Oregon
Eugene Weekly: Make America English Again
June 10, 2016
“According to a study titled, “Undocumented Immigrants State and Local Tax Contributions,” by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants contribute over $11 billion annually in state and local taxes.” Read more
The Seattle Times: Oregonians test taxing by the mile, not gallon
May 23, 2016
“New, more fuel-efficient cars have eaten into gas tax revenue. Furthermore, many gas tax rates — including Oregon’s 30-cent levy — have not kept up with inflation. In Oregon, the effective tax rate will fall to less than 24 cents per gallon in inflation-adjusted terms within 10 years, according to the Institute on Taxation and […]
Politico: Wyden takes aim
April 28, 2016
“WHERE OREGON AND WASHINGTON (STATE) DIVERGE: The Seattle Times has a nice primer on how differently the states of Portlandia and grunge rely on taxes. Washington, for instance, collects about four out of every five dollars from a sales tax, the fifth highest in the nation. Oregon, on the other hand, gets a higher percentage […]
Higher Education Income Tax Deductions and Credits in the States
March 22, 2016 • By Carl Davis
Read full report in PDF Download detailed appendix with state-by-state information on deductions and credits (Excel) Every state levying a personal income tax offers at least one deduction or credit designed to defray the cost of higher education. In theory, these policies help families cope with rising tuition prices by incentivizing college savings or partially […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2016)
February 24, 2016 • By Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated in March 2017 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page Public debates over federal immigration reform often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United […]
American Press: Lawmakers examine income tax
February 22, 2016
“Three identical measures would allow voters to decide whether they want to eliminate the federal income tax deduction that is allowed on state income tax forms. The deduction is in the constitution. The change would raise $748 million annually, and the vote to decide the issue would take place Nov. 8. Only three states — […]
Testimony before the Vermont Senate Committee on Finance: Tax Policy Issues with Legalized Retail Marijuana
January 19, 2016 • By Carl Davis
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the tax policy issues associated with legalized retail marijuana. Our testimony includes five parts: 1. An overview of the marijuana tax rates and structures that exist in the four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) where retail marijuana can be legally sold. 2. An analysis of early stage revenue trends in the two states (Colorado and Washington) where legal, taxable sales of retail marijuana have been taking place since 2014. 3. A discussion of issues associated with different types of marijuana tax bases--specifically weight-based taxes, price-based taxes, and hybrids of these two…
Herald and News: Oregon tax structure good…for now
November 30, 2015
“WalletHub says Oregon has the second-fairest tax system; the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks it third. Broad rankings that include corporate and individual taxes tend to look less favorably at Oregon. A recent Forbes ranking placed Oregon as the 16th worst state. If you look only at corporate income taxes, Oregon has the […]
The Argus Observer: Business tax changes might not be good
November 30, 2015
“Other rankings concur with the Tax Foundation’s assessment that Oregon has relatively low business taxes, in part because the state doesn’t have a sales tax. Groups that emphasize fairness also tend to score Oregon well. WalletHub says Oregon has the second-fairest tax system; the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks it third. Broad rankings […]
The Oregonian: Oregon’s vulnerable tax ranking: Editorial
November 24, 2015
“Other rankings concur with the Tax Foundation’s assessment that Oregon has relatively low business taxes, in part because the state doesn’t have a sales tax. Groups that emphasize fairness also tend to score Oregon well. WalletHub says Oregon has the second-fairest tax system; the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ranks it third. Broad rankings […]
Government Technology: Taxing by the Mile, Not the Gallon
November 16, 2015
“New, more fuel efficient cars have eaten into gas tax revenue. Furthermore, many gas tax rates — including Oregon’s 30-cent levy — have not kept up with inflation. In Oregon the effective tax rate will fall to less than 24 cents per gallon in inflation-adjusted terms within 10 years, according to the Institute on Taxation […]
Huffington Post: States Searching For Ways To Pay For Construction And Maintenance Of Roads And Bridges
November 10, 2015
“New, more fuel efficient cars have eaten into gas tax revenue. Furthermore, many gas tax rates—including Oregon’s 30-cent levy—have not kept up with inflation. In Oregon the effective tax rate will fall to less than 24 cents per gallon in inflation-adjusted terms within 10 years, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a […]
Idaho Statesman: Does ‘fixing’ Idaho taxes mean cutting, or something else?
