Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Georgia

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: From Barriers to Bridges: How Fines and Fees Reform Can Help Boost Economic Security

December 22, 2024

Excessive local government reliance on fines and fees is tied to persistent barriers to economic security. Policies that lift these barriers could open gateways for more Georgians to achieve workforce mobility free from criminal legal system entanglement. Read more.

State Rundown 11/07: Election Week and New Special Sessions

Tax policy results are mixed across the country as many voters weigh in on state and local ballot measures. For example, Washington state voted to maintain its new progressive tax on capital gains; Georgia voters capped growth in property tax assessments; Illinois voters approved a call for a millionaires’ tax; North Dakota voters rejected property […]

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State Rundown 10/24: Tricks, Treats, and Tax Policy

October 24, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 10/24: Tricks, Treats, and Tax Policy

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is proposing a regressive tax reform package that would enact a flat personal and corporate income tax while expanding the state’s sales tax base and eliminating certain exemptions to make up for a portion of the lost revenue. West Virginia continues to chip away at its personal income tax, one of the state’s few progressive revenue options. And advocates in New York are rallying around a package of progressive tax legislation that would tax capital gains at higher rates, enact higher income tax brackets on multi-millionaires, and tax unrealized capital gains of billionaires.

2024 State Tax Ballot Questions: Voters to Weigh in on Tax Changes Big and Small

As we approach November’s election, voters in several states will be weighing in on tax policy changes. The outcomes will impact the equity of state and local tax systems and the adequacy of the revenue those systems are able to raise to fund public services.

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Trump’s Plan to Vaporize the Economy Through Mass Deportation

September 16, 2024 • By Michael Ettlinger

Trump’s Plan to Vaporize the Economy Through Mass Deportation

This op-ed originally appeared in the Boston Globe. What would happen if 22 percent of America’s farmworkers vanished from the workforce? Would workers from across the country flock to the cotton fields of Texas, the sugar fields of Florida, and the peanut farms of Georgia to take low-paying jobs in the blazing heat? Or would […]

Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: Updated National and State-by-State Estimates

The TCJA Permanency Act would make permanent the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that are set to expire at the end of 2025. The legislation would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. Below are graphics for each state that show the effects of making TCJA permanent across income groups. See ITEP’s […]

Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform

Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2024. These suspensions combined will cost states and localities over $1.3 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system.

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Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants

July 30, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants

Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Providing access to work authorization for undocumented immigrants would increase their tax contributions both because their wages would rise and because their rates of tax compliance would increase.

Five Tax Takeaways from 2024 State Legislative Sessions 

Major tax cuts were largely rejected this year, but states continue to chip away at income taxes. And while property tax cuts were a hot topic across the country, many states failed to deliver effective solutions to affordability issues.

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Improving Refundable Tax Credits by Making Them Immigrant-Inclusive

July 17, 2024 • By Emma Sifre, Marco Guzman

Improving Refundable Tax Credits by Making Them Immigrant-Inclusive

Undocumented immigrants who work and pay taxes but don't have a valid Social Security number for either themselves or their children are excluded from federal EITC and CTC benefits. Fortunately, several states have stepped in to ensure undocumented immigrants are not left behind by the gaps in the federal EITC and CTC. State lawmakers should continue to ensure that immigrants who are otherwise eligible for these tax credits receive them.

States Should Enact, Expand Mansion Taxes to Advance Fairness and Shared Prosperity

The report was produced in partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and co-authored by CBPP’s Deputy Director of State Policy Research Samantha Waxman.[1] Click here to use our State Mansion Tax Estimator A historically large share of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, a reality glaring in […]

Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes

State and local tax codes can do a lot to reduce inequality. But they add to the nation’s growing income inequality problem when they capture a greater share of income from low- or moderate-income taxpayers. These regressive tax codes also result in higher tax rates on communities of color, further worsening racial income and wealth divides.

State Rundown 4/3: Some States Buck the Trend on Foolish Tax Policy

This week tax cuts were debated across the upper Midwest...

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State Rundown 3/20: Investments Over Cuts

March 20, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 3/20: Investments Over Cuts

Over the past week Utah continued its slow march toward a more inequitable tax code...

State Rundown 2/28: States Keep Busy While Washington Stalls

State legislative sessions are in full swing with New Jersey and Oklahoma both particularly active this week...

State Rundown 2/22: Some Top-Heavy Tax Cut Proposals are Getting the Chop

With many state legislatures now in full swing with activity heating up, some tax cut proposals have lost steam...

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State Rundown 2/14: Our Love Language is Taxes

February 14, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 2/14: Our Love Language is Taxes

As many of you may know, we love taxes, along with the many great things they provide for our communities...

State Rundown 2/1: Black History Month Begins as Tax Debates Heat Up Nationwide

This week the showdown between the Kansas legislature and governor continued as Gov. Kelly vetoed the legislature’s latest attempt to pass a flat personal income tax. Elsewhere, the focus is on doing more for working families through proposals to expand refundable credits in Maryland and adding a millionaire tax bracket in Rhode Island. Meanwhile, there’s […]

State Tax Watch 2024

January 23, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

State Tax Watch 2024

Updated July 15, 2024 In 2024, state lawmakers have a choice: advance tax policy that improves equity and helps communities thrive, or push tax policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, drain funding for critical public services, and make it harder for low-income and working families to get ahead. Despite worsening state fiscal conditions, we expect […]

State Rundown 1/11: Sounding the Alarm on Regressive State & Local Tax Codes

States got a wake-up call this week as ITEP released the latest edition of our flagship Who Pays? report...

Georgia: Who Pays? 7th Edition

January 9, 2024 • By ITEP Staff

Georgia: Who Pays? 7th Edition

Georgia Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in Georgia, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis includes nearly all (99.8 percent) state and local tax revenue collected in Georgia. These figures depict Georgia’s personal income tax rate at its 2024 level […]

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State Rundown 12/14: Tax Policy Debates Ramp Up for 2024

December 14, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 12/14: Tax Policy Debates Ramp Up for 2024

Even as revenue collections slow in many states, some are starting the push for 2024 tax cuts early. For instance, policymakers in Georgia and Utah are already making the case for deeper income tax cuts. Meanwhile, Arizona lawmakers are now facing a significant deficit, the consequence of their recent top-heavy tax cuts. There is another […]

Associated Press: Georgia’s Governor and Top Republican Lawmakers Say They Want To Speed Up State Income Tax Cut

December 5, 2023

Georgia’s Republican governor and legislative leaders want to speed up an already-planned cut in the state income tax rate. Read more.

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Abortion-Restricting States Skimp on Funding for Children

November 9, 2023 • By Amy Hanauer

Abortion-Restricting States Skimp on Funding for Children

States differ dramatically in how much they allow families to make choices about whether and when to have children and how much support they provide when families do. But there is a clear pattern: the states that compel childbirth spend less to help children once they are born.

State Rundown 11/8: Election Results Bring Victories, Opportunities for More Common-Sense Tax Reform

Voters had the chance to impact tax policy across the country on election day, and some chose to enact common-sense reforms to raise revenue...