Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Steve Wamhoff

Federal Policy Director

Steve Wamhoff
Areas of Expertise
Federal Tax and Budget Policy Corporate Tax

Steve is ITEP’s federal policy director. In this role, he is responsible for setting the organization’s federal research and policy agenda. He is the author of numerous reports and analyses of federal tax policies as well as in-depth policy briefs that outline how the federal income tax and corporate tax code can be overhauled to improve tax fairness.

Just before taking on the role of ITEP’s director of federal tax policy, Steve spent more than two years as the senior tax policy analyst for Sen. Bernie Sanders and as a member of the senator’s Budget Committee staff. In this capacity, he wrote legislation related to personal income and corporate income taxes, financial transaction taxes, estate taxes and tax avoidance.

Before joining Sen. Sanders’ staff, Steve had previously worked for ITEP and its c(4) partner Citizens for Tax Justice for more than eight years. During this time, he built expertise in analyzing tax policies and their effect on federal revenue as well as on people across the income spectrum. Notably, he wrote reports on proposals to extend the George W. Bush tax cuts, as well as proposals to eliminate tax breaks for investors and corporations as a way of financing health care reform and other initiatives.

Earlier in his career, Steve worked for the Social Security Administration’s Office of Policy and the Coalition on Human Needs. He received a Juris Doctor and Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s from New York University.

 steve at itep.org

Recent Publications

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How Will the Trump Megabill Change Americans’ Taxes in 2026?

July 22, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Jon Whiten, Michael Ettlinger, Steve Wamhoff

The megabill will raise taxes on the poorest 40 percent of Americans, barely cut them for the middle 20 percent, and cut them tremendously for the wealthiest Americans next year.

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There Were Far Cheaper and Fairer Options Than the Trump Megabill

July 8, 2025 • By Jessica Vela, Joe Hughes, Steve Wamhoff

Congress and the president could have spent less than half that much money on a tax bill that does more for working-class and middle-class households.

More Publications by Steve Wamhoff

Recent Media Mentions

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San Francisco Chronicle: New SALT cap means savings for California homeowners. Here’s how much

October 6, 2025 • By Steve Wamhoff

Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said his organization’s analysis found less SALT savings for Californians than Redfin reported. He ran the new SALT rules through ITEP’s tax microsimulation model, which uses a database of taxpayer and census records to create…

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Barron's: A New Billionaires Income Tax May Not Go Anywhere Right Now. But Democrats See a Winning Issue.

September 22, 2025 • By Steve Wamhoff

Democratic lawmakers introduced identical bills in the House and Senate to tax billionaires earlier this week, resurrecting a proposal that has failed to become law in the past. Read more. 

More Media Mentions of Steve Wamhoff