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 5:45 AM By Birmingham News editorial board If it’s possible to be No. 1 with a bullet, Birmingham is. It sits tied with Montgomery atop the charts. But it’s nothing you’d want to dance to. Birmingham and Montgomery have the highest general sales tax rate in […]
Market Watch: 280 Most Profitable U.S. Corporations Shelter Half Their Profits from Taxes; Thirty Companies Paid Less Than Zero in Taxes in the Last Three Years
December 21, 2012
(Original Post) WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Release “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010” A comprehensive new study that profiles 280 of America’s most profitable companies finds that 78 of them paid no federal income tax in at least […]
Washington Post: Study: Big corporations use loopholes, dodge taxes
December 19, 2012
(Original Post) By Jia Lynn Yang, Thursday, November 3, 12:00 AM Many of this country’s biggest companies paid no federal taxes — or even made money through credits and refunds from the government — over the past three years by using an array of loopholes and tax breaks, according to a report released Thursday. The […]
Economist: Focus: US corporate tax
December 19, 2012
(Original Post) Nov 4th 2011, 16:06 by The Economist Online The statutory federal income tax rate for big American companies is 35%. But a study by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, two Washington, DC-based think-tanks, has assessed the tax records of 280 companies from the Fortune 500 […]
Bloomberg: Sixty-Eight U.S. Companies Avoided State Income Tax, Study Finds
December 19, 2012
(Original Post) By Andrew Zajac – Dec 7, 2011 12:29 AM ET Sixty-eight large U.S. corporations paid no state income tax in at least one of the past three years and 20 had an average tax rate of zero or less in that period, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]
Washington Post: Some companies paid little or no state tax
December 19, 2012
(Original Post) By Danielle Douglas, Published: December 11 Some of the Washington area’s biggest public companies paid little to no state income taxes by using a myriad of tax breaks and other tactics, according to a research report released last week. Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy examined 265 […]
Cincinnati Enquirer: Will lower income tax bring jobs to Ohio?
December 17, 2012
(Original Post) Kasich thinks so, but our taxes aren’t really so high8:02 AM, Mar. 22, 2012 Written by Paul E. Kostyu COLUMBUS — Lower Ohio’s burdensome personal income taxes. Create jobs. That’s what Gov. John Kasich proposed last week in an expansive plan to reform government and improve the state’s economy. Kasich said Ohio’s income […]
South Maryland News: O’Malley reflects on gas tax, transportation funding
December 17, 2012
Friday, May. 11, 2012 by Danielle E. Gaines, Staff Writer The following story was updated at 2:50 p.m. May 11. Gov. Martin O’Malley reiterated the need for increased transportation funding in the state this week, while acknowledging that his gas tax proposal was a long shot politically. “There is no revenue proposal more unpopular in […]
Newsroom New Jersey: GOP’s Bush tax cuts will not help New Jerseyans in need
December 17, 2012
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 11:20 Bottom 60 percent of earners would see higher tax bills, while richest 1 percent would get tax break of $71,960 a year Middle-income and low-income New Jerseyans would pay more in taxes under the Congressional Republicans’ plan to extend the Bush tax cuts than they would under President Obama’s plan, […]
The Oklahoman: Citizens for Tax Justice working for fair and sustainable tax system
December 17, 2012
(Original Post) “Class warfare creeps into tax cut extension debate” (Our Views, June 26) mischaracterized Citizens for Tax Justice’s views in criticizing our report about the expiring tax cuts. The CTJ report is based on numbers from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s micro-simulation model that estimates the effect of tax policy changes on […]
Business Insider: Every State’s State/Local Tax System Taxes the Poor More than the Wealthy–And All Exceed Federal Taxes
December 17, 2012
(Original Post) Sep. 24, 2012, 8:11 AM by Kenneth Thomas Every State’s State/Local Tax System Taxes the Poor More than the Wealthy–And All Exceed Federal Taxes A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that in every state in the country, the bottom 20% of households pay more of their […]
Mercury News: Superrich stay put in high-tax states like California
December 17, 2012
(Original Post) By Mike Rosenberg mrosenberg@mercurynews.comPosted: 10/01/2012 10:18:54 AM PDTUpdated: 10/01/2012 10:25:43 AM PDT Some of us might love to hate ’em, but we need millionaires in California — or we’d lose tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue that pays for things like education and public safety. So should we be freaking out […]
Previewing Tax Reform in the States: National Trends and State-specific Prospects for 2013
• By Meg Wiehe
Following an election that left half the states with veto-proof legislative majorities, 39 states with one-party rule and more than a dozen with governors who put tax reform high on their agendas, 2013 promises to be a big year for changes to state tax laws.
