Florida
This week saw a nearly successful attempt to right the fiscal ship in Kansas; regressive tax proposals introduced in WestVirginia, Georgia, and Missouri; ongoing gas tax fights in Indiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee; and further tax and budget wrangling in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and beyond. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Both […]
Florida Policy Institute: Florida’s Shadow Budget Needs Greater Scrutiny
February 2, 2017
Silent spending, in the form of numerous kinds of tax breaks, costs Florida billions of dollars in lost revenue a year. Unlike money spent through the state budget process, this “shadow budget” is not routinely examined to see if it is meeting worthwhile goals or promoting a stronger economy. This is money that is spent […]
Florida Policy Institute: A Citizens Guide to Florida’s Budget
February 2, 2017
Florida is known worldwide as a vacation destination, but those of us who live here know that the way Florida takes in and spends money affects every aspect of our lives. From now until 2030, people age 60 and older will account for most of Florida’s population growth, representing 56.9 percent of the gains. Adequate […]
This week’s Rundown brings news of tax cuts passed in Arkansas and advanced in Idaho, proposals to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales taxes in Nevada and Michigan, revenue shortfalls forcing tough choices in Louisiana and Maine, and more governors’ state of the state addresses and budget proposals setting the stage for yet more tax […]
Below is a list of notable resources for information on state taxes and revenues: Alabama Alabama Department of Revenue Alabama Department of Finance – Executive Budget Office Alabama Department of Revenue – Tax Incentives for Industry Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office Alaska Alaska Department of Revenue – Tax Division Alaska Office of Management & Budget Alaska […]
Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes
January 26, 2017 • By Carl Davis, Meg Wiehe
When states shy away from personal income taxes in favor of higher sales and excise taxes, high-income taxpayers benefit at the expense of low- and moderate-income families who often face above-average tax rates to pick up the slack. This chart book demonstrates this basic reality by examining the distribution of taxes in states that have pursued these types of policies. Given the detrimental impact that regressive tax policies have on economic opportunity, income inequality, revenue adequacy, and long-run revenue sustainability, tax reform proponents should look to the least regressive, rather than most regressive, states in crafting their proposals.
This week brings more news of states facing budget crunches, a new state looking to eliminate income taxes, and plans to raise gas taxes to fund transportation projects. Be sure to check out the What We’re Reading section for a look at how repealing federal health reform could add to those crunches and a review […]
State Rundown 1/4: Revenue Shortfalls, Gas Tax Changes Dominate Early Debates
January 4, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
This week we bring you updates on major revenue shortfalls looming in Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, as well as gas tax changes taking effect in some states and being debated in others. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Oklahoma lawmakers are weighing options to close the state’s $870 million shortfall. Up for discussion are […]
USA Today: 7 states will have higher gas taxes Jan. 1
December 28, 2016
“Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida will each see modest gas tax increases of less than a penny per gallon, based on automatic adjustments in those states, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Two states — New York and West Virginia — will have slight reductions based on automatic adjustments, according to […]
This report explains the workings, and problems, with state-level tax subsidies for private K-12 education. It also discusses how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has exacerbated some of these problems by allowing taxpayers to claim federal charitable deductions even on private school contributions that were not truly charitable in nature. Finally, an appendix to this report provides additional detail on the specific K-12 private school tax subsidies made available by each state.
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.
Governing: Back-to-School Tax Holidays Losing Popularity Among Lawmakers
August 30, 2016
“[Tax holidays] don’t help lower-income people much either, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).” Read more
Florida Times Union: Tonyaa Weathersbee: Broken promises are a reason to vote no on pension sales tax
August 25, 2016
“According to a 2015 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, non-partisan research organization that examines issues of tax fairness and sustainability, Florida has the second most regressive tax structure in the nation.” Read more
Achieving Sustainable Infrastructure Revenue with Gas Tax Reform
August 8, 2016 • By Carl Davis
This brief outlines the causes of Louisiana's infrastructure revenue shortfall and offers recommendations for how the state can achieve "sufficient increased levels of recurring funding to address the transportation backlog in highway and bridge maintenance needs in Louisiana," as per the Task Force's mandate.
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
July 11, 2016 • By Meg Wiehe
This brief was updated July 2018 Read this Policy Brief in PDF here. Sales taxes are an important revenue source, composing close to half of all state tax revenues.[1] But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family’s income, the more the family must spend on goods and services subject to the […]
A new study released today provides the best evidence yet that progressive state income taxes are not leading to any meaningful amount of “tax flight” among top earners.
CT Post: Former Gov. Rell switching residency to Florida
May 12, 2016
““Property taxes have been a bone of contention for the past decade in Florida,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “Everyone seems to agree that their property taxes are too high.” The state and local sales tax in Florida can reach as high […]
Tallahassee Democrat: I am undocumented and I pay my taxes
April 19, 2016
“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy recently estimated that state and local tax revenues would increase by an additional $805 million each year if President Obama’s immigration actions are implemented. The same report found that the 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the country contribute $11.64 billion in state and local taxes per […]
Sun Sentinel: Prosperous but Undocumented
April 15, 2016
“Of the nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, about 1 million are professionals, according to a report from Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. In Florida, about 79,000 professional people are undocumented immigrants.” Read more
NewsNet5: PolitiFact: Was Kasich’s tax cut the largest in the nation?
March 16, 2016
“Ohio is among the states that come up in discussions about big tax cuts. But was Kasich’s truly the largest in the nation? “There are at least half a dozen reasons why there has to be an asterisk after that sentence,” said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a […]
Convenience Store and Fuel News: Which States’ Gas Taxes Are Going Up in 2016? And which are going down?
January 12, 2016
“Four states increased gasoline taxes at the start of 2016, while five actually lowered them. That’s according to an analysis by The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonpartisan, Washington-based research organization that focuses on local tax-policy issues. The four states that increased their gasoline tax on Jan. 1 are Florida, Maryland, Nebraska […]
The Bulletin Leader: NEWS Florida among ‘least fair’ for state taxes nationwide
October 5, 2015
“The report was released by WalletHub who used results that was a “nationally representative survey” which assessed what Americans thought a “fair” tax system was in the state. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s data shows that the lowest 20 percent of earners have the highest tax burden at roughly ten percent, while the […]
Orlando Sentinel: Florida nice to rich, mean to poor, tax survey says
September 25, 2015
“WalletHub first surveyed over 1,000 Americans on what they consider a fair state and local tax system. The site then used data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and compared the real state and local tax burden of households to what Americans think is fair at various income levels. Most respondents said […]
WUNC: Under New Tax Plan, Timing Belt Change Would Cost $30 More On This Volkswagen Jetta
September 18, 2015
“Sen. Josh Stein, a Democrat from Wake County, disagrees. He says the plan would favor high-wage earners because everyone pays the same income tax—instead of lower rates for people who make less money, as was the case in previous North Carolina tax models—and new consumer service taxes take up a bigger proportion of the […]
The U.S. Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2014, the national poverty rate was 14.8 percent - statistically unchanged from the previous year. However, the poverty rate remains 2.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2007, before the Great Recession, indicating that recent economic gains have not yet reached all households and that there is much room for improvement. The 2014 measure translates to more than 46.7 million - more than 1 in 7 - Americans living in poverty. Most state poverty rates also held steady between…
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