Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

ITEP's Research Priorities

Washington Post: GOP Rejects ‘Millionaire Tax’ Pitch, Advancing Breaks for Rich Americans

May 28, 2025

House Republicans rejected a push by some allies of President Donald Trump to include tax hikes on the rich in sweeping legislation they passed last week — a decision that could carry repercussions into next year’s elections.

Audio: ITEP’s Matt Gardner Discusses SALT Cap on ‘Here & Now'”

May 27, 2025

Lawmakers are divided over how to deal with the state and local tax deduction or SALT, after the House passed its version of the Republican spending bill last week. The cap tends to impact Americans who live in higher-tax states particularly hard.

Florida Policy Institute: 4 Things That Floridians Should Know About the US House Reconciliation Bill

May 27, 2025

As the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes, the top 1 percent of Floridians (those with income of more than $1.1 million annually) would receive an average tax cut of $86,320 in 2026. As a share of the tax cuts, in 2026, the top 1 percent would receive 25 percent of the total tax cuts.

Colorado Fiscal Institute: One Big Beautiful Betrayal

May 27, 2025

An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) highlights just how lopsided the bill’s tax provisions are.

DC Fiscal Policy Institute: House Tax Bill Would Be a Massive Giveaway for the Wealthiest Washingtonians

May 27, 2025

Analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that the richest 1 percent of taxpayers in the District will get the biggest tax cut—one being paid for by slashing federal basic needs programs for tens of millions of Americans.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Homeowners Want Property Tax Relief. Other States May Offer a Solution

May 26, 2025

"Families are overloaded with their property taxes," said Brakeyshia Samms, a senior analyst for the institute. "The circuit breaker kicks in like an electrical circuit breaker and helps alleviate the pressure that these taxes put on family budgets."

NPR: 9 Things to Know about the Big, Private-School Voucher Plan in Republicans’ Tax Bill

May 23, 2025

"It's about three times as generous as what you're gonna get from donating to a children's hospital or a veteran's group or any other cause," says Carl Davis at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. "It really preferences voucher groups over every other kind of charity."

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: House Republican Tax Bill Is Skewed to Wealthy, Costs More Than Extending 2017 Tax Law, and Fails to Deliver for Families

May 23, 2025

The 2017 tax law imposed new immigration-related restrictions on the Child Tax Credit, requiring, for the first time that children have a Social Security number (SSN). This change denied the credit to up to 1 million children.

NBC News: Education Groups Alarmed Over Budget Bill’s Boost for Private Schools

May 23, 2025

“The result would be a profitable tax shelter for wealthy people who agree to help funnel public funds into private schools,” Amy Hanauer, the institute’s executive director, said in the webinar. “That is to say they would get more money by donating their stock than by selling it.”

Axios: Child Tax Benefit Increase Leaves out Millions of Kids, Analysis Says

May 23, 2025

Under current law, families need upward of $30,000 a year to receive the full tax credit amount, explains Joe Hughes, senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The American Prospect: The Curious Case of the Republican Medicaid Turncoats

May 23, 2025

“It’s not surprising that this bill was written behind closed doors and rushed through in the night before Americans had a chance to see what it contains,” Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told the Prospect. “This bill extends enormous tax cuts to those who have the most. It will increase inequality, reduce health coverage, and take food from people’s tables, all to shower the wealthiest people in this country and foreign investors with tax breaks.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: What Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Mean to Pa. — and It’s Not Pretty

May 23, 2025

“This bill overall would cut all sorts of benefits for all sorts of Americans who rely on them, whether it’s health care or food assistance or energy credits,” said Jon Whiten, ITEP deputy director. “It’s all being done to find enough money to jam through all of these tax cuts which disproportionately would go to the wealthiest Americans. It’s a little bit like Robin Hood in reverse here.”

DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Raising Revenue Is An Urgent and Practical Approach to Reducing the Harm of DC’s Recession

May 22, 2025

If Congress extends the 2017 tax cuts as planned, by itself this would yield the top 5 percent of households in DC an average annual tax cut of up to $36,000, depending on how much the cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) is loosened or if it is eliminated altogether (according to unpublished data analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for DCFPI)

Washington State Budget & Policy Center: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in Washington State

May 22, 2025

In 2022, people who are undocumented paid nearly $1 billion ($997 million) in Washington state and local taxes.2 If 10% of people who are undocumented are deported, it would result in a loss of $100 million per year in state and local tax revenues.

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State Rundown 5/21: Big and Not-So Beautiful Tax Cut Bills Abound in States

May 21, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 5/21: Big and Not-So Beautiful Tax Cut Bills Abound in States

As a sprawling, regressive tax bill continues to take shape at the federal level, many states are moving forward with major tax cut proposals of their own.

Media Matters for America: Fox’s Maria Bartiromo Whips Republican Support for Devastating Medicaid Cuts

May 21, 2025

ITEP further explained how regressive the GOP tax bill is: “While working-class families (defined here loosely as the bottom 40 percent of earners) could expect an average tax cut of $361 in 2027, the nation’s highest-income families (defined as the top 0.1 percent) would receive an average tax cut of at least $255,670 in that year.”

New Jersey Policy Perspective: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in New Jersey

May 21, 2025

In 2022, people who are undocumented paid an estimated $1.3 billion in New Jersey state and local taxes.[3]

North Carolina Budget & Tax Center: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s At Risk in North Carolina.

May 21, 2025

In 2022, people who are undocumented paid $692 million in North Carolina state and local taxes.[ii] If ten percent of people who are undocumented are deported it would result in a loss of $69 million per year in state and local tax revenues.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Letter Re: IRS Commissioner Nominee Billy Long

May 20, 2025

I write to outline my concerns and provide you with a set of questions about them. I ask that you review my questions and come to your Senate Finance Committee hearing prepared to answer them in full. I also ask that you provide written answers prior to any committee vote on your nomination.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: FFRF Warns of Constitutional Threats in Congressional Reconciliation Bill

May 16, 2025

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm on the deeply troubling federal reconciliation bill making its way through Congress that would funnel billions of public dollars into religious education, erode secular public institutions, and give unprecedented power to the executive branch to target tax-exempt nonprofits — potentially including FFRF itself.

Washington Post: House GOP Plan to Raise Child Tax Credit Adds Citizenship Provisions

May 16, 2025

“This is, by definition, all children who are legally supposed to be here in the country,” said Joe Hughes, an analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy who worked on the study

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Trump Megabill Will Encourage Dynastic Wealth Hoarding by Further Weakening the Estate Tax

May 15, 2025 • By Jon Whiten

Trump Megabill Will Encourage Dynastic Wealth Hoarding by Further Weakening the Estate Tax

The tax and spending megabill signed into law by President Trump on July 4 will cut nearly $200 billion from food assistance, affecting tens of millions adults and children, while providing an estate tax cut costing roughly the same amount to a few thousand people who will leave behind more than $7 million to their heirs.

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State Rundown 5/15: State Tax Debates Carry On in the Midst of Chaotic Federal Tax Landscape

May 15, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

State Rundown 5/15: State Tax Debates Carry On in the Midst of Chaotic Federal Tax Landscape

Even as most major headlines have been about the ever-changing landscape of federal tax policy, the latest “ideas of the week," and now the House tax bill, state tax policy continues to be a priority for lawmakers.

NPR: What to Know About a Federal Proposal to Help Families Pay of Private School

May 15, 2025

A first-of-its-kind effort to leverage federal tax dollars to help families pay for private school tuition anywhere in the U.S. is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The Hill: House Panel Releases Sweeping GOP Tax Bill

May 13, 2025

“So far this costly bill appears to double down on trickle down, with huge tax cuts that will further enrich the rich and not much for the rest of us,” Amy Hanauer, director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said in a statement in response to Friday’s version of the bill.