Tag Archive for: ITEP
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MBTAAnalysis: A look inside the MBTA
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The MBTA shuttles over a million passengers a day around Greater…
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Are Massachusetts taxes regressive? A common argument for a graduated income tax relies on a deeply flawed and outdated study
Advocates of the proposed surtax paint a picture of the Massachusetts tax system as highly regressive. They fail to mention that ITEP, the organization that produced the data upon which they rely, rated Massachusetts as having a more progressive tax system than 29 other states. ITEP fails to adequately explain their model’s treatment of the tax incidence of sales, excise, and property taxes, and they exclude a number of other aspects of the tax code that make it seem artificially regressive.
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Study Finds Deep Flaws in Advocates’ Claims that the Massachusetts Tax Code is Regressive
Proponents of a state constitutional amendment to add a 4 percent surtax on all households with annual income above $1 million frequently cite 2015 data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which argues that the Massachusetts tax code is regressive, but a new study published by Pioneer Institute debunks many of the underlying assumptions used in ITEP’s 2015 report.