Uncertain Benefits, Hidden Costs: The Perils of State-Sponsored Gambling
• By Meg Wiehe
The recent fiscal downturn forced cash-strapped, tax-averse state lawmakers to seek unconventional revenue-raising alternatives, for additional revenue-raising opportunities outside of the income, sales and property taxes that form the backbone of most state tax systems. One of the most popular alternatives to those major revenue sources is state sponsored gambling. As this policy brief points out, however, gambling revenues are rarely as lucrative, or as long-lasting, as supporters claim.
Rewarding Work Through Earned Income Tax Credits
• By Meg Wiehe
Low-wage workers often face a dual challenge as they struggle to make ends meet. In many instances, the wages they earn are insufficient to encourage additional hours of work or long-term attachment to the labor force. At the same time, most state and local tax systems impose greater responsibilities on poor families than on wealthy ones, making it even harder for low-wage workers to move above the poverty line and achieve meaningful economic security. The…
State Treatment of Itemized Deductions
• By Meg Wiehe
In 2011, thirty one states and the District of Columbia allow a group of income tax breaks known as "itemized deductions." Itemized deductions are designed to help defray a wide variety of personal expenditures that affect a taxpayer's ability to pay taxes, including charitable contributions, extraordinary medical expenses, mortgage interest payments and state and local taxes. But, these deductions cost states billions of dollars a year while providing little or no benefit to the middle-…
Split Roll Property Taxes
• By Carl Davis
In the past half century, state lawmakers have explored a wide variety of approaches to scaling back property taxes. One such approach is the split roll property tax, also known as a classified property tax. Unlike a regular property tax system which taxes all types of real property at the same rate, a split roll property tax applies different tax rates to different types of property. This policy brief looks at the advantages and disadvantages…
The “QPAI” Corporate Tax Break: How it Works and How States Can Respond
• By ITEP Staff
The past quarter century has seen a dramatic decline in the yield of corporate income taxes at both the federal and state levels. Major federal corporate tax legislation enacted in 2004 created a new tax break, known as the "Qualified Production Activities Income" (QPAI) deduction that has further accelerated the decline of the corporate tax. This policy brief evaluates the QPAI deduction and discusses possible state policy responses.
Combined Reporting of State Corporate Income Taxes: A Primer
• By ITEP Staff
Over the past several decades, state corporate income taxes have declined markedly. One of the factors contributing to this decline has been aggressive tax avoidance on the part of large, multi-state corporations costing states billions of dollars. The most effective approach to combating corporate tax avoidance is the use of combined reporting, a method of taxation currently employed in more than half of the states with a corporate income tax. Eight states have enacted legislation…
Should Sales Taxes Apply to Services?
• By ITEP Staff
General sales taxes are an important revenue source for state governments, accounting for close to half of state tax collections nationwide. But most state sales taxes have a damaging structural flaw: the tax typically applies to most sales of goods, such as books and computers, but exempts most services such as haircuts and car repairs. This omission is not the result of conscious policy choices, but a historical accident: when most state sales taxes were…
Don’t Give Up on Pease: States Can Decouple from Recent Federal Tax Cuts for Wealthy Itemizers
• By Meg Wiehe
In 2011, thirty one states and the District of Columbia allow a group of income tax breaks known as “itemized deductions” (Figure 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 contributions, extraordinary medical expenses, mortgage interest payments and state […]
Budget Hikes Taxes on Low-Income Families to Pay for High-End Capital Gains Cuts
• By ITEP Staff
On Friday, April 3, the Georgia General Assembly passed a budget for fiscal year 2010 that includes a major new tax cut (an exclusion for long-term capital gains income) and a substantial tax increase (eliminating a state-funded property tax relief program). A new analysis by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) […]
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.