Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

North Carolina

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State Rundown 4/19: Alaska’s Long Income Tax Freeze May Be Thawing

• By ITEP Staff

This week Alaska‘s House advanced a historic bill to reinstate an income tax in the state, Oklahoma‘s House voted to cancel a misguided tax cut “trigger,” West Virginia‘s governor colorfully vetoed his state’s budget, tax reform debate kicked off in Louisiana, and gas tax updates were considered in South Carolina and Tennessee, among other tax-related news […]

North Carolina Justice Center: Prosperity Watch (Issue 72, No 3): Tax cuts since 2013 reinforce racial and ethnic exclusion

• By ITEP Staff

Changes to North Carolina’s tax system in recent years have had an impact on the level of available revenue for public investments and shifted tax responsibility among taxpayers. BTC analysis has already noted how the tax chances since 2013 have delivered a significant share of the net tax cut to the state’s highest income earners […]

The Progressive Pulse: Undocumented immigrants pay their fair share of taxes, too

• By ITEP Staff

Tax Day is just around the corner, and this year is no different than any other for countless undocumented immigrants filling tax forms in North Carolina. Current rhetoric on immigration often overlooks the important contributions undocumented immigrants make to our communities as neighbors, workers, and taxpayers. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy recently released […]

NC Policy Watch: What you need to know as the state Senate moves to cut taxes yet again

• By ITEP Staff

The North Carolina Senate is moving ahead yet again – perhaps as early as this afternoon – with a new proposal to further reduce state taxes and the revenues they generate to fund essential public structures and services. While the plan is billed as “a billion dollar middle class tax cut,” a closer look at […]

The Progressive Pulse: New analysis: Most of NC senate’s “middle class” tax cut would actually flow to the wealthy

• By ITEP Staff

BTC’s analysis of SB 325 uses a more robust model developed by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan organization. ITEP’s microsimulation tax model calculates tax revenue yield and incidence, by income group, of federal, state and local taxes. The model is used in states across the country to analyze state […]

The Progressive Pulse: Why cutting taxes for business again makes no sense

• By ITEP Staff

When businesses pay their share of taxes, North Carolina is able to invest in the things that build thriving communities and a prosperous economy – things like good schools, roads, public health and a clean environment. The Senate’s tax plan, Senate Bill 325, includes a tax cut for businesses that goes against this proven principle.  […]

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Tax Justice Digest: 50-State Analysis of GOP Health Care Plan, Ensuring State Sales Taxes Keep Pace with Our Changing Economy

• By ITEP Staff

In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. State-by-State Analysis of GOP Health Care Plan By now, it’s widely known that the GOP health care plan […]

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GOP Healthcare Bill Cuts Insurance Coverage for Millions to Pay for Tax Cuts for the Wealthy; ITEP State-By-State Estimates

• By Richard Phillips

The House GOP’s American Health Care Act is being pushed quickly through the legislative process, with a vote on the House floor scheduled for as early as Thursday. The Republican legislation seeks to pay for the cost of repealing highly progressive taxes enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act by making substantial cuts to […]

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State Rundown 3/22: Springtime Tax Debates Blossom Nationwide

• By ITEP Staff

This week in state tax news saw major changes debated in Hawaii and West Virginia and proposed in North Carolina, a harmful flat tax proposal in Georgia, new ideas for ignoring revenue shortfalls in Mississippi and Nebraska, an unexpected corporate tax proposal from the governor of Louisiana, gas tax bills advance in South Carolina and […]

North Carolina Justice Center: BTC POLICY BASIC: Marginal versus Effective Personal Income Tax Rates

• By ITEP Staff

A great deal of confusion abounds in discussions about state personal income tax rates and how they apply to income. This policy basic clarifies the difference between marginal and effective tax rates, and gives a North Carolina-specific example of how these rates work in action. Read more here  

North Carolina Justice Center: Still walking the path to zero: The Senate tax plan will harm North Carolina’s goal of building a stronger, inclusive economy

• By ITEP Staff

Senate leaders continue to pursue reductions to the income tax rate for wealthy taxpayers and profitable corporations even as they claim to be focused on helping low- and moderate-income taxpayers. This year they will do so without proposing immediate replacement of the revenue with sales-tax base expansions. The result is a loss of nearly $1 […]

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State Rundown 3/8: Much Ado About Consumption Taxes

• By ITEP Staff

This week brings more news of states considering reforms to their consumption taxes, on everything from gasoline in South Carolina and Tennessee, to marijuana in Pennsylvania, to groceries in Idaho and Utah, and to practically everything in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the fiscal fallout of Kansas’s failed ‘tax experiment’ has new consequences as the state’s Supreme […]

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State Rundown 3/1: Will Tax Cut Proposals Be “In Like a Lion, Out Like A Lamb”?

