North Carolina
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ITEP Work in Action May 25, 2023 North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Tax Changes in NC Senate Budget Plan Benefit Richest, Worsen Racial Inequities
The NC Senate tax plan will double down on the path to zero income tax — keeping in place the elimination of the corporate income tax and reducing the personal… -
ITEP Work in Action September 28, 2022 North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Missing the Mark for North Carolina
Inflation isn’t just a pocketbook problem, it’s a budget problem as well. Governments feel the pinch of gas prices climbing higher, food becoming more expensive, and increased competition from private… -
ITEP Work in Action August 10, 2021 North Carolina Policy Watch: NC House Tax Plan Isn’t Good for Our State (And These Graphs Explain Why This Is the Case)
The House tax plan would deliver the greatest share of the net tax cut to the richest North Carolinians. Fifty-six percent of the net tax cut would go to the… -
ITEP Work in Action July 30, 2021 North Carolina Policy Watch: NC’s Tax Code Reinforces Racial Exclusion; Senate’s Proposed Budget Would Make Matters Worse
When one applies a unique tool developed by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy to assess the racial and ethnic impact of the budget proposal approved by the state… -
ITEP Work in Action June 23, 2021 North Carolina Justice Center: Five Takeaways from the Senate’s Budget Proposal
The Senate’s budget plan would bring the state’s investments to a new low while committing the state to untold losses in the form of revenue reductions by eliminating income taxes… -
ITEP Work in Action April 23, 2021 NC Policy Watch: NC needs to fix its tax code to secure a just recovery — for everyone
North Carolina’s current tax code asks the top to pay less as a share of their income than taxpayers with poverty-level incomes. By putting in place tax policies that would… -
ITEP Work in Action April 14, 2021 NC Policy Watch: Some simple truths about the taxes corporations pay and Biden’s proposal blow the whistle on them
Discovery No. 1 one is that almost no major U.S. corporation, certainly not those that do business overseas, actually pays the 21% corporate tax rate, set by law. In fact,… -
ITEP Work in Action April 14, 2021 NC Policy Watch: New report: NC tax policy promotes racial inequities in numerous ways
North Carolina’s tax code and budget are wrought with such policy choices, which can result in racist outcome that worsen barriers to well-being for people and communities of color, according… -
ITEP Work in Action April 13, 2021 North Carolina Justice Center: State Tax Policy Is Not Race Neutral
North Carolina’s tax code and budget are wrought with such policy choices, which can result in racist outcomes that worsen barriers to well-being for people and communities of color, according… -
ITEP Work in Action May 21, 2020 Washington State Budget and Policy Center: It’s time to include undocumented immigrants in state response to COVID-19
In addition to state and local taxes, new estimates show that the labor of undocumented workers in Washington state has resulted in nearly $400 million of contributions to the state… -
ITEP Work in Action April 2, 2020 NC Policy Watch: Those Federal COVID-19 Checks: What They Mean and Who Might Get Left Out
In a replay of how aid checks were dispensed during the Great Recession, the CARES Act reveals giant holes in how we get cash to people in desperate need. Without… -
ITEP Work in Action October 25, 2019 Budget & Tax Center: A Costly Cover for More Business Tax Cuts in NC
Analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that 27 percent of the total net tax cut from the increase in the standard deduction will actually go to… -
blog August 29, 2019 New Analysis: A Third of NC Taxpayers Won’t Benefit from Proposed Tax Refund Plan
North Carolina Senate and House leaders are moving forward with a flawed proposal to spend the majority of the state’s revenue over collections, more than $600 million, to issue tax refund checks of $125 per taxpayer ($250 for married couples).
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ITEP Work in Action March 20, 2019 North Carolina Justice Center: Higher Rates on Higher Income: Why a Graduated Income Tax is Good Policy for North Carolina
At the same time, a graduated rate structure — in contrast with the state’s current flat tax rate on income — can make more revenue available for key public investments,… -
ITEP Work in Action January 23, 2019 NC Policy Watch: Report: Corporations Are Stiffing North Carolina on $373 Million in State Taxes
It turns out that state leaders can ensure that companies pay the proper amount of taxes on income generated from business conducted in their jurisdictions, but existing tax codes at… -
ITEP Work in Action October 22, 2018 NC Policy Watch: North Carolina’s Tax Code Isn’t Helping the State’s Growing Inequality
Despite claims by the architects of North Carolina’s failed tax-cut experiment, policy choices since 2013 have not ensured that middle and low-income taxpayers are paying lower shares of their income in state and local taxes. Instead the richest taxpayers—whose average income is more than $1 million—continue to pay 33 percent less in state and local taxes as a share of their income than taxpayers who have averages incomes annually of $11,000, a threshold that aligns with deep poverty.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 NC Policy Watch: Low-income Tax Payers in NC Pay More of Their Income in State and Local Taxes Each Year Than the Richest Taxpayers
Sales taxes play a critical role in the regressive and consequently inequitable nature of the North Carolina tax system. Like most other states, North Carolina relies on sales and excise taxes (30.7% of the 2018-2019 approved budget) as a primary mechanism to raise revenue. However, in North Carolina, sales and excise taxes are the most regressive taxes when compared to income and property taxes. The lowest 20% of North Carolina workers pay 6.1 percent in sales taxes as a percentage of their income while the top 1 percent pays less than 1 percent in sales taxes as a percentage of their income.
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October 17, 2018 North Carolina: Who Pays? 6th Edition
NORTH CAROLINA Read as PDF NORTH CAROLINA STATE AND LOCAL TAXES Taxes as Share of Family Income Top 20% Income Group Lowest 20% Second 20% Middle 20% Fourth 20% Next… -
ITEP Work in Action September 28, 2018 BTC Report: Income tax rate cap amendment is costly for taxpayers, communities
Imposing an arbitrary income tax cap in the North Carolina Constitution could fundamentally compromise our state’s ability to fund our schools, roads, and public health, as well as raise the cost of borrowing. This could all happen even as the tax load shifts even further onto middle- and low-income taxpayers and the state’s highest income taxpayers — the top 1 percent — continue to benefit from recent tax changes since 2013.
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September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – North Carolina
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… -
media mention September 4, 2018 WRAL: Meg Wiehe: Capping North Carolina’s top income tax rate isn’t good for our communities
ITEP Deputy Director Meg Wiehe writes for WRAL.com that it would be unwise to constitutionally cap the North Carolina state income tax rate, pointing out that school funding in the state is already down and faltering revenues in other states have led to teacher pay crises and strikes.
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ITEP Work in Action May 31, 2018 NC Budget and Tax Center: Corporations over Carolinians?
Big corporations and wealthy executive have been on quite a run. Corporate profits are at historic levels,[1] stock prices are through the roof, and plush executive pay has become the… -
ITEP Work in Action May 30, 2018 NC Budget and Tax Center: Revenue Options to Support Children’s Educational Success
The General Assembly legislative session begins on May 16, the same day teachers plan a day of action to highlight the unmet needs their students face in the classroom and… -
ITEP Work in Action May 22, 2018 NC Policy Watch: Governor Cooper recognizes North Carolina is in a hole, stops digging
Holding off on another round of tax cuts for the richest taxpayers and profitable corporations and keeping the increased standard deduction and lower rate for the majority of taxpayers will… -
blog May 22, 2018 Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
An updated version of this blog was published in April 2019.
State tax policy can be a contentious topic, but in recent years there has been a remarkable level of agreement on one tax in particular: the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies.