Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP's Research Priorities

CNBC: Trump Tariffs Will Hurt Lower Income Americans More than the Rich, Study Says

April 25, 2025

Tariffs levied by President Donald Trump during his second term would hurt the poorest U.S. households more than the richest over the short term, according to a new analysis.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Immigrants Contribute Greatly to the Social Security Trust Fund’s Solvency

April 25, 2025

Immigrants are a critical part of the U.S. workforce and play a key role in strengthening Social Security’s finances. Like all other workers, immigrants contribute to the trust fund through payroll taxes. Even if they themselves will not become eligible to receive benefits in their lifetimes, immigrants improve the solvency of a program that provides almost all workers with a foundation of income for their retirement.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Mississippi Moves to Eliminate Income Tax, Deepening Inequality and Threatening Public Services

April 25, 2025

Mississippi policymakers have taken one of the most extreme steps in state tax policy in recent years: enacting a law that will gradually phase out the state’s personal income tax. Signed by Gov. Tate Reeves in March, the move begins the final stage of a years-long push to dismantle a key pillar of the state’s tax system, which has long helped fund education, health care, infrastructure, and other core services.

George W. Bush Presidential Center: The Policy Implications of the IRS-ICE Data Sharing Agreement

April 23, 2025

There may be substantial policy implications, too. While ICE maintains that it will only be used in narrow circumstances to aid criminal investigations, a policy like this could still discourage people with an ITIN from filing their taxes out of fear that a tax return might make them a target for deportation.  

WUSF: Lawmakers Want a Nationwide Private School Voucher Program like Florida’s

April 23, 2025

Lawmakers and school choice advocates gathered in Tampa on Tuesday to promote a federal bill that would create the first nationwide school voucher program.

North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: Faced with pausing tax cuts for the rich or lowering state spending, NC Senate budget sides with the wealthy few

April 23, 2025

They will risk recurring budget deficits. They will risk an inability to protect North Carolinians from federal Medicaid and food assistance cuts. To deliver these tax cuts, they will cut funding for the state’s public K-12 students and community college students.

blog  

Missouri is Sleepwalking into a Half-Billion Dollar Tax Cut for the Rich

April 22, 2025 • By Carl Davis

Missouri is Sleepwalking into a Half-Billion Dollar Tax Cut for the Rich

Missouri lawmakers are debating a tax cut that will mostly benefit the wealthiest in the state, while relying on an unrealistic estimate of what it will cost.

Vox: There’s No “Right Way” to Immigrate Anymore

April 18, 2025

The federal government’s assault on immigrants is pushing them to live in the shadows.

The Atlantic: We’re About to Find Out What Mass Deportation Really Looks Like

April 18, 2025

The Trump administration’s campaign to remove millions of people from the United States could soon be supercharged by Congress.

MSNBC: Trump is Using His Election Denial Playbook on Social Security

April 18, 2025

Donald Trump's administration has taken a sledgehammer to the Social Security system, and it's using the president's election denial playbook to do so along the way.

KJZZ Phoenix: As Tax Day Comes and Goes, Advocates Look at Impacts of IRS-DHS Data Share Agreement

April 18, 2025

This year’s Tax Day came just after the Trump administration finalized a deal with the IRS to hand over data about undocumented immigrant taxpayers.

blog  

State Rundown 4/16: No Vacation from Spring Tax Breaks as Bills Advance

April 16, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 4/16: No Vacation from Spring Tax Breaks as Bills Advance

While students and families are enjoying spring break vacations, legislative sessions are still in full swing. And some are poised for a spring tax break season as proposals advance with major implications for the sustainability of state budgets.  

NBC News: IRS Agreement with ICE to Share Immigrants’ Info Could Lead to Billions Less in Tax Revenue

April 15, 2025

Like millions of American citizens and immigrants, Ivan filed his taxes last year. But Ivan, 54, a Massachusetts resident who hails from Colombia, is worried a recent agreement between the IRS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement means he is in danger of being deported for doing what he believed was the right thing.

CNN: “People Are Feeling Betrayed”: They Paid Taxes in Good Faith and Now Fear It Could Lead to Their Deportation

April 15, 2025

A recent data-sharing deal between the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security is sparking widespread concern in immigrant communities – though some details about how the deal could work haven’t been disclosed.

