North Carolina
North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: NC Leaders Are Shirking Their Responsibilities To Our Children, Our State by Revisiting Leandro Lawsuit
• By ITEP Staff
The announcement that the NC Supreme Court will rehear the court case that affirmed children’s constitutional right to a sound, basic education is just another way in which North Carolina’s legislative leaders are attempting to rewrite the rules to further their agenda rather than the well-being of children. Read more.
America Used to Have a Wealth Tax: The Forgotten History of the General Property Tax
• By Carl Davis, Eli Byerly-Duke
Over time, broad wealth taxes were whittled away to become the narrower property taxes we have today. These selective wealth taxes apply to the kinds of wealth that make up a large share of middle-class families’ net worth (like homes and cars), but usually exempt most of the net worth of the wealthy (like business equity, bonds, and pooled investment funds).The rationale for this pared-back approach to wealth taxation has grown weaker in recent decades…
State Rundown 9/27: Some States are Looking to Paint the Budgets Red
• By ITEP Staff
When it comes to investments, state lawmakers across the country are positioning their states to be in the red as they pass or debate further tax cuts that will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy – and some states are now adding an additional coat of red paint...
State Rundown 8/10: Pump the ‘Breaks’ on Sales Tax Holiday Celebrations
• By ITEP Staff
August is here, school is starting, and with that comes back to school shopping...
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Marco Guzman
Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2023, and these suspensions will cost nearly $1.6 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system. Overall, the benefits of sales tax holidays are minimal while their downsides are significant.
The Highs and Lows of 2023 State Legislative Sessions
• By Aidan Davis
Nearly one-third of states took steps to improve their tax systems this year by investing in people through refundable tax credits, and in a few notable cases by raising revenue from those most able to pay. But another third of states lost ground, continuing a trend of permanent tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit high-income households and make tax codes less adequate and equitable.
The Real Impact of State Tax Cuts
• By Aidan Davis
This op-ed was originally published by Route Fifty and co-written by ITEP State Director Aidan Davis and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Advisor for State Tax Policy Wesley Tharpe. There’s a troubling trend in state capitols across the country: Some lawmakers are pushing big, permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and […]
North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Tax Changes in NC Senate Budget Plan Benefit Richest, Worsen Racial Inequities
• By ITEP Staff
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 income tax to 2.49 percent after 2029 — to benefit the very wealthy and profitable corporations. Read more.
State Rundown 5/25: The North Star State Leads the Way on Tax Fairness
• By ITEP Staff
As we approach the midpoint of 2023, it’s a good time to look back at the progress states have made in the name of tax fairness and equity...
State Rundown 5/18: Credits, Cuts, and Corporate Revenue Raisers
• By ITEP Staff
This past week, in statehouses around the country, tax policy decisions are moving fast as budgets were signed and budget plans were released and passed...
Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.
Racial Justice Requires Tax Justice: Our Analysis Helps Deliver Both
• By Amy Hanauer
ITEP’s analytical approach, our comprehensive microsimulation model, and our unique state-level capacities enable us to do pioneering analyses that enrich the debate on racial justice in tax policy that no other entity can do.
State Rundown 4/6: More SALT, Please
• By ITEP Staff
This week, a bill out of Arkansas that would cut the top personal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate found its way to the governor’s desk...
States Prioritize Old Over Young in Push for Larger Senior Tax Subsidies
• By Carl Davis, Eli Byerly-Duke
Under a well-designed income tax based on ability to pay, it is simply not necessary to offer special tax subsidies to older adults but not younger families. At the end of the day, your income tax bill should depend on what you can afford to pay, not the year you were born. It’s really as simple as that.
Costly and Poorly Targeted Senior Tax Subsidies Widen Economic, Racial, and Generational Inequalities
• By ITEP Staff
Contact: Jon Whiten – jon@itep.org Costly and Poorly Targeted Senior Tax Subsidies Widen Economic, Racial, and Generational Inequalities State lawmakers should focus on improving overall tax fairness, not creating special carveouts based on age Lawmakers in several states are currently considering tax subsidies for senior citizens, even though these breaks are costly and poorly targeted. […]
State Rundown 3/15: Tax Madness
• By ITEP Staff
It’s March and state lawmakers are showing why the Madness isn’t only reserved for the basketball court...
State Rundown 3/9: The Whirlwind 2023 Legislative Session Continues
• By ITEP Staff
State 2023 legislative sessions are proving to be eventful ones. With many states eager to make use of their budget surpluses, major tax changes are still being proposed and others signed into law. Michigan residents will soon see an increase to their state Earned Income Tax Credit (from 6 percent to 30 percent) after the […]
State Rundown 2/9: We <3 Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
The great women’s philosopher, Pat Benatar, once said “love is a battlefield,” and there’s no greater test of our love for state tax policy than following the ups and downs of state legislative sessions...
State Child Tax Credits and Child Poverty: A 50-State Analysis
• By Aidan Davis
Regardless of future Child Tax Credit developments at the federal level, state policies can supplement the federal credit to deliver additional benefits to children and families. State credits can be specifically tailored to meet the needs of local populations while also producing long-term benefits for society as a whole
North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Missing the Mark for North Carolina
• By ITEP Staff
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 sector employers as well as most of the impacts of inflation that affect consumers and businesses. Unfortunately, the 2022-23 budget allows inflation to undermine the […]
State Rundown 9/21: Earth, Wind, Fire & Taxes Edition
• By ITEP Staff
Do you remember/the big tax news innn September? Well, if not, we at ITEP got you covered...
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Marco Guzman
Lawmakers in many states have enacted “sales tax holidays” (20 states will hold them in 2022) to temporarily suspend the tax on purchases of clothing, school supplies, and other items. These holidays may seem to lessen the regressive impacts of the sales tax, but their benefits are minimal while their downsides are significant—particularly as lawmakers have sought to apply the concept as a substitute for more meaningful, permanent reform or arbitrarily reward people with specific…
State Rundown 7/13: Let’s Make a Deal
• By ITEP Staff
From the Bay State to the Golden State, lawmakers across the nation are making deals and negotiating budgets with major tax implications...
State Rundown 6/22: Southern States Edition
• By ITEP Staff
With many state legislative sessions wrapped or wrapping up, we at ITEP want to take a moment to direct your attention south, and specifically, to the American South...
Creating Racially and Economically Equitable Tax Policy in the South
• By Kamolika Das
The South's negative outcomes on measures of wellbeing are the result of a century and a half of policy choices. Lawmakers have many options available to make concrete improvements to tax policy that would raise more revenue, do so equitably, and generate resources that could improve schools, healthcare, social services, infrastructure, and other public resources.
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