Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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State Rundown 8/13: Income Tax Elimination Fails in Missouri

• By ITEP Staff

In a win for Missouri workers and families, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to replace the state's income tax with increased or expanded sales taxes.

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New Yorkers, Please Pay Your City Income Taxes: Why the Pied-à-Terre Tax Rollout Is Not Worth a Meltdown

• By Rita Jefferson

The news coverage of the second home tax has been disconnected from the real living conditions for the millions of New Yorkers who don’t own a second (or third, or fourth) home.

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State Rundown 7/29: The Misguided, Miserly Missouri Amendment to Eliminate the Income Tax

• By ITEP Staff

Missouri voters are facing a major decision at the ballot box next week on Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to eliminate the individual income tax and expand the state’s sales tax on any good or service to make up for lost revenue.

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2026 Sessions in Review: States Fund Tax Credits by Preserving, Raising Revenue

• By Aidan Davis

In a year of cautious uncertainty around current and ongoing revenues, many state lawmakers strengthened their tax credits for families and children.

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2026 Sessions in Review: States Move to Tax the Rich and Corporations

• By Aidan Davis

This year several states raised income tax rates on high-income people to fund crucial services and make progress toward remedying the regressive tilt of their tax codes.

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State Rundown 6/25: Trending This Summer? New Revenue!

• By ITEP Staff

It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.

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State Rundown 6/4: Fiscal Flowers and Weeds Bloom in June

• By ITEP Staff

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

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NYC and Montana Lead the Way on Second-Home Taxes

• By Rita Jefferson

Second home taxes make a lot of sense for communities struggling with housing costs for full-time residents. They can raise real revenues too, which can be used to support further affordable housing development.

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As Inequality Grows, More States Look to Tax the Rich

• By Alex Welch

From surcharges on the income of high-earners to higher taxes on second homes, here are recent steps states have taken to tax the rich.

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State Rundown 5/14: Fund Priorities or Increase Shortfalls?

• By ITEP Staff

As many legislative sessions end, lawmakers are revealing their priorities.

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State Rundown 5/7: Federal Showers Make States Dour

• By ITEP Staff

The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.

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State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes

• By ITEP Staff

This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.

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State Rundown 4/8: Budget and Tax Packages Take Shape as Sine Die Approaches in Many States

• By ITEP Staff

State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.

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State Rundown 3/26: Sobering Revenue Projections Keep States on Their Toes

• By ITEP Staff

This week, troubling revenue projections are making headlines, with many lawmakers scrambling to determine how the tax changes at the federal level, plus price hikes driven by national policy decisions, will impact their states.

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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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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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State Rundown 2/19: Necktie (NCTI) Offers a Way Out of a Knotty Situation

• By ITEP Staff

State lawmakers are grappling with a range of challenges as their fiscal outlooks deteriorate, federal tax enforcement wanes (after the Trump administration cut the IRS workforce by 25 percent), and a rewritten federal tax code sends states scrambling to decide what changes they might want to make in their own codes.

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What Did 2025 State Tax Changes Mean for Racial and Economic Equity?

• By Brakeyshia Samms

The results are a mixed bag, with some states enacting promising policies that will improve tax equity and others going in the opposite direction.

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Trust Reform is Needed to Protect States, Especially in the Wake of IRS Enforcement Cuts

• By Sarah Austin

Trust use is widespread among the wealthiest households, with reports showing that roughly half of the nation’s wealthiest people rely on trusts for tax avoidance reasons

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State Rundown 1/28: State Tax Cutting Plans Face Scrutiny

• By ITEP Staff

As state legislative sessions ramp up across the country, property taxes are one of many issues dominating tax policy conversations in statehouses.

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State Rundown 1/22: Cautious Tone Noticeable in Most Statehouses

• By ITEP Staff

Most states are adopting a very cautious approach so far this year as legislators begin their sessions and governors make their annual addresses, thanks to ongoing economic uncertainty and federal retrenchment.

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State Rundown 1/14: New Year Brings New Resolutions for Funding Key Priorities

• By ITEP Staff

State governors are beginning to lay out their top priorities as legislatures reconvene in statehouses around the country.

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State Rundown 1/7: New Year, New Opportunities for Progressive Revenue

• By ITEP Staff

As we kick off a new year, several states are facing revenue shortfalls. Some lawmakers are approaching the challenge with sustainable and equitable solutions.

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‘Tax the Rich,’ Says … Mitt Romney?

• By Matthew Gardner

His 900-word New York Times op-ed identifies some sensible federal tax reform ideas that would create a fairer, more sustainable tax system.

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State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants

• By ITEP Staff

With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.