Virginia
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (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 […]
USA Today: The Tax Even Republicans Like
April 13, 2015
And one state can start a wave. For example, Virginia reformed its gas tax in 2013, making it easier for neighbors like Maryland and Pennsylvania to follow, says Carl Davis, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “States notice what other states are doing.” Iowa’s new law will help Smith’s case […]
State Tax Preferences for Elderly Taxpayers
• By Meg Wiehe
State governments provide a wide array of tax breaks for their elderly residents. Almost every state that levies an income tax now allows some form of income tax exemption or credit for citizens over age 65 that is unavailable to non-elderly taxpayers. And most states provide special property tax breaks to the elderly. Unfortunately, too many of these breaks are poorly-targeted, unsustainable, and unfair. This policy brief surveys federal and state approaches to reducing taxes…
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
The federal government and many states are seeing shortfalls in their transportation budgets in part because the gasoline taxes they use to generate those funds are poorly designed. Thirty-one states and the federal government levy "fixed-rate" gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even as the cost of infrastructure materials inevitably increases over time. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over 22 years. And twenty states…
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 […]
West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy: Low- and Middle-Income Taxpayers in West Virginia Pay a Higher Tax Rate than the Richest West Virginians
• By ITEP Staff
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy finds that the low- and middle-income West Virginians pay more in state and local taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. Read the full report
The Commonwealth Institute: Low-Income Taxpayers in Virginia Pay Higher Rate Than the Rich
• By ITEP Staff
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 […]
Morgan County USA: Low and Middle Income West Virginians Pay Higher Tax Rate than Richest West Virginians
January 15, 2015
“A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy finds that the low- and middle-income West Virginians pay more in state and local taxes as a percent of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The study, Who Pays?, analyzes […]
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 […]
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools
• 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 […]
Washington Post: Do Sales-Tax Holidays Boost Back-to-School Shopping?
August 11, 2014
By Sarah Halzack It’s back-to-school shopping season, meaning parents everywhere are dragging their kids to the store to stock up on notebooks and supplies or to nab the perfect first-day-of-school outfit. Sixteen states, including Maryland and Virginia, have offered or will offer some sort of sales tax holiday in July or August, a policy that […]
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Meg Wiehe
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.
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 […]
Pay-Per-Mile Tax is Only a Partial Fix
• 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.
State Gasoline Taxes: Built to Fail, But Fixable
• 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 […]
Transportation Topics: Gas Tax Buying Power at All-Time Low in Some States
May 19, 2014
By Michael Fuetsch, May 19, 2014 The gasoline tax is so low and has not been raised for so long in 10 states, that the levy’s purchasing power has fallen to historic lows, a new study said. States where this has occurred are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah, and […]
Gas Tax Hits Rock Bottom in Ten States
• By Carl Davis
In most states, the gasoline tax is set at a fixed number of cents per gallon of gas. South Carolina drivers, for example, have been paying 16 cents per gallon in state tax for more than a quarter century.1 But while this type of fixed-rate gas tax may appear to be flat over time, its lack of change in the face of inflation means that its "real" value, or purchasing power, is steadily declining. In…
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 […]
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Gas tax
April 2, 2014
(Original Post) A new fact sheet from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy indicates Iowa is one of seven states where the gas tax rates are “stuck in neutral.” According to the institute’s analysis, 21 states have gone a decade or more without increasing their gas tax rates and 16 states have gone two […]
Globe Gazette: Iowa’s Among Gas Tax Rates Stuck in Neutral
April 2, 2014
(Original Post) A new fact sheet from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy indicates Iowa is one of seven states where the gas tax rates are “stuck in neutral.” According to the institute’s analysis, 21 states have gone a decade or more without increasing their gas tax rates and 16 states have gone two […]
Most Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
• By Carl Davis
The federal government and many states are seeing shortfalls in their transportation budgets in part because the gasoline taxes they use to generate those funds are poorly designed. Thirty-two states and the federal government levy "fixed-rate" gas taxes where the tax rate does not change even as the cost of infrastructure materials inevitably increases over time. The federal government's 18.4 cent gas tax, for example, has not increased in over twenty years. And almost half…
Public News Service: Many Big Corporations Paying No State Taxes
March 28, 2014
(Original Post) March 27, 2014 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Many huge, profitable corporations pay no state taxes, according to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. The report looks at 300 Fortune 500 companies that made a profit every year from 2008 to 2012 and found at […]
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 — […]
The Buffalo News: Democrats ought to embrace budget
March 10, 2014
(Original Post) By Douglas Turner | News Washington Columnist on March 10, 2014 – 6:17 AM WASHINGTON – Sophisticates speaking for the real power here have already blown off President Obama’s 2015 budget. The group includes almost the entire Congress and sadly, the corps of journalists, some who are world weary, but include all who […]
