Virginia
How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
November 6, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, includes some provisions that raise taxes and some that cut taxes, so the net effect for any particular family’s federal tax bill depends on their situation. Some of the provisions that benefit the middle class — like lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to expire or become less generous over time. Some of the provisions that benefit the wealthy, such as the reduction and eventual repeal of the estate…
Commonwealth Institute: Average Virginian Families Provided a Pittance from GOP-Trump Tax Plan, Top 1% Would See Windfall
October 17, 2017
Who in Virginia would benefit from the type of tax cuts proposed by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans? New analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released in October shows that nearly 80 percent of all of the tax cuts in Virginia would go to the top 1 percent–households with an average of income of $1.7 million...
GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Virginia with 78.8 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
October 4, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would not benefit everyone in Virginia equally. The richest one percent of Virginia residents would receive 78.8 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $640,000 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $83,010 in 2018, which would increase their income by an average of 4.8 percent.
The Commonwealth Institute: We Need More than Wishful Thinking: A Closer Look at the Candidates’ Tax Plans
September 15, 2017
Issue platforms by the current candidates for Virginia governor, including Republican candidate Ed Gillespie, Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra, and Democratic candidate Ralph Northam, include proposals to modify or eliminate Virginia’s local business taxes, modify Virginia’s individual income tax, and eliminate the state portion of Virginia’s sales tax on groceries. All of these proposals would reduce local or state revenue collections.
Washington Post: Ahead of regional summit, left-leaning policy groups say ‘No’ to a sales tax for Metro
August 28, 2017
A regionwide one-cent sales tax to fund Metro would have a disproportionate impact on poor families, taking five times the share of income from the bottom 20 percent of earners when compared with those in the top 1 percent, according to a new analysis from a trio of left-leaning think tanks representing the District, Maryland and Virginia.
DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Maryland Center on Economic Policy, and The Commonwealth Institute: Triple Whammy: A Regional Sales Tax for Metro, Like Fare Hikes and Service Cuts, Would Fall Hardest on Struggling Families
August 28, 2017
A strong Metro system is important to all of us in the Washington region. And everyone agrees that the Metro system needs new resources to rebuild its health. But a regional sales tax—a widely discussed option—would be an unfair way to pay for it.
In Virginia 48.0 Percent of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million
August 17, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
A tiny fraction of the Virginia population (0.6 percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But this elite group would receive 48.0 percent of the tax cuts that go to Virginia residents under the tax proposals from the Trump administration. A much larger group, 43.5 percent of the state, earns less than $45,000, but would receive just 5.1 percent of the tax cuts.
Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Virginia with 60 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
July 20, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Virginia would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,718,600 in 2018.
Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit
May 17, 2017 • By Carl Davis
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being used as profitable tax shelters by high-income taxpayers. By exploiting interactions between federal and state tax law, high-income taxpayers in nine states are currently able […]
Public Loss Private Gain: How School Voucher Tax Shelters Undermine Public Education
May 17, 2017 • By Carl Davis, Sasha Pudelski
One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax policies that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools.
The Commonwealth Institute: Working, Paying Taxes, Hitting Barriers
April 24, 2017
Unauthorized immigrants in Virginia contribute more than $250 million each year in state and local taxes. That’s a lot of money. But they could contribute even more – nearly $100 million more – if they received lawful work permits and relief from fear of immigration enforcement, policy changes lawmakers could begin to address for the […]
The Half Sheet: You Can’t Cut Your Way to Prosperity
March 17, 2017
Virginia’s tax system is upside down. Regular Virginians pay a higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the wealthy and powerful. An array of recently proposed schemes to give new handouts to the wealthy and powerful would make it even more unfair. Virginians can’t afford that. As part of our work […]
The Atlantic: The Truth About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes
September 13, 2016
“As rhetoric about illegal immigration dominates this election cycle, it’s hard to argue that undocumented immigrants drain the system. It’s true that not all undocumented workers pay federal income and social security taxes; many are still paid in cash and never fill out W-2 forms, so it’s unclear how many of them independently file tax […]
Virginia Connection Newspapers: Arlington: The Undocumented American Story
April 6, 2016
“An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that, in 2012, 8.1 million of the nation’s 11.4 million undocumented immigrants paid state and local taxes, totalling $11.8 billion in revenue.” Read more
The Commonwealth Institute: Room for Improvement
January 22, 2016
“Virginia households with an average annual income of $59,000 would save an average of just $6.45 per year – less than the price of a movie ticket. And households making roughly $14,000 a year would save an average of only $1.32 per year per household. That’s barely enough to buy the local newspaper. In fact, […]
NBC: Sales Tax Holidays Complex, Controversial, But Popular With Shoppers
July 28, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax holiday […]
CNBC: Tax-Free Shopping Ahead for These States
July 24, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, however, contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax […]
Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said efforts to raise state taxes to pay for roads and bridges exploded this year. In 2013 and 2014, four states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) increased their gas taxes, while Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island indexed the gas tax to either […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Math that Works for All of Us
April 21, 2015
All told, undocumented Virginians currently pay $240.4 million a year in taxes to Virginia and its localities. That’s a 6.5 percent effective tax rate for the typical undocumented immigrant household. By comparison, the highest-income 1 percent of Virginia households pay an effective tax rate of just 5.1 percent. But the amount of taxes that could […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Low-Income Taxpayers in Virginia Pay Higher Rate Than the Rich
January 21, 2015
The lowest income Virginians pay 74 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). The study, Who Pays?, analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major state […]
Lessburg Today: Virgina’s Back-to-School Tax Holiday
August 1, 2014
By Kelly Davis Your article about sales tax holidays “Virginia’s Back-To-School Tax Holiday Returns This Weekend” suggests that sales tax holidays are a great deal for shoppers, when, in fact, sales tax holidays aren’t really worth celebrating. These holidays are poorly targeted, costly and represent a lost opportunity to get tax fairness right. A […]
Center for American Progess: The Real Cost of Cuccinelli
September 23, 2013
Besides working on these major research projects, I developed CTJ/ITEP’s strong online media presence. One of the most important roles I play is as the primary web manager for both CTJ and ITEP. Similarly, over the past two years I successfully initiated and then maintained CTJ and ITEP’s social media presence. Center for American Progress […]
The Washington Times: Uneven results with changes to gas tax in Md., Va.
August 21, 2013
An 18-cent disparity in the cost of a gallon of gas between Maryland and Virginia appears to support predictions of radical price changes after lawmakers in both states took widely different approaches to raising transportation funding through gas taxes this year.
The Commonwealth Institute: Immigration Reform Generates Revenue
July 10, 2013
State and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants in Virginia would increase 42 percent to $259.6 million from $183 million under immigration reform, according to a new report released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Nationally, state and local contributions would increase by more than $2 billion. Read the Full Report
The Commonwealth Institute: What Would a Cut to the Top Individual Income Tax Rate Mean for Virginians?
May 17, 2013
A proposal to eliminate Virginia’s top individual income tax rate would overwhelmingly benefit the state’s wealthiest residents, who already spend far less of their household budgets on state and local taxes than any other group. Nearly 40 percent of Virginia taxpayers would see no reduction in their taxes under the plan and most of the […]
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