Tax Justice Digest: A Visual Tour of Who Pays, 2017 State Tax Trends
January 26, 2017
ITEP Staff
January 26, 2017
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately.
New! A Visual Tour of Who Pays State and Local Taxes
To help inform 2017 statehouse debates, ITEP today released a chart book that examines how families at different income levels are affected by state and local tax codes. A few findings: all state tax systems are regressive; states without a personal income tax tend to tax lower-income people at higher rates, and flat taxes are beneficial for the wealthy. Read ITEP Research Director Carl Davis’s blog or view Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes
More Regressive or Less Regressive? 2017 State Tax Policy Trends
While federal lawmakers have signaled individual and corporate tax changes are imminent, less publicized are upcoming state legislative actions on issues as varied as major revenue shortfalls, modernizing decades-old sales and gas tax policies, and flattening or even eliminating revenue sources as vital as the personal income tax. Read an overview of 2017 trends in state tax policy by Meg Wiehe, ITEP’s director of programs.
Playing Catch up with the Motor Fuel Tax
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has proposed tripling the state’s gas tax. In any other state, this might seem drastic. But Alaska hasn’t increased its gas tax in 47 years, and even if it triples its tax, it would remain below the 50-state average. ITEP released a new brief this week that examines how Alaska’s motor fuel tax is an outlier among states. Read ITEP Analyst Carl Davis’s blog or read the full brief, Alaska’s Motor Fuel Tax: A National and Historical Outlier.
The State Rundown: Revenue Shortfalls and How to Avoid Them
This week’s rundown of state tax happenings brings more news of states facing budget crunches, a new state considering eliminating its income tax, and states that plan to raise gas taxes to fund transportation projects. Read the State Rundown.
The ITEP Inequality Index
One of the charts in ITEP’s new Fairness Matters chart book ranks the states by the most unequal to the least. Essentially, the inequality index examines whether the gap in families’ shares of income is wider or narrower after state and local taxes are applied.
If you have any feedback on the Digest or tax stories you’re watching that we should check out too please email me [email protected]
Sign up to receive the Tax Justice Digest
For frequent updates find us on Twitter, Facebook, and at the Tax Justice blog.