Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Minnesota

State and local tax codes include a huge array of special tax breaks designed to accomplish almost every goal imaginable: from encouraging homeownership and scientific research, to building radioactive fallout shelters and caring for "exceptional" trees. Despite being embedded in the tax code, these programs are typically enacted with tax policy issues like fairness, efficiency, and sustainability only as secondary considerations. Accordingly, these programs have long been called "tax expenditures." They are essentially government spending programs that happen to be housed in the tax code for ease of administration, political expedience, or both.

Minnesota Post: Minnesota growth formula could help Detroit recover

August 12, 2013

New residents, immigrants and refugees specifically, hold great promise for reviving places like Detroit, battered by de-industrialization or changing economics.

PBS: How Low Can They Go? Arthur Laffer Defends Slashing State Income Taxes

August 1, 2013

In this 2012 Making Sen$e report, former Reagan White House economic adviser Arthur Laffer drew his famous curve on a napkin -- just the way he did for the Ford administration -- and explained how it works.

Off the Charts: Getting the Whole Story in State Tax Debates

July 10, 2013

(Original Post) July 8, 2013 at 9:02 am Posted by: Nicholas Johnson This year’s state tax debates have revealed a very important flaw in how states typically make tax policy.  Fortunately, it’s a flaw that can be fixed. In most states, policymakers lack sufficient information on how tax changes will affect the after-tax distribution of […]

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Major player in Anoka calls it a career

July 3, 2013

(Original Post) Article by: JIM ADAMS , Star Tribune Updated: July 2, 2013 – 1:46 PM Bob Kirchner, a persistent community development director, retires after 35 years with Anoka. After negotiating development deals in Anoka for three decades, Bob Kirchner may have a more lasting impact on the old river town than any other city […]

The Barre Montpelier Times Argus: Kids count

June 28, 2013

  June 28,2013 Once again Vermont finished high in the ranking of children’s well-being released earlier this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation’s Kids Count survey of the states measures children’s well-being in 16 categories relating to economic well-being, health, education and family and community. These include categories such as the number […]

Workday Minnesota: Education funding, tax reform highlight gains made in 2013 session, unions say

May 24, 2013

(Original Post) By Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor23 May 2013ST. PAUL – Minnesota’s working families will see the most obvious fruits of the 2013 legislative session in their public schools and property-tax bills, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of investments, reforms and initiatives passed by labor-endorsed majorities in the Legislature this year, […]

Reno News & Review: It happens

May 23, 2013

(Original Post) By Dennis [email protected] This article was published on 05.23.13. Nevada has a crappy tax system. Here’s why. It was sweltering. Januaries in Carson City are cold, of course, but the Nevada Assembly hall was jammed with bodies and television lights. Even on a weekday evening people traveled to the capitol for these occasions. […]

The American Prospect: You’ve Got Sales Tax

May 6, 2013

(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]

MSN News: Two-thirds of Americans oppose gas tax hikes

April 24, 2013

(Original Post) According to Gallup, Americans may object to increasing gas prices while the economy is still unstable. By Douglas Newcomb As state legislatures across the U.S. debate whether to raise gas taxes to repair crumbling roads, a new Gallup poll finds that two-thirds of Americans would vote against gas tax hikes in their home […]

Minnesota Budget Project: Tax Increases Don’t Prompt High-Income Households to Move Out of State

April 16, 2013

As Minnesotans debate an income tax increase on the highest-income households, they should do so knowing that a large and growing body of economic research makes it clear that such factors as job opportunities, housing costs, climate and being close to family are much more often behind moves from state to state – not changes […]

The Lansing State Journal: Cutting earned income credit hits families

April 12, 2013

Apr. 12, 2013 12:45 PM Written by Gilda Jacobs is president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy. Tax day is right around the corner — and if you are a hardworking family in a low-paying job, you may be in for a big surprise. That’s because in 2011 the Michigan Legislature slashed […]

Twin Cities Daily Planet: National report confirms- Minnesota has more work to do on tax fairness

February 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Nan Madden, Minnesota Budget BitesFebruary 08, 2013 A national report confirms what many Minnesotans already know: Minnesota’s tax system does not share the responsibility for funding public services fairly. The Minnesotans with the highest incomes pay the smallest share of their incomes in state and local taxes. Who Pays? by the Institute […]

