Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

State-by-State Estimates of the First Year of Trump’s Tax Policies: All But the Richest Americans Face Higher Taxes

State-by-State Estimates of the First Year of Trump’s Tax Policies: All But the Richest Americans Face Higher Taxes

What's New

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South Carolina’s Expensive, Regressive Tax Law Will Eliminate State’s Income Tax

March 31, 2026 • By Neva Butkus, Dylan Grundman O'Neill

South Carolina signed into law a regressive tax cut that will disproportionately benefit the state’s highest-income residents while simultaneously jeopardizing the state’s ability to pay for basic public services in the years to come.

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Travelers’ Checks: How to Tax Tourists in States and Localities

March 30, 2026 • By Rita Jefferson

Taxing tourists is a relatively efficient way to ensure that visitors are paying a share of essential government services. Places with a modest number of tourists should limit general sales tax rates to minimize the effect on the full-time population. Places with higher proportions of tourists may have higher sales…

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The Progress of Tax Policy: Q&A With Vanessa Williamson, Author of ‘The Price of Democracy’

March 30, 2026 • By Brakeyshia Samms

Williamson speaks about why tax politics has long been tied to questions of democratic inclusion, what history can teach us about today’s tax debates, and how tax policy shapes the future of American democracy.

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State Rundown 3/26: Sobering Revenue Projections Keep States on Their Toes

March 26, 2026 • By ITEP Staff

This week, troubling revenue projections are making headlines, with many lawmakers scrambling to determine how the tax changes at the federal level, plus price hikes driven by national policy decisions, will impact their states.

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How to Make the Rich and Corporations Pay for This Unpopular War

March 25, 2026 • By Michael Ettlinger

The war is widely unpopular. Whether the cost of the war ends up being $200 billion, more than that amount, or less, let’s at least have it paid for by those who can most afford it.

More Recent Work

Across the States

Tax Watch

State Tax Watch 2026

ITEP tracks tax discussions in legislatures across the country and uses our unique data capacity to analyze the revenue, distributional, and racial and ethnic impacts of many of these proposals. State Tax Watch offers the latest news and movement from each state.

Get weekly updates by signing up for our State Rundown newsletter.

Learn more about state taxes across the country, read Who Pays?

State Rundown & On the Map

On the Map

State Rundown 3/26: Sobering Revenue Projections Keep States on Their Toes

This week, troubling revenue projections are making headlines, with many lawmakers scrambling to determine how the tax changes at the federal level, plus price hikes…

Taxes on Adult-Use Cannabis in Each State

Twenty-three states have legalized the sale of cannabis for general adult use. Every state allowing legal sales applies an excise tax to cannabis based on…

The ITEP Guide to State & Local Taxes

The ITEP Guide to State & Local Taxes offers citizens, advocates, journalists, and policymakers a detailed primer on state and local tax policy. Learn more about the three main sources of revenue (income, property, and sales) and the major principles that shape tax codes and discussions.

Tax Principles

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Income & Profits

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Property & Wealth

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Sales & Use

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Other Revenues

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