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This country’s biggest historical challenge has been delivering this progress to all Americans, but Republicans have cut it back for everyone, retreating from many 20th century achievements in ways that will slam doors, rather than opening them, for the next generation.
10 Crazy Comparisons Showing How Much Trump and Congress Just Cut Taxes for the Rich
July 10, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
$117 billion is a big number, so we thought it could use a little context.
State Rundown 7/8: State Tax Cuts Continue Despite Federal Megabill Passing
July 8, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
The last states are wrapping up legislative sessions, and some are crossing the finish line with major income tax cuts.
Top 1% to Receive $1 Trillion Tax Cut from Trump Megabill Over the Next Decade
July 3, 2025 • By Carl Davis
The Trump megabill will give the top 1 percent tax cuts totaling $1.02 trillion over the next decade. For comparison, the bill’s cuts to the Medicaid health care program will total $930 billion over the same period.
The endlessly debated cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) has emerged in the GOP megabill largely unscathed—despite the efforts of Republican lawmakers from “blue” states. Those lawmakers are correct that the cap reduces the bill’s tax cuts for their wealthy constituents more than for those in other states. The megabill, however, is so loaded up with other provisions that result in a dramatic tax cut for the richest 1 percent in every state.
Megabill Takes Cap Off Unprecedented Private School Voucher Tax Credit, Potentially Raising Cost by Tens of Billions Relative to Earlier Version
July 2, 2025 • By Carl Davis
It is clear that this tax credit has the potential to come with an enormous cost if private school groups are successful in convincing their supporters to participate. In these times of very high debt and deficits, this is reason for all of us to be uneasy.
As federal aid ends and economic uncertainty grows, local governments face tough budget choices. Now is the time for localities to protect vulnerable residents and build stronger, more equitable fiscal foundations.
Trump Megabill Will Give $117 Billion in Tax Cuts to the Top 1% in 2026. How Much In Your State?
June 30, 2025 • By Michael Ettlinger
The predominant feature of the tax and spending bill working its way through Congress is a massive tax cut for the richest 1 percent — a $114 billion benefit to the wealthiest people in the country in 2026 alone.
How Much Do the Top 1% in Each State Get from the Trump Megabill?
June 30, 2025 • By Carl Davis
The Senate tax bill under debate right now would bring very large tax cuts to very high-income people. In total, the richest 1 percent would receive $114 billion in tax cuts next year alone. That would amount to nearly $61,000 for each of these affluent households.
With Fiscal Uncertainty Looming, Louisiana Senate Did the Right Thing on Tax Bills
June 27, 2025 • By Neva Butkus
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. This is exactly what Louisiana Senators did when they rejected two tax-cut bills that would have created a billion-dollar shortfall in the coming fiscal years.
Many states are reaching their end-of-June budget deadlines, and major tax policy changes look to have big implications as states are forced, per federal policy, to do more with less.
Senate Republicans Rig the Rules to Make Their Tax Bill Look Responsible. It’s Not.
June 24, 2025 • By Jon Whiten, Steve Wamhoff
No matter how much Senate leadership bends the rules to make their tax cuts look better on paper, the cost and impact on the deficit remains the same under a current policy baseline. It’s a move meant to mask the true cost and push a reckless bill through.
State Rundown 6/20: Federal tax policy heats up, states wrap sessions and weigh impacts
June 18, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
As state legislative sessions come to a close, decisions on tax policy are being made. Several southern states have cut taxes, while the northeast is making some more measured reforms.
The idea of exempting overtime pay from income tax has gained traction, but there's little evidence it's an effective policy. Alabama tried it in 2023 but ended the policy after just two years. Their reversal highlights how exempting overtime is an expensive gimmick and a distraction from real worker issues.
State legislatures are enjoying a relatively quiet period right now, though it is merely a temporary calm before the storm of the federal tax and budget debate begins raging again.
North Carolina Tax Proposal Prioritizes Millionaires Over Everyone Else
June 11, 2025 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Miles Trinidad
North Carolina Senators are proposing to yet again ignore the core needs of the majority of North Carolinians in favor of more income tax cuts for the wealthy few. The Senate's budget would take the personal income tax rate to 1.99 percent as soon as 2031 if certain revenue triggers are met, once again delivering billions of dollars in tax cuts mostly to the rich. And the cost of those tax cuts for North Carolina will be steep cuts to the state’s future, including public education and community colleges.
The ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Creates a $5 Billion Tax Shelter for Private School Donors
June 9, 2025 • By Amy Hanauer
On May 22, Congress passed the House reconciliation bill or “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by a one-vote margin. The bill’s dozens of destructive tax provisions would supercharge inequality and force devastating cuts to health and food aid that have been bedrocks of the American safety net since the 1960s.
As the Washington, D.C. region heads toward a likely recession, local policymakers will need to look to new revenue sources to help lessen the pain. In D.C., lawmakers ought to adopt a simple reform that would raise substantial revenue and make the District’s business tax system fairer.
Our tax policies enable people like Elon Musk and Donald Trump to accumulate more wealth than anyone could ever use in a lifetime. They then use it to steer elections and shape public policy to further enrich themselves and others like them. We should defeat the enormously destructive tax bill in Congress and instead craft tax policy that taxes the rich, makes our democracy more fair, and returns resources to the rest of the country.
State Rundown 6/5: States Wrap Sessions, Some Prepare for Fiscal Uncertainty
June 5, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
States use the final hours of their legislative sessions to address deficits and preserve revenue in preparation for the times ahead.
Trump’s Last Tax Cuts Failed Americans Like Me. Let’s Not Repeat the Mistake.
June 5, 2025 • By Brakeyshia Samms
Now as more GOP tax cuts for the rich move through Congress, history is poised to repeat itself. The bill would disproportionately benefit the well-off — and harm the financial well-being of millions of working Americans, including Black women like me.
Amid Economic Uncertainty, Delaware Lawmakers Should Consider Progressive Revenue Proposals
June 4, 2025 • By Miles Trinidad
Delaware leaders cited the ongoing federal tax debate and economic uncertainty amid the Trump administration's tariffs and trade wars as reasons to delay pursuing some of the progressive tax increases that Gov. Matt Meyers proposed in recent months. But just the opposite is needed. Delaware lawmakers should advance tax policies that can simultaneously protect state revenue to fund important priorities and improve tax equity in the state ahead of the approaching fiscal storm.
Sweeping Federal Tax and Spending Changes Threaten Local Governments
June 3, 2025 • By Kamolika Das
Given this environment, local leaders must do what they can to preserve and strengthen progressive revenue tools, advocate for expanded local taxing authorities and flexibility, and push their state leaders to decouple from harmful federal tax changes.
Five Issues for States to Watch in the Federal Tax Debate
June 3, 2025 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Kamolika Das, Marco Guzman, Miles Trinidad, Neva Butkus
This post covers five particularly notable provisions for states: increasing deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) paid, allowing more generous tax write-offs for businesses, offering new avenues for capital gains tax avoidance to people contributing to private school voucher funds, carving tips and overtime out of the tax base, and re-upping Opportunity Zone tax breaks for wealthy investors.
House Bill’s $164 Billion Giveaway to Multinational Corporations Puts America Last
May 27, 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.
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