Blog

Maryland is taking aim at income and racial disparities through a revised personal income tax. By raising taxes on high earners and cutting them for most households across racial and ethnic lines, the state is proving that progressive tax policy can drive both equity and revenue.

As states prepare for the revenue loss and disruption resulting from the federal tax bill, tax policy is being considered in legislatures across the country.

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is an important tool to fight child poverty and help families make ends meet. When designed well, it can also make tax systems less regressive. As of 2020, only six states had CTCs. Today, 15 states have CTCs, with many credits exceeding $1,000 per qualifying child.

Federal policy choices on tariffs, taxes, and spending cuts will be deeply felt by all states, which will have less money available to fund key priorities. This year some states raised revenue to ensure that their coffers were well-funded, some proceeded with warranted caution, and many others passed large regressive tax cuts that pile on to the massive tax cuts the wealthiest just received under the federal megabill.

Refundable tax credits were a big part of state tax policy conversations this year. In 2025, nine states improved or created Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits.

All eyes in statehouses in recent weeks have been on federal budget negotiations, and now that the “megabill” has passed, they are focused in on their own budgets in search of ways to cope with the enormous consequences coming their way. All states will see fewer federal dollars flowing through their coffers, higher needs due […]

The last states are wrapping up legislative sessions, and some are crossing the finish line with major income tax cuts.

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.

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 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.

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.

States use the final hours of their legislative sessions to address deficits and preserve revenue in preparation for the times ahead.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With spring in full bloom ,many state lawmakers are reaching tax policy agreements. Out west, lawmakers in North Dakota and Texas have moved major property tax cuts. Meanwhile, in the east and south, Vermont appears likely to pass an expansion to its Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and South Carolina lawmakers are aiming to make deep, drastic cuts to the state’s income tax.

The rampant uncertainty this year extends far beyond the national economy and federal policy, as many state legislatures are declaring their tax and budget debates finished, and just getting started, sometimes in the same breath.

Washington state came into the year with strong tax justice momentum. Lawmakers’ innovative Capital Gains Excise Tax on the state’s highest-income households was upheld by the state and federal Supreme Courts and was overwhelmingly affirmed by voters despite a well-funded repeal effort. The new tax is bringing in much-needed revenue for schools, child care, and […]

While some states are preparing for uncertainty – slowing revenue growth, chaos from unpredictable tariffs, cuts to federal programs, etc. – others continue to move forward with plans for deep tax cuts.   For instance, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation accelerating the cut to the personal income tax rate, which is currently phasing down. […]

Congressional Republicans have floated a proposal to strip the Child Tax Credit from millions of children who are U.S. citizens and legal residents in situations where their parents do not have Social Security numbers. Approximately 4.5 million citizen children with Social Security numbers would lose access to the credit under this proposal.

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.