Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Kansas would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,825,100 in 2018. They would receive 52.3 percent of the tax cuts that go to Kansas’s residents and would enjoy an average cut of $132,080 in 2018 alone.
Kansas
-
July 20, 2017 Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Kansas with 52.3 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
-
blog June 28, 2017 State Rundown 6/28: States Scramble to Finish Budgets Before July Deadlines
This week, several states attempt to wrap up their budget debates before new fiscal years (and holiday vacations) begin in July. Lawmakers reached at least short-term agreement on budgets in Alaska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, but such resolution remains elusive in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
-
blog June 13, 2017 How to Recover from A Failed Tax Experiment: Part 1
Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax experiment in Kansas was a failure.
His radical tax cuts for the rich eventually had to be partly paid for through tax hikes on low- and middle-income families and also failed to deliver on promises of economic growth. Meanwhile, the tax cuts decimated the state’s budget, diminished its credit rating, and compromised its ability to meet the state’s constitutional standard of adequacy for public education.
-
blog June 8, 2017 Kansas May Have Saved Us All
Sitting in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, hidden in the jumble of Americana like Thomas Jefferson’s desk, Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown and the ruby slippers worn in the Wizard of Oz, is a napkin with a drawing on it. Probably one of the least known exhibits in the museum, this napkin, quietly hiding behind glass lest some child wandering from a school group wipe his nose on it, has on several occasions destroyed the finances of the federal government and several state governments, most recently in Kansas.
-
media mention June 7, 2017 Kansas City Star: Kansas Tax ‘Experiment’ Offers Lessons to the Nation, Analysts Say
“An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found in 2015 that taxpayers in the bottom 40 percent saw an overall increase in their taxes under Brownback when… -
blog June 7, 2017 State Rundown 6/7: Kansas Success Story and Other State News
This week, we celebrate a victory in Kansas where lawmakers rolled back Brownback’s tax cuts for the richest taxpayers. Governors in West Virginia and Alaska promote compromise tax plans. Texas heads into special session and Vermont faces another budget veto, while Louisiana and New Mexico are on the verge of wrapping up. Voters in Massachusetts may soon be able to weigh in on a millionaire’s tax, the California Senate passed single-payer health care, and more!
-
blog May 31, 2017 State Rundown 5/31: Budget Woes Spurring Special Legislative Sessions
This week, special legislative sessions featuring tax and budget debates are underway or in the works in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, and West Virginia, as lawmakers are also running up against regular session deadlines in Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a legislative study in Wyoming and an independent analysis in New Jersey are both calling for tax increases to overcome budget shortfalls.
-
blog May 24, 2017 State Rundown 5/24: Several States Scramble to Finalize Budgets
This week, Kansas lawmakers continued work on fixing the fiscal mess created by tax cuts in recent years, as legislators in Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and West Virginia attempted to wrap up difficult budget negotiations before their sessions come to an end, and Delaware lawmakers advanced a corporate tax increase as one piece of a plan to close that state’s budget shortfall. Our “what we’re reading” section this week is also packed with articles about state and local effects of the Trump budget, new 50-state research on property taxes, and more.
-
ITEP Work in Action March 18, 2017 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: A Flat Tax Would Only Worsen Kansas’ Budget Crisis
Governor Sam Brownback’s 2012 plan to phase out the state income tax created an unprecedented fiscal crisis for Kansas. Some options presented for addressing this crisis would “flatten” Kansas’ income… -
blog February 28, 2017 Return of the Moderate: A Kansas Force Awakens
Before the tea party wave of 2010 that brought Gov. Sam Brownback to power and inspired the disappointing “real life experiment” in tax policy, Kansas was primarily governed by a… -
ITEP Work in Action February 15, 2017 Kansas Action for Children: KAC Testimony to the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee in Support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1604
The high food sales tax hurts Kansas families. Food is a basic necessity for Kansas’ families. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the state’s increasing reliance on… -
ITEP Work in Action February 14, 2017 ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 188
ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering… -
ITEP Work in Action February 7, 2017 ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 2237
ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering… -
blog January 18, 2017 Kansas State of the State: Worlds Apart
Back in December, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback gave an interview with the Wall Street Journal and suggested President-elect Trump should follow his state’s example and cut taxes as well as… -
media mention January 12, 2017 Salina Journal: Nixing tax reform obstacles
“The LLC exemption — which eliminated taxes on pass-through business income and relieved the tax burden for more than 330,000 Kansas business owners — was passed and signed almost half… -
ITEP Work in Action January 9, 2017 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: KCEG Testimony to the House Taxation Committee as Neutral on HB 2023.
The LLC Loophole is unfair, expensive, and failed to create jobs. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the LLC loophole costs Kansas nearly $290 million per year.… -
media mention January 5, 2017 The Topeka Capital-Journal: Eliminating obstacles to tax reform in Kansas
“The LLC exemption — which eliminated taxes on pass-through business income and relieved the tax burden for more than 330,000 Kansas business owners — was passed and signed almost half… -
ITEP Work in Action December 18, 2016 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: A Guide to Comprehensive Tax Reform in Kansas
The morning after the election was tough. Half the country woke up feeling devastated, the other half awoke feeling excited. Regardless of who you voted for, it’s hard to come… -
media mention August 30, 2016 Governing: Back-to-School Tax Holidays Losing Popularity Among Lawmakers
“[Tax holidays] don’t help lower-income people much either, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).” Read more -
media mention June 20, 2016 Washington Post: Kansas cut taxes, California raised them. What happened?
“The poorest 20 percent of households — those making less than $23,000 a year — are paying about $200 more, on average, according to an analysis by the Institute on… -
media mention February 3, 2016 Mountain Times: Report tries to paint a happy face on Kansas fiscal crisis
“The biggest benefits of Governor Brownback’s 2012 tax program went to the top 1 percent, while actually increasing taxes for the bottom 20 percent. Kansas now has the ninth most… -
ITEP Work in Action October 21, 2015 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: Brownback Tax Hike Doesn’t Solve Budget Crisis
“Every Kansas income group will pay more as a result of this tax increase, but it still doesn’t solve Kansas’ ongoing budget crisis,” said Duane Goossen, senior fellow at the… -
ITEP Work in Action October 21, 2015 Kansas Center for Economic Growth: Tax Hikes to Protect Businesses Hit Working Kansans Hardest
The end-result of this years’ historically long session was quite predictable: taxes were raised on hard-working Kansans to cover the budget shortfall caused by the unaffordable tax cuts of 2012-13.… -
media mention July 13, 2015 Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems
Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation… -
media mention July 6, 2015 The Wichita Eagle: Opinion Line Extra
“The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy crunched the numbers and found that the poorest 20 percent of Kansans will now pay 1.4 percent more in taxes than in 2012…