America’s Voice: On Tax Day, A Reminder That Immigration is Good for America

April 15, 2025

Tax Day 2025 is almost here, meaning millions of workers across the country have either already filed their state and federal returns or are sitting down to finish them up. This includes millions of immigrants, whose immense annual contributions help sustain vital federal programs like Medicare and Social Security, fund our public schools, libraries, and fire departments, and boost our overall economy.

Marketplace: IRS’ Direct File is Free for Millions of Taxpayers, but Not Everyone Wants to Keep It Around.

April 15, 2025

April 15 is Tax Day. If you haven’t filed yet, one option could be the IRS’ Direct File program, which lets some taxpayers electronically file their returns directly with the agency for free, as opposed to through third-party providers.

Los Angeles Times: IRS Plan to Give Data to ICE Could Wallop California, Where Many Immigrants Pay Taxes

April 14, 2025

Also like many of her clients, she has routinely paid U.S. taxes in the past using what’s known as an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN, in lieu of a Social Security number. The process seemed pretty straightforward, she said, until recently, when Trump administration officials announced that IRS data would be shared with ICE agents and used to target undocumented taxpayers for the first time.

MSNBC: Trumps Social Security Team has Reportedly Marked More than 6,000 Immigrants as Dead

April 14, 2025

The New York Times was first to report on the administration’s cancellation of immigrants’ lawfully obtained Social Security numbers — essentially listing individuals as dead — as a means to impede their ability to make money or access government services and to pressure them to leave the country. 

Times Union: Editorial: Honesty Ought to Pay

April 14, 2025

The administration of President Donald J. Trump has decided to have the Internal Revenue Service share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on undocumented immigrants who have been diligently paying taxes on the promise that their files would be confidential.

NPR: 4 Takeaways from the Week: In a World That Craves Stability, Trump Brings the Chaos

April 11, 2025

The IRS agrees to share tax information of immigrants in the country without permanent legal status. The IRS previously didn't in an effort to get immigrants to pay taxes. They paid about $97 billion in taxes in 2022, including about $60 billion to the federal government, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. 

blog  

State Rundown 4/9: A Progressive Pushback

April 9, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 4/9: A Progressive Pushback

Residents and state lawmakers across the country are pushing back against anti-tax measures and are looking for ways to protect revenue and advance proposals that would raise revenue in progressive ways. This comes at a time when federal policy brings significant risks for state tax revenue.

Groundwork Collaborative: Tax Giveaways for Gouging: How the Trump Tax Law Fueled Corporate Profiteering

April 9, 2025

We find that since Trump’s first tax giveaway, these companies have raked in nearly $500 billion in profits and enriched their shareholders by $463 billion while paying just $140 billion in federal income taxes. Compared to the two years before the TCJA was passed, these companies’ profits have more than doubled while their effective tax rates fell by 39 percent.

Peterson Foundation: Here’s How No Tax on Overtime Would Affect Federal Revenues and Tax Fairness

April 9, 2025

As part of a group of tax proposals, Republican leaders recently called for eliminating taxes on overtime pay. Excluding overtime compensation from federal taxes would create a new tax expenditure — also known as a tax break — that would reduce federal revenues and make the U.S. tax system more complex. Here, we review how much no tax on overtime could impact federal tax receipts and deficits, as well as its effect on fairness within the federal tax system.

Economic Policy Institute: Missouri Republican State Lawmakers Are Pushing a Radical Anti-Worker Tax Plan

April 9, 2025

Conservative lawmakers’ preference to cut taxes is nothing new, but Missouri state lawmakers are currently considering a tax measure that would privilege the state’s wealthiest individuals in ways no other state with an income tax has done—by fully exempting all capital gains income from taxation. This change would exacerbate an already regressive state tax system, forcing low- and middle-income Missourians to shoulder a larger share of financing for state public services.

Delaware Business Times: Dover Democrat Amends Income Tax Bill to Reflect Meyer’s Proposal

April 8, 2025

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that Delaware has the 40th most regressive state and local tax system in the country. That means those who earn the most will pay the least taxes, between property taxes, income and excise tax and more.