North Carolina
The Charlotte Observer: Raleigh’s “Help” Does More Harm
April 23, 2015
This at a time when a January report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed state and local taxes take up 9.2 percent of total income for North Carolina’s poorest families. It nibbles 5.3 percent of our richest families’ income. Of course, there’s so much tax policy infighting among GOP lawmakers that it’s […]
Vermont Public Radio: Business Leaders Mount Campaign Against Plan to Limit Tax Deductions
April 15, 2015
Carl Davis is a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., based research group that analyzes federal, state and local tax policies. Davis, who lives in Vermont, says there’s no reason to think Vermont would suffer any competitive disadvantage if it goes through with the plan. “Massachusetts, Connecticut and […]
The Star News: Taxing Times for Tar Heels
April 15, 2015
Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that in all 50 states, the wealthy tend to pay a lower percentage of their incomes in taxes than low- and middle-income taxpayers. In North Carolina, the institute reported, a family of non-elderly taxpayers in the bottom 20 percent of income – less than $18,000 a […]
Budget and Tax Center: Tax Credits for Working Families Deliver Broad Benefits to the State
• By ITEP Staff
The North Carolina EITC was a vital facet of the state’s tax system, building off of the federal tax credit—one of the nation’s most powerful anti-poverty tools for children. The benefi ts of the state EITC extended to the broader economy by promoting work and helping families afford things that make it possible to work, […]
Public News Service: North Carolina Taxpayers Report Leaner Returns in 2015
March 25, 2015
“The key thing about a tax system is it absolutely has to be adequate to meet the core public service commitments that we need to be making as a state,” says Sirota. “But the way in which we raise revenue is really critical.” Sirota says taxpayers making less than $67,000 a year – about 80 […]
North Carolina Justice Center: A Capital Loss – Eliminating taxes on capital gains would make North Carolina’s tax system more unfair
• By ITEP Staff
Tax cut proponents in North Carolina are pushing another plan that would benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, turning their sights to eliminating the state income tax on the sale of artwork, vacation homes and other high-end capital gains that only a few North Carolinians profit from. Contrary to supporters’ claims, this […]
North Carolina Justice Center: Low-income taxpayers in North Carolina pay nearly twice the tax rate paid by the richest North Carolinians
• By ITEP Staff
The lowest income North Carolinians pay over 70 percent more in taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents, according to a new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. Read the […]
The Greensboro News and Record: Taxes’ Low Blows
January 21, 2015
“State legislators opened their 2015 session saying they want to ease the tax burden on “regular folks.” That will be a turnaround. “Regular folks” — those who earn moderate incomes or less — pay a larger share of their incomes in state and local taxes than do the very wealthy in North Carolina. The Institute […]
NC Policy Watch: North Carolina’s unfair tax system highlighted in new report
• By ITEP Staff
The latest Who Pays? report released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) takes a look at the fairness of state tax systems. For North Carolina, the lowest income North Carolinians pay over 70 percent more in state and local taxes as a share of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest […]
News & Record: Tax policy makes the poor poorer
January 16, 2015
“The lower your income, the greater share of it you pay in state and local taxes, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports today. This is true all across the country. North Carolina is about average, but ongoing “tax reform” is making our system more regressive.” Read more
News & Observer: Despite claims, GOP policies aren’t spurring the NC economy
January 16, 2015
“The ballyhooed tax cuts have choked state revenue to the point where it will not be enough for even an austere budget. Current projections call for a $199 million shortfall, but it could go higher. Meanwhile, the cuts have increased economic inequality by shifting the tax burden downward. A new report from the Institute on […]
The Progress Pulse: North Carolina’s unfair tax system highlighted in new report
January 15, 2015
“The latest Who Pays? report released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) takes a look at the fairness of state tax systems. For North Carolina, the lowest income North Carolinians pay over 70 percent more in state and local taxes as a share of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest […]
Mountain Express: Low-income taxpayers pay nearly twice the rate of high-income taxpayers in NC
January 15, 2015
“According to a study from the The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Budget & Tax Center, North Carolinians with the lowest income pay more than 40 percent more in taxes (as a percent of their income) compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The ITEP even calls the state and local tax system […]
USA Today: New Year Brings Hundreds of New Laws
January 5, 2015
Drivers in five states could see gasoline prices rise with gas tax increases, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax watchdog group. The biggest increase is in Pennsylvania, 9.8 cents, followed by Virginia, 5.1 cents; Maryland, 2.9 cents; North Carolina, 1 cent; and Florida, 0.3 cents. New York, Nebraska, Vermont, West […]
CBS Moneywatch: States Aren’t Hitting the Jackpot with Lotteries
December 16, 2014
Some lotteries have limits on the amount of money they spend on advertising their games as a way of discouraging compulsive gambling. Lawmakers in North Carolina, though, recently tried and failed to double the amount of money the state could spend on marketing its game, said Meg Wiehe of the Institution on Taxation and Economic […]
North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: 2015 Budget Undermines North Carolina’s Competitiveness
• By ITEP Staff
The 2015 state budget, passed by the NC General Assembly and signed by Governor McCrory, undermines North Carolina’s competitive position in the 21st century global economy. Lawmakers failed to provide a high-quality education for all children, protect natural resources, support community-based economic development, or provide adequate health and human services to North Carolina residents. By […]
North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: 2015 Budget Undermines North Carolina’s Competitiveness
• By ITEP Staff
The 2015 state budget, passed by the NC General Assembly and signed by Governor McCrory, undermines North Carolina’s competitive position in the 21st century global economy. Lawmakers failed to provide a high-quality education for all children, protect natural resources, support community-based economic development, or provide adequate health and human services to North Carolina residents. By […]
Newsweek: Ultra-Conservative Experiments Are Put to the Test
October 28, 2014
The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the new North Carolina tax plan will cost the state over $1 billion this fiscal year compared to the past one. “That’s about equivalent to the entire community college budget,” said Tazra Mitchell, a budget analyst at the Justice Center. “So that’s not a small […]
Winston Salem Journal: A Legislative Bad Decision That’s Looking Even Worse
October 28, 2014
And the numbers aren’t political spin. The current shortfall figures come from the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly. The estimate of how large the shortfall could become is from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, using the latest state taxpayer data. The Institute says the cost of the Robin-Hood-in-reverse tax cut […]
USA Today: Fact Checking the NC Senate Race
October 16, 2014
Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that, based only on the income tax portion of the changes, about 35% of North Carolinians would see a tax increase, another 16% would see no change, and roughly 49% would get a tax cut. Once you factor in the […]
Politico: Fact Checking the NC Senate Race
October 10, 2014
Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that, based only on the income tax portion of the changes, about 35 percent of North Carolinians would see a tax increase, another 16 percent would see no change, and roughly 49 percent would get a tax cut. Once […]
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools
• By Meg Wiehe
Read the Report in PDF Form The Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2013, the national poverty rate was 14.5 percent, a slight drop from last years’ rate of 15 percent and the first decline since 2006.1 However, the poverty rate remains 2.0 […]
North Carolina Justice Center: Stronger Earned Income Tax Credit and Minimum Wage – Both Needed to Help Low-Wage Working Families
• By ITEP Staff
There are two critical policy tools that can help put low-wage workers on the path to economic security: the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Together these policies ensure that working families can maximize their take-home pay to help make ends meet. Read the full report
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Meg Wiehe
Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2013. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
• By Meg Wiehe
For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in helping states to adequately fund public services in a way that improves the progressivity of state tax systems. 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. Recent changes in the federal estate tax, however, culminating in the "fiscal cliff " deal…
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