Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Florida

Tallahassee Democrat: Earle Klay: Educators should heed a warning

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) May 13, 2009 My View When I was an undergraduate in the early 1960s at the University of South Florida, a legislative committee under Sen. Charley Johns forced our president to fire professors suspected of being either homosexual or communist. One of my professors was fired mid-term because he had traveled […]

Bradenton Herald: Fla. Tax system one of least fair

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Posted on Fri, Nov. 20, 2009 State is second worst, survey says By JENNIFER RICH [email protected] If you are a Florida resident with low to moderate income, you are paying a disproportionate amount of state and local taxes. So says a nationwide study of state tax systems that shows Florida has […]

South Florida Business Journal: Report: Florida’s tax system among worst

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Wednesday, November 18, 2009 South Florida Business Journal Florida’s poorest residents pay a far higher share of their income in state and local taxes than do the richest families in the state, according to a newly released report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. […]

Orlando Sentinel: Think tank says Florida tax system hardest on working class

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) posted by Jim Stratton on Nov 18, 2009 10:56:10 AM Florida’s tax system is among the worst in the nation in terms of pushing the financial burden onto low and middle-income residents, according to a new study by a D.C.-based think tank. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy — which […]

Tallahassee Democrat: Tobacco tax, It’s a symptom of bad fiscal habits

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) November 22, 2009 It’s a symptom of bad fiscal habits When the Legislature was debating last spring whether to raise money by substantially boosting the taxes on tobacco, a couple of arguments were all that caused even a pause in enthusiasm for this “sin tax.” One was that it would likely […]

Wonk Room: Florida’s Incoming Republican Speaker Casts Doubt On Scott’s Plan To Cut Spending

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Pat Garofalo on Sep 13th, 2010 at 7:50 pm Florida’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott — when he’s not spending an inordinate amount of time discussing policies over which he’d have no control as governor — likes to tout his economic growth plan, which involves large tax cuts and supposedly […]

Ocala: Poverty rises, while taxes benefit wealthy

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Alan Stonecipher Special to the Star-Banner Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 6:30 a.m. FLORIDA FOCUS The number of Floridians living below the federal poverty level increased between 2007 and 2009 by almost 550,000 — equal to the population of the cities of Orlando and Tampa combined. New U.S. Census […]

Gainesville Sun: Alison Law: Behind Paula’s rant, serious questions about taxes

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Alison Law Special to The Sun Published: Friday, November 26, 2010 at 6:01 a.m. Airport scanners and personal tax bills have a lot in common. We all know what’s under the clothing or in the tax bills, but both are offensive when displayed in public. The County Commission swearing in […]

Think Progress: Gov. Scott’s Version of ‘Fair Taxes’: Regressive Personal Taxes and No Corporate Tax

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Like many Republican governors, Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) has released a budget that lays off thousands of state workers and slashes education and Medicaid funding, but still cuts Florida’s already low corporate income tax rate by two and a half percentage points. During an interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow last night […]

Daytona Beach News-Journal: The facts on pensions don’t support rhetoric

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By MIKE WILLIAMS, FLORIDA VOICEMarch 7, 2011 12:05 AMPosted in: Other Voices Changing Florida’s public pension systems has become a hot topic across Florida and the nation. Unfortunately, many politicians in Tallahassee have been using a moving target when giving their reasons for so-called pension “reform.” This process began with certain […]

Stamford Advocate: Grandfather knew: The rich can afford higher taxes

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Published 09:25 p.m., Thursday, May 19, 2011 In the mid-1950s, my grandfather told the Buffalo Evening News he didn’t mind paying taxes. He considered it “the rent I pay for the privilege of living in this country.” The quote was in a profile published because he ran a large local business. […]

Arkansas Times: Appointment in Samarra

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) News that at least one Huckabee has moved to Florida arrived as we were pondering, more or less, a study showing that residents of states without state income taxes, such as Florida, pay more in federal income taxes than do residents of states that have an income tax, such as Arkansas. […]

Arkansas Times: Kicking the Poor Around

January 3, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Kicking the poor around While Arkansas and five other states might be considered “low tax” states overall, their taxes aren’t low for poor and middle-income families, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington think tank. ITEP looked at data released earlier this summer by the Census Bureau […]

