Tag: ITEP

A low tax state for who?

Like most state tax systems, Oklahoma takes a much larger share from middle- and low-income families than from wealthy families, according to the fourth edition of “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States,” released… Read more [More...]

No leg left to stand on: Laffer and OCPA debunked again

The push to eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income tax relies heavily for intellectual support on a study done for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs by economist Arthur Laffer and his colleagues. The Laffer report makes two claims: (1) that states… Read more [More...]

Laffer Debunked: States without an income tax do not enjoy stronger economic growth

Update: We have put out a fact sheet summarizing major flaws in the Laffer report. Do states without an income tax enjoy stronger economic growth? This is one of the central claims made by economist Arthur Laffer in a recent… Read more [More...]

Read This: A glossary of tax terminology

If all the recent talk about tax credits and exemptions and tax reform have left you scratching your head, you’re not alone.  Keeping up with the tax debate – and its accompanying jargon and terminology – can challenge even the… Read more [More...]

Upside Down: New report shows most asset building spending helping the wealthy

It is widely accepted that ownership of assets – a home, savings accounts, stocks and investments, a business – is a cornerstone of family financial security. Assets provide a cushion against temporary setbacks and allow for an investment in greater… Read more [More...]

Limiting itemized deductions would improve the fairness and adequacy of the state income tax

Earlier this year, we called attention to one of the stranger loopholes in the Oklahoma tax code, the case of the “double deduction” of state income taxes.  Federal tax law allows taxpayers who itemize their deductions to claim a deduction… Read more [More...]

Should the poor pay more?

In Oklahoma, who pays the highest percentage of their income in taxes? Those with the lowest incomes do, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The state’s sales, excise and property taxes, which fall disproportionately on the… Read more [More...]