Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Sarah Austin

Senior Analyst

Sarah Austin

Sarah is a Senior Analyst at ITEP. She focuses her research on progressive revenue-raising options for states. Before joining ITEP in 2025, Sarah served as senior policy advisor to the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. Prior to that, she served as the research and policy director at the Maine Center for Economic Policy where she focused her research on state budget advocacy, refundable tax credits, and progressive tax policies to improve revenue adequacy and fairness.

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree from Unity College and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin.

 sarah at itep.org

Recent Publications

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House Bill’s Deduction for Car Loan Interest Would Not Offset Tariff-Related Auto Price Increases for Most Buyers

February 24, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Sarah Austin

The auto loan interest deduction that recently passed the House is designed, at least in part, to mitigate the impact of tariff-induced price increases on vehicles assembled in America. But the deduction is incapable of offsetting even small-scale price increases, especially for working-class families and others with moderate incomes.

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House Bill’s $164 Billion Giveaway to Multinational Corporations Puts America Last

February 24, 2025 • By Sarah Austin

The House of Representatives’ recently passed tax bill changes course on taxing multinational corporations engaged in shifting U.S. profits overseas, offering massive tax giveaways that weaken American revenues and risk sending more American corporate investment offshore.

More Publications by Sarah Austin

Recent Media Mentions

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CNBC: How the Republican Megabill Targets Immigrant Finances

February 24, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Sarah Austin

“If a U.S. citizen is married to an undocumented immigrant, or if a citizen child has an undocumented parent, then the House bill considers the citizen to have forfeited their right to a range of tax breaks,” ITEP researchers Carl Davis and Sarah Austin wrote in an analysis in May. Read more. 

More Media Mentions of Sarah Austin