Montana
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January 9, 2024 Montana: Who Pays? 7th Edition
Montana Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in Montana, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis… -
ITEP Work in Action November 23, 2022 Montana Budget & Policy Center: Tax Credits for Workers and Families
Montana has an opportunity to invest high state revenues to support families and individuals and improve our tax system. State tax credits targeted to those in most need of assistance… -
ITEP Work in Action March 3, 2021 Montana Budget & Policy Center: Policy Basics: Who Pays Taxes in Montana
Our tax dollars serve as shared investments in the programs and services that make our state a great place to live, work, and play. Tax dollars enable Montanans to work… -
ITEP Work in Action February 3, 2021 Montana Budget & Policy Center: What Proposed Tax Cuts Really Mean for Montanans
The 2021 Montana Legislature has the opportunity to address longstanding inequities in Montana’s tax code that have made life harder for many families. Previous legislatures have chosen to balance the… -
blog October 22, 2020 Voters Have the Chance in 2020 to Increase Tax Equity in Arizona, Illinois, and California, And They Should
There’s a lot at stake in this election cycle: the nation and our economy are reeling from the effects brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and states remain in limbo as they weigh deep budget cuts and rush to address projected revenue shortfalls.
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blog April 12, 2019 You Can’t Tax Stolen Land
The Montana Senate this week stopped a bill to restructure the state’s temporary tribal tax exemption program, making tribal governments the only sovereignties on which Montana levies a tax and making it more difficult for leaders to buy back illegally seized land. Still, the success of the bill in the House is troubling.
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ITEP Work in Action February 5, 2019 Montana Budget & Policy Center: House Bill 300: Sales Tax Proposal Makes Montana’s Taxes More Regressive and Reduces State Revenue
Replacing property taxes with a sales tax is both impractical and unfair for Montana families. HB 300 would make Montana’s tax system more regressive, increasing the taxes paid by families… -
ITEP Work in Action January 24, 2019 Law360: Montana Mulls Statewide Sales Tax To Replace Property Taxes
Montana could become the first state in the nation to eliminate residential and commercial property taxes in exchange for creating a new 2.5 percent statewide sales tax…
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October 17, 2018 Montana: Who Pays? 6th Edition
According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, Montana’s state and local tax system does not worsen income inequality and ranks 43rd on the index. The large income gap between lower- and middle-income taxpayers, as compared to the wealthy, is somewhat narrower after state and local taxes than before.
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blog October 2, 2018 Twelve States Offer Profitable Tax Shelter to Private School Voucher Donors; IRS Proposal Could Fix This
A proposed IRS regulation would eliminate a tax shelter for private school donors in twelve states by making a commonsense improvement to the federal tax deduction for charitable gifts. For years, some affluent taxpayers who donate to private K-12 school voucher programs have managed to turn a profit by claiming state tax credits and federal tax deductions that, taken together, are worth more than the amount donated. This practice could soon come to an end under the IRS’s broader goal of ending misuse of the charitable deduction by people seeking to dodge the federal SALT deduction cap.
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September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – Montana
The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called… -
December 16, 2017 How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Montana Residents’ Federal Taxes
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-… -
blog December 14, 2017 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.
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report December 14, 2017 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]
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December 6, 2017 How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Montana 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 Montana residents.
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blog November 29, 2017 State Rundown 11/29: Thanksgiving Leftovers Edition
The State Rundown is back from Thanksgiving break with a heaping helping of leftover state tax news, but beware, some of it may be rotten.
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November 14, 2017 How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Montana 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 Montana, 52 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 9 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.
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blog November 8, 2017 State Rundown 11/8: Online Sales Tax Fight and Tax Subsidy Absurdity Go National
Internet sales tax fairness efforts gained momentum this week as most states joined together to encourage the US Supreme Court to allow them to collect taxes on online sales. Meanwhile, Montana lawmakers will enter special session next week to plug their revenue shortfall, Mississippi’s (self-inflicted) revenue crunch is reaching unprecedented severity, and misguided corporate tax subsidies got mainstream attention from HBO’s John Oliver and Rolling Stone.
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November 6, 2017 How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Montana Residents’ Federal Taxes
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 tax, become more generous over time. The result is that by 2027, the benefits of the House bill become increasingly generous for the richest one percent compared to other income groups.
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October 4, 2017 GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Montana with 56.9 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 Montana equally. The richest one percent of Montana residents would receive 56.9 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $535,400 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $68,950 in 2018, which would increase their income by an average of 3.8 percent.
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August 17, 2017 In Montana 44.5 Percent of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million
A tiny fraction of the Montana population (0.4 percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But this elite group would receive 44.5 percent of the tax cuts that go to Montana residents under the tax proposals from the Trump administration. A much larger group, 48.5 percent of the state, earns less than $45,000, but would receive just 4.1 percent of the tax cuts.
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July 20, 2017 Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Montana with 51 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Montana would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,819,000 in 2018. They would receive 51 percent of the tax cuts that go to Montana’s residents and would enjoy an average cut of $113,270 in 2018 alone.
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blog May 17, 2017 Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being… -
report May 17, 2017 Public Loss Private Gain: How School Voucher Tax Shelters Undermine Public Education
One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax policies that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools.
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blog May 4, 2017 EITC Victories Await in Both Hawaii and Montana
Two states are on the verge of embracing a tried and tested anti-poverty policy, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In the past two weeks, lawmakers in both Hawaii and…