CNN: By the Numbers- Politics in 2013

January 3, 2013

(Original Post) By Amy Roberts, CNN Libraryupdated 11:14 AM EST, Thu January 3, 2013 (CNN) — Two-thousand-thirteen promises to be an interesting political year — with two governors races that will be closely watched, the very real possibility of another special Senate election in Massachusetts, a possible debate in Washington over immigration reform as the […]

Post-Star (NY): Commentary: Anti-tax Governors just getting started

December 21, 2012

Original Post By Matthew Gardner, Executive Director Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy July 28, 2011 Twelve new governors who ran on anti-tax platforms have now signed their first fiscal year budgets. All of them will tell you they were elected with a mandate to get their state’s fiscal house in order, rein in government […]

La Crosse Tribune: Matthew Gardner: Anti-tax govs just getting started

December 21, 2012

Original Post July 31, 2011 COMMENTARY Twelve new governors who ran on anti-tax platforms have now signed their first fiscal year budgets. All of them will tell you they were elected with a mandate to get their state’s fiscal house in order, rein in government spending and cut taxes. Some of them will even tell […]

Baltimore CityBizList: Tax Flight Debate Is One-Sided, Professor Says

December 21, 2012

by Len Lazarick August 12, 2011 Professor Roy Meyers, the government budgeting expert at UMBC, says the focus of our ongoing stories and comment strings “on the flight/plight of the millionaires is a bit one-sided.” Meyers is afraid that the discussion of Maryland’s tax structure will go down the sorry path of the national debate, […]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Effort to kill Missouri income tax has begun in earnest

December 21, 2012

Original Post September 26, 2011 by Virginia Young JEFFERSON CITY • Wrestling with your state income tax return? Missouri legislators are weighing a plan that would do away with that chore. But before you celebrate, be aware that it’s not a tax cut. While state individual and corporate income taxes would be eliminated, the lost […]

Fox 4 TV News Kansas City: Will Kansas Eliminate Income Tax?

December 21, 2012

  October 25, 2011 by John Pepitone and Christie Walton A new group wants Kansas to join nine other states that don’t have an individual income tax. Supporters claim states like Texas, Tennessee and Florida are growing faster and creating new jobs because they don’t have an income tax. A proposal to eliminate the state […]

Sun Sentinel: You paid more in taxes than FPL and other companies

December 19, 2012

(Original Post) By Julie Patel November 4, 2011 12:40 PM Thirty companies, including the parent company of Florida Power & Light, legally paid less than zero in federal income taxes in recent years, according to a report this month by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The two […]

Palm Beach Post: Rooney right to call and raise: Joins just two others in House delegation to reject ideology

December 19, 2012

By The Palm Beach Post Posted: 7:23 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 Dysfunction in Washington is so severe that stating the obvious counts as an act of courage. Three members of Florida’s U.S. House delegation stated the obvious last week when they signed a letter agreeing that for the debt-reduction committee to succeed, “all options […]

Orlando Sentinel: Central Florida companies don’t pay fair share of state income taxes, report says

December 19, 2012

(Original Post) By Sandra Pedicini, Orlando Sentinel 4:54 p.m. EST, December 7, 2011 Three Central Florida companies were named in a national report released Wednesday that contends many corporations pay too little in state income tax. Darden Restaurants, Publix and Harris Corp. are “paying substantially less than what the tax rate would suggest they should […]

The Ledger: Publix Underpays Taxes

December 19, 2012

(Original Post) By Kyle Kennedy THE LEDGER Published: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:13 p.m.Last Modified: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:13 p.m. LAKELAND | A report says Publix Super Markets Inc. and seven other large Florida-based companies are among 265 “consistently profitable” firms that underpay corporate taxes owed to states.Facts Three think tanks, including […]

Clarion Ledger: Corporations already evading Miss. state income tax

December 19, 2012

5:51 PM, Dec. 15, 2011 Written by Bill Minor Among the outlandish bills sponsored by Republican lawmakers I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago was one that would have repealed (yes, repealed) the state income tax on corporations. It didn’t pass. Now don’t be surprised if the bill resurfaces when the GOP takes over […]

The American Independent: Arthur Laffer’s dynamic roadshow

December 18, 2012

(Original Post) Siddhartha Mahanta | 12.18.12 | 1:24 pm | Republishposted in Economy/Finance | Government Accountability/Reform | Politics On January 19 of this year, Kansas state Sen. Julia Lynn offered an exuberant greeting to renowned tax-cutting enthusiast Arthur Laffer. “What an honor and privilege to have you here in Kansas,” Lynn said, welcoming the fabled […]