Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Vermont

The News-Herald: Amazon’s Ohio Sales Tax Collection Seen As Way To ‘Level Playing Field,’ Close Tax Loophole

June 9, 2015

Some states, however, have decided not to wait for the federal government to make the change. So far, 10 states have taken their own limited steps to expand the number of retailers that must collect sales taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. New York was first, enacting legislation in 2008 requiring […]

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Issues with Taxing Marijuana at the State Level

May 6, 2015 • By Carl Davis, Richard Phillips

Read as a PDF. Table of Contents Introduction Why Tax Marijuana? Designing a State Tax on Marijuana How Much Revenue Would Marijuana Legalization Generate for States Factors that Could Negatively Impact Marijuana Revenue Factors that Could Positively Impact Marijuana Revenue Conclusion Endnotes Charts and Text Boxes Current Approaches to Taxing Retail Marijuana Sales How Should […]

Vermont Legislative Joint Fiscal Office: ITEP and Pew Reports on Vermont’s Income Distribution and Tax System

April 21, 2015

This report is a slide deck that review’s ITEP’s Who Pays report and its findings on the Vermont state tax system.  Read the full report here. 

NY Daily News: Corporate giants often get huge tax breaks, while poor, undocumented immigrants have paid billions in state taxes

April 20, 2015

Yes, the unauthorized immigrant population, among the poorest and most vulnerable in New York State, does its part when it comes to taxes, according to a report by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (itepnet.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that works on federal, state and local tax policy issues. The report, that covers […]

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Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2015)

April 15, 2015 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe

This report was updated February 2016 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page In the public debates over federal immigration reform, sufficient and accurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants is often lacking. The reality is the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States pay billions […]

Vermont Public Radio: Business Leaders Mount Campaign Against Plan to Limit Tax Deductions

April 15, 2015

Carl Davis is a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C., based research group that analyzes federal, state and local tax policies. Davis, who lives in Vermont, says there’s no reason to think Vermont would suffer any competitive disadvantage if it goes through with the plan. “Massachusetts, Connecticut and […]

Vermont Business: Vermont Has the Capacity to Avoid 2016 Budget Cuts

March 26, 2015

“Total personal income” is a broad measure of income used by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). It is based on filers under age 65 and includes adjusted gross income, which is the starting point used by most states to determine taxable income, as well as income typically not subject to tax, such […]

Public Assets Institute: Vermont Has the Capacity to Avoid 2016 Budget Cuts

March 24, 2015

Vermont’s income tax is among the lowest in the country: 2.7 percent of the state’s total personal income. Eliminating tax breaks and lowering income tax rates would balance the fiscal 2016 budget without cuts and still leave Vermont’s effective income tax rate lower than those of 24 other states. Read the full report here.

Public Assets Institute: How to Close the Budget Gap–Fiscal 2016 and Beyond

March 16, 2015

“Vermont is one of six states in the country that uses federal taxable income rather than adjusted gross income as the base for the state income tax. Because this base is lower, the state must set its top marginal rate higher than necessary to raise the needed revenues. Additionally, tax breaks that primarily benefit upper-income […]

Bloomberg: Will State Legislatures Pass Gas Tax Hikes This Year?

February 11, 2015

However, the kind of funding structure that Maryland put in place has been called good policy by organizations like the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization in Washington, D.C., because the inflation adjustment allows the revenue’s buying power to keep up with transportation expenses over time. Flat-rate taxes do […]

The Atlantic: Robin Hood in Reverse

January 28, 2015

But according to a new report from The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the impact of those federal tax breaks is largely offset by the burden of state and local taxes. Here’s how state and local taxes break down as a percentage of income: The richest Americans pay the least. The tax mix changes […]

Public Assets Institute: Vermont’s Tax System Is Still Unfair

January 21, 2015

Vermont taxes are higher, as a percentage of income, on the poor and those in the middle than they are on the 1 percent at the top, according to the new study Who Pays? released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Vermont is not alone; the wealthiest pay less than everyone […]

