Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)
698 posts
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States Like Missouri Are Seeking to Raise Taxes on the Working Class to Cut Taxes for the Rich

• By Eli Byerly-Duke

A proposal to replace the Missouri personal income tax with a higher sales tax would increase costs for low- and middle-income households while giving the richest Missourians an average annual tax cut of almost $40,000.

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These States Are Most Impacted by the Spike in Gas Prices

• By Carl Davis

The recent spike in gasoline prices is on pace to cost American drivers an extra $9.4 billion per month. Gas prices are up dramatically across the country, but the South has been hit hardest and is on pace to pay $4.2 billion more per month.

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We Must Focus on Black Women to Reduce Inequity in the Tax Code

• By Brakeyshia Samms, Francine Lipman

As nice as it is to celebrate Women’s History Month, if we want a brighter future for women, we need to forge public policies that reduce inequity and include all of us.

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State Rundown 3/18: New Mexico Enacts Most Significant Corporate Tax Reform of the Year

• By ITEP Staff

As states lawmakers continue to weigh their linkages to the federal tax code in light of the recent federal tax law, New Mexico provides a blueprint for limiting multinational corporate tax avoidance.

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States Should Be Doing More About Corporate Tax Avoidance. New Mexico’s Tax Conformity Law Shows How.

• By Carl Davis

On top of declining to fold large federal business tax cuts into state law, New Mexico also took the monumental step of hardening the state’s corporate tax base against offshore profit shifting.

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State Rundown 3/12: Washington Lawmakers Pass Millionaires’ Tax, Expand Working Families Tax Credit

• By ITEP Staff

Washington is on its way to making history after the legislature approved the “millionaires’ tax,” a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. The bill, which is expected to raise more than $3 billion a year, making significant investments in public education and childcare, will also expand the Working Families Tax Credit – the […]

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Analysis of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s Approach to Tax Policy

• By Steve Wamhoff

Sen. Chris Van Hollen has recently introduced the Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act, which offers a generous middle-class tax cut paid for with a new tax on millionaires.

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Washington Millionaires’ Tax, Expanded Working Families Tax Credit Make Tax Code Fairer

• By Marco Guzman, Dylan Grundman O'Neill

The Washington legislature has approved a new "millionaires' tax," a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. The bill, which makes significant investments in public education and child care, will also expand the Working Families Tax Credit – the state’s EITC – to reach an additional 460,000 households.

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The Child Tax Credit Leaves Out Millions of Children in 2026. There Are Better Alternatives.

• By Joe Hughes

The 2025 Trump tax law slightly increased the Child Tax Credit in a way that benefits virtually none of the children who most need help.

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Governor Should Put New Mexico’s Tax Interests First

• By Amy Hanauer, Amber Wallin

By decoupling from three misguided federal corporate income tax cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill, plus taking steps to curb unfair corporate tax avoidance, SB 151 would raise and safeguard more than $120 million annually.

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State Rundown 3/4: Budget Realities Set In

• By ITEP Staff

As many state legislative sessions near or cross the halfway point, lawmakers are facing tough choices.

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New Income Tax Disclosure Rules Mean Halliburton Can No Longer Conceal Its Offshore Tax Avoidance

• By Matthew Gardner

The company’s latest annual report throws the doors wide open once again on Halliburton’s penchant for offshoring its profits to tax havens, thanks to terrific new disclosure rules introduced by an obscure but vital agency, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

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State Rundown 2/25: Sausage-Making Season Is Upon Us

• By ITEP Staff

National Sausage Month isn’t until October, but now is the time of year when state lawmakers are really diving into their sausage-making processes, as separate legislative houses and oftentimes political parties send competing bills, budgets, and visions back and forth to grind out their differences.

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Pioneer Institute Criticizes ITEP For Not Writing the Paper They Would Have Written

• By Eli Byerly-Duke

Voters, lawmakers, researchers, and advocates frequently disagree about ideal tax policy. But the facts here speak for themselves.

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Yum! Brands’ Recipe for Tax Avoidance: Trump Tax Cuts with a Dash of Malta

• By Matthew Gardner

the fast-food multinational that owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut reported this week that it made $1 billion of pretax profits in the U.S. last year—and didn’t pay a dime of federal income taxes on those profits.

D.C Fiscal Policy Institute: DC Can Raise $121 Million or More with a Simple Tax on Proceeds from Wealth

• By ITEP Staff

DC can raise needed revenue and address tax inequity by taxing more of the gains, or proceeds, generated by wealth—such as capital gains, dividends, and other forms of passive income. DC’s tax system protects and grows wealth concentration through myriad preferences and loopholes, exacerbating racial and economic inequality. This special treatment also prevents the District […]

St. Louis Magazine: How St. Louis County’s Senior Tax Freeze Takes from the Young to Give to the Old

February 24, 2026

The year-old senior tax freeze in St. Louis County, which allows seniors to lock in a portion of their property tax bills as property values appreciate, has already poked holes in school district budgets in its first year. Districts in the county expect losses to mount as property values rise, with the highest impact likely […]

Christian Science Monitor: More Red States Eye the No-Income-Tax Model. Will It Work?

February 24, 2026

So far, Republicans in the House and Senate have vowed to work together to lower tax burdens for Georgians. But questions about how and where to shift the burden of funding the commonweal without an income tax remain unanswered. Read more.

New York Times: Opinion | The Donald Trump 1 Percent Fan Club

February 24, 2026

President Trump is distributing executive patronage — from pardons to favorable regulatory decisions — to privileged groups, including those willing to contribute to his preferred committees and causes and those who invest in the Trump family’s crypto businesses. Read more.

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State-by-State Estimates of the First Year of Trump’s Tax Policies: All But the Richest Americans Face Higher Taxes

• By Steve Wamhoff, Michael Ettlinger

As a result of the tax policies approved by President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress, all but the richest Americans are paying higher taxes on average in 2026 than they did last year.

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Despite a Supreme Court Victory for Middle-Class Americans, Trump’s Disastrous Tariff Policies Are Not Over

• By Steve Wamhoff

Today the Supreme Court made the right decision in striking down most of the tariffs President Trump has put into motion during his second term.

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Live Nation Entertainment Says Trump Tax Law Drove its 2025 Federal Income Tax Bill to Zero

• By Matthew Gardner

The company paid zero federal income tax in 2025 despite reporting $145 million of U.S. profits.

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Trump Administration Provides Biggest Illegal Tax Cuts Yet for Billion-Dollar Corporations

• By Amy Hanauer

The Treasury Department is unilaterally cutting corporate taxes with regulations that ignore the statute they claim to implement, disregarding the separation of powers between the branches of government that has defined how America works for more than two centuries.

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Property Tax Reforms Can Bring Racial Justice

• By Brakeyshia Samms

Homes in Black neighborhoods are more likely to be over-assessed for tax purposes while being undervalued by private appraisers.

Video: You Are Paying More in Taxes Than Palantir

February 19, 2026

Palantir paid $0 federal income tax on  $1.5 billion of U.S. income.