Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Georgia

The Augusta Chronicle: Georgia Governor Nathan Deal wants to slash state tax windfall

February 15, 2018

It is difficult to quantify how much the average taxpayer would be affected under current law. A middle income family in Georgia — making between $40,000 and $62,000 annually — could see its federal tax burden decrease by about $600 annually, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in […]

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State Rundown 2/14: To Couple or Not to Couple?

February 14, 2018 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 2/14: To Couple or Not to Couple?

This Valentine's week finds California, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Oregon, and other states flirting with the idea of coupling to various components of the federal tax-cut bill. Meanwhile, lawmakers seeking revenue solutions to budget shortfalls in Alaska, Oklahoma, and Wyoming saw their advances spurned, and anti-tax advocates in many states have been getting mixed responses to their tax-cut proposals. And be sure to check out our "what we're reading" section to see how states are getting no love in recent federal budget developments.

State Rundown 2/8: State Responses to Federal Bill Gaining Steam

Several states this week are looking at ways to revamp their tax codes in response to the federal tax cut bill, with Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, and Vermont all actively considering proposals. Meanwhile, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania are working on resolving their budget shortfalls. And transportation funding is getting needed attention in Mississippi, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Immigrants Make Georgia Stronger and Better Every Day

February 1, 2018

Immigrant taxpayers contribute to Georgia’s bottom line. As immigrants start businesses, buy homes, earn wages and spend disposable income at local businesses, they generate considerable state and local tax revenue regardless of citizenship status. Undocumented Georgians contributed an estimated $352 million in state and local taxes in 2014, according to the Institute on Taxation and […]

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: People-Powered Prosperity

February 1, 2018

People-Powered Prosperity details a new vision for how state lawmakers can pursue strategies to help all Georgians thrive, as well as how the state can responsibly pay for it.

The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has major implications for budgets and taxes in every state, ranging from immediate to long-term, from automatic to optional, from straightforward to indirect, from certain to unknown, and from revenue positive to negative. And every state can expect reduced federal investments in shared public priorities like health care, education, public safety, and basic infrastructure, as well as a reduced federal commitment to reducing economic inequality and slowing the concentration of wealth. This report provides detail that state residents and lawmakers can use to better understand the implications of the TCJA for…

Charleston Post-Courier: An Abuse of Charitable Giving?

January 14, 2018

Under the new law, some wealthy South Carolinians may actually make a 37 percent profit, risk-free, by making charitable contributions to Exceptional SC, a nonprofit fund created by the state Legislature to administer scholarships to students with disabilities attending private schools. That’s according to a recent report by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. South Carolina has […]

NPR: This Tax Loophole for Wealthy Donors Just Got Bigger

December 29, 2017

One of the changes, according to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, which advocates for a “fair and sustainable” tax system, allows far more wealthy donors in 10 states to turn a profit through “donations” to private school scholarships. Yes, you read that right. If your income is high enough, you can actually make […]

The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low- and middle-income Americans. The bill would go into effect in 2018 but the provisions directly affecting families and individuals would all expire after 2025, with […]

The Final Trump-GOP Tax Plan: National and 50-State Estimates for 2019 & 2027

The final Trump-GOP tax law provides most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low- and middle-income Americans. The bill goes into effect in 2018 but the provisions directly affecting families and individuals all expire after 2025, with the exception of one provision that would raise their taxes. To get an idea of how the bill will affect Americans at different income levels in different years, this analysis focuses on the bill’s impacts in 2019 and 2027.

Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill

For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.

Tax Bill Would Increase Abuse of Charitable Giving Deduction, with Private K-12 Schools as the Biggest Winners

In its rush to pass a major rewrite of the tax code before year’s end, Congress appears likely to enact a “tax reform” that creates, or expands, a significant number of tax loopholes.[1] One such loophole would reward some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals with a strategy for padding their own bank accounts by “donating” to support private K-12 schools. While a similar loophole exists under current law, its size and scope would be dramatically expanded by the legislation working its way through Congress.[2]

How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Georgia Residents’ Federal Taxes

The House passed its “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” November 16th and the Senate passed its version December 2nd. Both bills would raise taxes on many low- and middle-income families in every state and provide the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors substantial tax cuts, while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. The graph below shows that both bills are skewed to the richest 1 percent of Georgia residents.