November 3, 2015
“The other two legs of Idaho’s tax structure are sales and property taxes. On both scores, Idaho is in the lower half of states, and much lower on property taxes. Its overall tax structure is also fairer than most across income levels. State rankings on tax inequality compiled by the Institute on Taxation and […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: Hundreds of Corporations Escape the Minimum Tax
October 21, 2015
Although Oregon has a minimum income tax for corporations, 492 corporations paid less than the minimum in tax year 2012.Some corporations paid nothing at all.When corporations avoid the minimum tax they deprive the state of revenue to invest in schools and other key public structures. Lawmakers should reinstate the corporate minimum tax for all […]
The Spokesman Review: Idaho tax balance too much for GOP?
October 5, 2015
“At this point, you’ve got to wonder why anyone would still harp about cutting taxes in Idaho. For one thing, the state is hardly overtaxed. Whenever the State Tax Commission looks at tax burdens, it finds Idaho’s near the bottom. By one recent measure, the state is ranked 49th out of the 50 states and […]
The Oregonian: Would consumers or big corporations pay huge tax hike headed toward Oregon ballot?
September 28, 2015
“Matthew Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said his group – which is associated with the left-of-center Center for Tax Justice – also dislikes gross receipts taxes. They tend to be regressive, complex and unfair to certain kinds of businesses, he said. But Gardner said that because Oregon doesn’t have […]
The U.S. Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2014, the national poverty rate was 14.8 percent - statistically unchanged from the previous year. However, the poverty rate remains 2.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2007, before the Great Recession, indicating that recent economic gains have not yet reached all households and that there is much room for improvement. The 2014 measure translates to more than 46.7 million - more than 1 in 7 - Americans living in poverty. Most state poverty rates also held steady between…
Watchdog: No More Free Rides? Oregon Pay-As-You-Go Plan Could One Day Fund Highways
July 20, 2015
“If infrastructure costs rise by a modest 2 percent a year, the tax will lose 18 percent of its value within a decade, leaving the state facing the same long-run imbalance it does today,” said Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a think tank. read more
State Tax Notes: States Increase Gas Tax in Push for Transportation Funds
July 13, 2015
In the absence of a national gasoline tax increase, states have been raising their gas taxes to fund long-deferred road maintenance and transportation projects. “I think what’s happening now is a lot of states are having to play catch-up. They let their infrastructure deteriorate to a point where it’s an issue that can’t be ignored […]
Huffington Post: ITEP’s Carl Davis: Oregon Started a Trend in 1919 with the Nation’s First Gas Tax. Will It Do So Again?
July 1, 2015
In 1919, Oregon lawmakers were looking for a way to fund road construction and kicked off a national movement when they created the country’s first tax on gasoline. Just over a decade later, every state and the federal government had implemented a gas tax, and it eventually became the most important funding source for the […]
City Lab: 18 Reasons America Should Adopt a Per-Mile Driving Fee
July 1, 2015
Oregon’s much-anticipated per-mile driving fee, called OReGO, launches today. Instead of paying the normal gas tax embedded in the price of fuel, OReGO drivers will pay 1.5 cents for every mile on the road. The initial public rollout is limited to 5,000 vehicles, but the implications of the program are vast: if all goes well, […]
Read this report in PDF form Introduction For years, academics and transportation experts have been discussing the possibility of taxing drivers for each mile they travel on the nation’s roads. This “vehicle miles traveled tax” (VMT tax) could either supplement or replace the existing gas tax as the primary method of funding transportation infrastructure. To […]
Corvallis Gazette-Times: Driving Change: Oregon Will Start Rolling Out an Experimental Road User Fee Next Month
June 22, 2015
Both Congress and state legislatures have been reluctant to increase tax rates. Oregon last raised its gas tax in 2011, while the federal gas tax has been unchanged since 1993. At the same time, transportation construction costs have risen sharply — according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, they’re up 63 percent since […]
The federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the single most important mechanism for funding maintenance and improvements to the nation's transportation infrastructure. Absent Congressional action, however, the HTF will face insolvency at the end of July. Unfortunately, despite the critical importance of infrastructure to the U.S. economy, the condition of the HTF has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that imminent insolvency has become entirely normal.
Daily Record: Letter: State’s Tax Structure Hits the Poor the Hardest
June 15, 2015
Why did the recession have such a damaging effect on the state budget? Because, almost uniquely in the country, most of our state’s revenue comes from various kinds of sales tax. This causes real problems. The non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says Washington’s tax system is the most unfair in the entire country. […]
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