Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

ITEP's Research Priorities

Every Texan: Two Property Tax Plans, One Fiscal Reality

April 9, 2026

Tax cuts make the system less fair. Circuit breakers, tax credits, and renters’ rebates can help housing affordability for low-income Texans at a lower cost to the state.  Read more.

The American Prospect: Live Tax-Free and Die

April 9, 2026

Reducing or eliminating property taxes will erode services by cutting off the source of revenue for local governments. Read more.

NPR: She Paid Into Medicare for Years. Trump’s Immigration Policy Will End Her Coverage

April 9, 2026

Eliminating coverage for immigrants with legal status is unprecedented. Undocumented immigrants paid $6.4 billion into Medicare and $25.7 billion into Social Security in 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more.

FACT Coalition: Take the Money and Run – Amidst Oil Price Windfalls, U.S. Oil Majors Continue to Pay Less Tax at Home than Abroad

April 6, 2026

The largest U.S. oil and gas companies continue to pay substantially more tax abroad than at home. Corporate tax breaks passed into law last summer are further reducing the effective tax rates of American oil and gas companies. Companies are required to reveal additional details about their taxes due to new accounting standards.  Read more. […]

The Guardian: Billionaire Fortunes Have Reached All-Time Highs Under Trump. So Has the Movement To Tax Them

April 6, 2026

In at least 10 states, residents are organizing campaigns to tax wealth to fund schools, prisons, and other social services. Read more.

Brookings: The Caregiving Crisis and the 2026 Vote

April 3, 2026

Children in the bottom 20% of households are left out of OBBBA childcare tax credits, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.  Read more.

Gov. Evers Vetoes Bill Requiring Wisconsin to Opt Into Nationwide Expansion of Private Voucher Schools

April 2, 2026

The vetoed bill would have redirected funds from public schools and public education to expand private voucher schools. Read more.

Oxfam: The Case for Fairly Taxing the Rich in New York

March 26, 2026

https://itep.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/OBBB-20250519-New-York.png Read more.

Politico: Governors Forgo Past Response to High Gasoline Prices

March 26, 2026

State budgets are stretched thinner than they were in 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted gas tax holidays. Today, a gas tax holiday could have even less effect than 2022’s underwhelming impacts. Read more.

Stateline: Gas Prices Rise Again As Some States Consider Tax Holidays

March 25, 2026

When fuel supply is constrained, a significant share of the savings can be absorbed within the oil and gas supply chain rather than passed on at the pump. State-level examples reflect similar patterns, as seen in a recent ITEP analysis. Read more.

Economic Policy Institute: How ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Helped Ensure a Swift Post-COVID Recovery

March 25, 2026

With sufficient funding and a flexible structure, the Biden administration equipped every community with resources tailored to its needs. Future policies can look to the success of ARPA’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund to address a widespread crisis, whether it’s a global pandemic, climate disaster, economic downturn, or some combination of the three.   […]

USA Today: Californians Want To Tax Billionaires. They’re Threatening To Leave.

March 25, 2026

Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, predicts the number of billionaires who might leave California over the billionaire tax “will be greater than zero, but still very, very small.” Read more.

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Nurses and Plumbers Shouldn’t Pay the Same Tax Rate As Multi-Millionaires. LD 229 and LD 1089 Change That.

March 25, 2026

Maine’s tax code currently asks more of families with middle income than it does of the wealthiest residents. The proposed progressive revenue reforms will raise stable, recurring funding while strengthening the broader economy. Read more.

FACT Coalition: ITEP Cited in Review of Multinational Disclosures

March 23, 2026

The U.S. tax code continues to encourage America’s largest corporations to stash profits in tax havens. According to ITEP, these 2025 tax breaks have reduced corporate tax bills by more than $100 billion. Read more.  

Testimony: ITEP’s Nick Johnson on D.C. Amendment to SALT Cap Workarounds

March 23, 2026

A written testimony before the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee of the Whole on B26-0324, the “Pass-Through Entities Income Tax and Tax Credit on certain S Corporations and Partnerships Amendment Act of 2025” by Nick Johnson at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy on March 19, 2026 Chairman Mendelson and members of […]

Remapping Debate: With IRS Enforcement Down, State and Local Tax Revenues Could Suffer, Too

March 23, 2026

“There is no substitute for a robust federal tax enforcement program,” Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said. “But even so, states should still do their best to fill the gaps that have been created by drastic cuts to IRS enforcement.” Read more.

Newsweek: Plan To Scrap Property Tax Could See Other Taxes Rise

March 23, 2026

School property taxes raise between $15 to $17 billion in Pennsylvania, according to Kamolika Das, local policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. This massive revenue source for Pennsylvania would be hard to replace, even if residents were willing to face higher sales and income taxes. Read more.

Barron’s: Tax the Rich or Kill Income Taxes? States Are Divided on What To Do.

March 23, 2026

“The Trump administration’s actions over the last year are a big part of what’s making these revenue raising plans necessary at the state level”, said Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The 2025 federal tax law cuts state funds for Medicaid and gives the wealthiest 1% in the U.S. tax […]

Yahoo Finance: Property Taxes Are Skyrocketing. But States Are Learning That Cutting Them Has Major Consequences.

March 23, 2026

Lowering property taxes can have unintended long-term consequences for local housing markets. Higher property taxes act like a future mortgage payment. This long-term investment would lower prices and make it easier for first-time homebuyers to gain a foothold in the market. Read more.

Los Angeles Times: Ted Cruz and His GOP Colleagues Are Pushing Yet Another Tax Break for the 1%

March 19, 2026

The Capital Gains Inflation Relief Act of 2025 is just as unpopular as similar bills Sen. Cruz introduced in 2018 and 2021, neither of which passed. Steve Wamhoff of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in 2019, “sounds logical until you think about it.” The legal and economic considerations haven’t changed since then. Read […]

Stateline: Republican Push To Increase Sales Taxes Would Fall Hardest on Lower-Income Residents

March 19, 2026

Lawmakers consider increasing sales taxes to offset budget cuts to property or income taxes. This will force lower- and middle-income residents, who spend a larger share of their earnings than the wealthy, to foot more of the bill for state services. Read more.

Los Angeles Times: Eliminating a Corporate Tax Break Is Pitched as a Way To Make Up for Federal Healthcare Cuts

March 17, 2026

Carl Davis, a research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, stated that there is growing support nationwide to repeal the water’s edge tax break as public awareness of profit shifting spreads. “Folks are outraged when they hear that these companies are pretending that they are earning their profits in the Caymans or […]

The Independent: Inside the Widening Income Tax Rate Gap for Residents in Blue States Compared to Red States

March 17, 2026

Eliminating income tax means lower and middle-income families will have to pay more. “Public services would be cut, other taxes and levies that fall more heavily on low- and middle-income families (including sales taxes, excise taxes, fees and fines) would be increased, or — most likely — both those things would happen,” Aidan Davis from […]

Newsweek: Poorest Americans in 9 States Pay More Because of Trump Tax Breaks—Study

March 17, 2026

InvestorsObserves’ report, based on analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, found that the impact of the Trump administration’s OBBB is heavily tilted in favor of those already at the top. Read more.  

Bloomberg: Elizabeth Warren Asks Meta, Amazon, and Others Why They’re Laying Workers off Despite Tax Perks

March 17, 2026

Sen. Warren asks the companies to detail their 2025 tax cuts, tariff refunds, any contributions to Trump’s projects, and why they laid off workers. Meta “paid an effective federal income tax rate of just over 3.5 percent in 2025,” Matt Gardner at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy wrote in an analysis last month, […]