Times Argus: Vt. taxes least regressive but still skewed

January 16, 2015

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has released a study looking at tax systems across all 50 states and found that Vermont leans less on the poor and middle class than do the other states; however, when looking at taxes as a percentage of income, the poor and the middle class are still paying […]

Minnesota Post: In study on tax fairness, Minnesota looks … fair

January 15, 2015

“In The Washington Post, Niraj Shoshi reports, “State taxes favor those with the highest incomes. That’s according to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report, which finds that on average the bottom fifth of earners pay proportionally twice as much of their incomes in state and local taxes as the […]

USA Today: New Year Brings Hundreds of New Laws

January 5, 2015

Drivers in five states could see gasoline prices rise with gas tax increases, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax watchdog group. The biggest increase is in Pennsylvania, 9.8 cents, followed by Virginia, 5.1 cents; Maryland, 2.9 cents; North Carolina, 1 cent; and Florida, 0.3 cents. New York, Nebraska, Vermont, West […]

NPR: Gas Tax Hike to Fuel Fixes to Roads and Bridges

December 9, 2014

“There’s kind of been a switch that’s been flipped,” says Carl Davis, a senior analyst with the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Davis says gas tax increases are now on the table in states across the country, from New Jersey to Utah to South Carolina to South Dakota. Democratic governors in Delaware, Vermont […]

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State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools

September 18, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe

Read the Report in PDF Form The Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2013, the national poverty rate was 14.5 percent, a slight drop from last years’ rate of 15 percent and the first decline since 2006.1 However, the poverty rate remains 2.0 […]

Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2013. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.

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State Estate and Inheritance Taxes

July 21, 2014 • By Meg Wiehe

For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in helping states to adequately fund public services in a way that improves the progressivity of state tax systems. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Recent changes in the federal estate tax, however, culminating in the "fiscal cliff " deal of early 2013, have forced states to reevaluate the structure of their estate and inheritance taxes. Unfortunately, the trend of late has tended toward weakening…

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Pay-Per-Mile Tax is Only a Partial Fix

May 28, 2014 • By Carl Davis

The gasoline tax is the single largest source of funding for transportation infrastructure in the United States, but the tax is on an unsustainable course. Sluggish gas tax revenue growth has put strain on transportation budgets at the federal and state levels, and has led to countless debates around the country about how best to pay for America's infrastructure.

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State Gasoline Taxes: Built to Fail, But Fixable

May 20, 2014 • By Carl Davis

An updated version of this brief was published on February 9, 2017.   Read this report in pdf. Every state levies taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, usually just called “gas taxes.” These taxes are an important source of state revenue—particularly for transportation—but their poor design has resulted in sluggish revenue growth that fails to […]

Wall Street Journal: States Raise Gas Taxes to Pay for Infrastructure

April 7, 2014

(Original Post) As Congress Only Takes Short-Term Steps, Governors Seek More Funds for Roads By JOSH MITCHELL Updated April 4, 2014 7:32 p.m. ET GEORGETOWN, Del.—States and cities desperate to build and repair roads and other infrastructure—but frustrated by inertia in Congress—are raising their own levies and turning to private companies for funding. Six states […]

The Record: The 5-cent solution – gas tax for New Jersey

March 24, 2014

(Original Post) MARCH 21, 2014, 4:53 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014, 4:53 PM BY CARL DAVIS THE RECORD Carl Davis is senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state and local tax policy issues. IF YOU WERE to ask five […]

USA Today: Needing money for roads, states mull gas tax hikes

March 11, 2014

(Original Post) Larry Copeland, USA TODAY 10:13 a.m. EDT March 11, 2014 The federal gas tax hasn’t been raised in more than two decades The federal gas tax, long used to help states pay for roads and bridges, hasn’t been raised since Bill Clinton was president. The prices of asphalt, steel and heavy machinery — […]

NHPR: N.H. Legislators Will Make Another Run At Raising Gas Tax

January 22, 2014

(Original Post) By BRIAN WALLSTIN A year after failing to agree on how to pay for a long list of road and bridge improvements, lawmakers will take another shot at bolstering the state’s chronically underfunded infrastructure this session. Several bills are on the table, including one that would channel proceeds from a casino into the […]