National and 50-State Impacts of House and Senate Tax Bills in 2019 and 2027

The House passed its “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” November 16th and the Senate passed its version December 2nd. Both bills would raise taxes on many low- and middle-income families in every state and provide the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors substantial tax cuts, while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. National and 50-State data available to download.

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Resources for Your Thanksgiving Dinner Tax Policy Debates

November 21, 2017 • By ITEP Staff

Resources for Your Thanksgiving Dinner Tax Policy Debates

ITEP has analyzed each of the tax proposals advanced by the House and Senate in recent weeks. While some details have changed, the bottom line is the same: The plans would disproportionately benefit corporations and the wealthy. The Senate tax plan ITEP’s latest analysis examined the proposal that passed the Senate Finance Committee on Nov. […]

Revised Senate Plan Would Raise Taxes on at Least 29% of Americans and Cause 19 States to Pay More Overall

The tax bill reported out of the Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 16 would raise taxes on at least 29 percent of Americans and cause the populations of 19 states to pay more in federal taxes in 2027 than they do today.

How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Georgia Residents’ Federal Taxes

The Senate tax bill released last week would raise taxes on some families while bestowing immense benefits on wealthy Americans and foreign investors. In Georgia, 60 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 19 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.

Senate Tax Plan Reserves Greatest Benefit for Richest Americans, Millions Face an Increase

A 50-state analysis of the Senate tax proposal finds that not only would greatest share of benefits go to the richest Americans, but also more than one in 10 taxpayers would face a tax hike, with a large number of those taxpayers residing in states where residents pay higher state and local taxes.

House Tax Bill Would Put Property Tax Deduction Out of Reach for Most Households

The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on a bill that would reduce federal revenues by roughly $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Despite the bill’s high price tag, many households would pay more in federal tax if the bill is enacted, in large part because it slashes the deduction for state […]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, includes some provisions that raise taxes and some that cut taxes, so the net effect for any particular family’s federal tax bill depends on their situation. Some of the provisions that benefit the middle class — like lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to expire or become less generous over time. Some of the provisions that benefit the wealthy, such as the reduction and eventual repeal of the estate…

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Analysis of the House Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

November 6, 2017 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe, Steve Wamhoff

Analysis of the House Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on Nov. 2 in the House of Representatives, would raise taxes on some Americans and cut taxes on others while also providing significant savings to foreign investors.

The ITEP report concludes that many of the most affected people would be middle-income and upper-middle income taxpayers. For example, in Maryland, about one-third of those making from $48,700 to $73,700 would face a tax hike, while 41 percent of those between $73,700 and $126,500, would face an increase, the study says. And almost 65 […]

50-State Analysis: GOP-Trump Tax Proposal Would Give the Store Away to the Wealthy, Exacerbate the Income Divide

A 50-state analysis of the GOP tax framework reveals the top 1 percent of taxpayers would receive a substantial tax cut while middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers in many states would pay more, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said today. The GOP continues to tout its tax plan as “beneficial to the middle class.” […]

Benefits of GOP-Trump Framework Tilted Toward the Richest Taxpayers in Each State

The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and Congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would affect states differently, but every state would see its richest residents grow richer if it is enacted. In all but a handful of states, at least half of the tax cuts would flow to the richest one percent of residents if the framework took effect.

GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Georgia with 74.8 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts

The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would not benefit everyone in Georgia equally. The richest one percent of Georgia residents would receive 74.8 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $552,200 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $83,070 in 2018, which would increase their income by an average of 4.0 percent.