Minnesota Post: Study confirms Minnesota’s tax system is unfair

February 1, 2013

(Original Post) By Jeff Van Wychen | 03:52 pm A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) provides fresh insight on who is paying state and local taxes in the United States. “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States” confirms that in Minnesota and the […]

USA Today: Time to tweak gas taxes? States weigh options

January 25, 2013

(Original Post) Larry Copeland, USA TODAY7:47a.m. EST January 25, 2013 A great tax debate is breaking out in state capitals from Vermont to Texas: How do we maintain and expand our vital-but-aging networks of roads, bridges and urban transit systems? For nearly a century, the nation has funded projects primarily with revenue from gasoline taxes. […]

Richmond Times-Dispatch: States Taxing the Rich: A Very Bad or Good Idea

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) NEAL PEIRCE © WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUPPublished: September 20, 2009 WASHINGTON In a dramatic break from tax trends of recent decades, eight states have voted this year to push up the percentages of income that their wealthiest citizens must pay. Connecticut is the latest to take this step, following Delaware, Hawaii, […]

Twin Cities Daily Planet: Tax cuts help just who’d you expect

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Charlie QuimbyDecember 02, 2009 A new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy breaks down who among “non-elderly households” is paying what taxes at the state and local level. The report shows what we’ve been saying here for years – that when all forms of taxes(not just income […]

MinnPost.com: Minnesota taxes- Where do we go from here?

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Sharon Schmickle | Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Sure, you’ve heard it before: Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoes yet another DFL bid to close the state’s budget chasm by raising income taxes on high earners. But the tax issue has many lives in this election year when the Independence Party’s gubernatorial endorsee, […]

Twin Cities Daily Planet: Top income tax bracket is part of a balanced approach to fix the deficit

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) BY SCOTT RUSSELL, MINNESOTA BUDGET BITES May 13, 2010 The Minnesota Legislature voted Monday to create a new tax bracket on high-income households as one small part of an overall budget fix. The new tax bracket and an early phaseout of federal tax cuts on high-income households would raise $434 million, […]

KBJR TV: Tax Burden Higher In Percentage For Lower Income Workers

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By KBJR ManagerKBJR-TV KBJR-TV1/17/2011 5:18:02 PM ET 2011-01-17T22:18:02 Duluth, MN (Northland’s NewsCenter) – Think tank Minnesota 2020 has conducted a study finding Minnesota’s middle- and lower-income populations shoulder a disproportionate tax burden compared to the state’s wealthiest. Using data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Minnesota 2020 compared tax […]

KAAL TV: New Year; New Changes to Taxes

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Posted at: 01/17/2011 6:44 PM By: Andrew Lovelette (ABC 6 NEWS) — With the new year comes a few new changes to your taxes. When January first hits, it usually marks the beginning of tax season, but this year may be a little different. “People that itemize their deductions will have […]

myTalk 107.1: Fix for Minn. budget woe? End sales tax exemptions

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) With Minnesota lawmakers staring at a $6.2 billion deficit this session, state Rep. Pat Garofalo knows as well as anyone that balancing the state budget is “going to be tough and it could be ugly.” So why is the Republican from Farmington introducing a bill that would make things just a […]

Advocate Tribune: Minnesota’s Tax Fairness Retreat- Low-, middle-income shouldering more of state’s revenue burden

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Advocate Tribune Posted Mar 18, 2011 @ 08:00 AM By Jeff Van Wychen Since 2000, Minnesota’s state and local taxes have become more regressive, meaning low and moderate income families shoulder a disproportionate share of the tax load. It’s a nationwide trend progressing more aggressively in Minnesota than nearly every […]

Frederick News Post: Huntin’ millionaires

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Elizabeth Marsh Cupino Originally published December 10, 2009 Set up a roadblock. Put out an APB. Maryland’s comptroller has reported that the number of millionaires in the state dropped by 30 percent in 2008 and that some wealthy residents might be trying to make a break for it. We can’t have […]

The Hawk Eye: Lawmakers struggling with preschool issue

January 4, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By CHRISTINIA CRIPPES [email protected] Area schools may be moving full steam ahead with their preschool programs, but state lawmakers have yet to weigh in on their future. Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, said the outcome will depend on how badly Republican Gov. Terry Branstad pushes his proposal. Lawmakers have been divided along […]