• By ITEP Staff

Tax cuts have been proposed in many states already this year, but amid so much uncertainty, it remains to be seen how successful those efforts will be. This week saw one dangerous, largely regressive tax cut proposal move in Georgia, new budget proposals in Louisiana and New Jersey, a new plan to close West Virginia‘s […]

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State Rundown 2/23: Regressive Tax Proposals Multiplying

• By ITEP Staff

This week saw a nearly successful attempt to right the fiscal ship in Kansas; regressive tax proposals introduced in WestVirginia, Georgia, and Missouri; ongoing gas tax fights in Indiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee; and further tax and budget wrangling in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and beyond. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Both […]

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: The Road to Nowhere Good for North Carolina

• By ITEP Staff

Tax changes passed in the 2016 legislative session reduced the income tax rate and increased reliance on the sales tax. This continued flawed approach to taxation that policymakers have followed since 2013 has proven disastrous to other states’ fiscal and economic outlook. Such an approach delivers the greatest reduction in the tax load to the […]

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Lawmakers Should Not Use Disproven Trickle-Down Myth to Ramrod Tax Cuts for the Rich

• By Misha Hill

For more than four decades, supply-side ideologues have promoted the myth that tax cuts for the wealthy are self-financing and the benefits eventually trickle down to everyone else, despite real-life evidence that tax cuts for the rich benefit the rich. Not even the reality of 40 years of widening income inequality or the current economic […]

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What to Watch in the States: Gas Tax Hikes and Swaps

• By Carl Davis

This is the second installment of our six part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. State tax policy can be a divisive issue, but no area has generated more agreement among lawmakers across the country than the need to raise new revenues to fund infrastructure improvements. The […]

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State Tax & Revenue Information

• By ITEP Staff

Below is a list of notable resources for information on state taxes and revenues: Alabama Alabama Department of Revenue Alabama Department of Finance – Executive Budget Office Alabama Department of Revenue – Tax Incentives for Industry Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office Alaska Alaska Department of Revenue – Tax Division Alaska Office of Management & Budget Alaska […]

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

• By Carl Davis, Meg Wiehe

When states shy away from personal income taxes in favor of higher sales and excise taxes, high-income taxpayers benefit at the expense of low- and moderate-income families who often face above-average tax rates to pick up the slack. This chart book demonstrates this basic reality by examining the distribution of taxes in states that have pursued these types of policies. Given the detrimental impact that regressive tax policies have on economic opportunity, income inequality, revenue…

North Carolina Justice Center: 12 Charts about N.C.’s Economy in 2016

• By ITEP Staff

“The economic challenges that face North Carolina families were front and center in 2016. North Carolina wrestled with the disconnect between political rhetoric and everyday reality this election year, thanks to a recovery that failed to boost wages or provide enough jobs for many of our communities. Here are 12 charts that tell the story […]

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State Rundown 1/4: Revenue Shortfalls, Gas Tax Changes Dominate Early Debates

• By ITEP Staff

This week we bring you updates on major revenue shortfalls looming in Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, as well as gas tax changes taking effect in some states and being debated in others. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Oklahoma lawmakers are weighing options to close the state’s $870 million shortfall. Up for discussion are […]

USA Today: 7 states will have higher gas taxes Jan. 1

December 28, 2016

“Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida will each see modest gas tax increases of less than a penny per gallon, based on automatic adjustments in those states, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Two states — New York and West Virginia — will have slight reductions based on automatic adjustments, according to […]

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State Estate and Inheritance Taxes

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Meg Wiehe

For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in fostering strong communities by promoting equality of opportunity and helping states adequately fund public services. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Changes in the federal estate tax in recent years, however, caused states to reevaluate the structure of their…

Yahoo! Finance: New Jersey just hiked its gas tax by 159%. Is your state next?

November 7, 2016

“Of course, New Jersey isn’t the only state that has or is toying with raising gasoline taxes. Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington upped their gas taxes in 2015, notes the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Louisiana, Tennessee, Alaska, Alabama and Minnesota are contemplating increases in 2017.” […]

Progressive Pulse: New policy brief: The tax cut that North Carolina should enact

November 3, 2016

“According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, low-income North Carolinians pay nearly twice the share of their income in taxes as our state’s richest residents. Reinstating the EITC would be a crucial step towards rebalancing the tax load for all North Carolina taxpayers.” Read more