Citations
ITEP's Citations Research Priorities
Education Week: How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?
February 19, 2026
As tax season dawns, backlash to a nationwide surge in property-tax bills is spurring states to double down on proposals to diminish one of the main revenue sources for school districts. At least 10 states are pitching the end of one of schools’ chief revenue sources. Read more.
Every Texan: Highest Tax Rates in the State Fall on Texans of Color
December 19, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
The income groups paying the highest tax rates in Texas are disproportionately Hispanic and Black, whereas the lowest-taxed group (the wealthiest 5%) is predominantly white. Read more.
The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott Wants a Tighter Lid on Home Values. Tax Policy Experts Warn That’s a Bad Idea
December 11, 2025
Gov. Greg Abbott wants to put a tighter lid on how fast property values can rise in a bid to deliver property tax relief to homeowners and businesses — but tax policy experts across the political spectrum warn the proposal wouldn’t address the root causes of higher tax bills and would backfire with severe consequences. […]
The Nation: Texas Republicans Are Doubling Down on Banning Capital Gains Taxes
October 31, 2025
If passed, the constitutional amendment would lock out a potential source of future state funding and disproportionately benefit wealthy households. Read more.
Houston Chronicle: Texas Oil Companies Forecast Billions in Tax Breaks from Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
September 9, 2025
The Houston oil-company Occidental Petroleum reported last month it was expecting a large tax break from President Donald Trump's tax and spending cut package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill — to the tune of $700 to $800 million over the next two years.
Houston Chronicle: The Biggest Winners in Texas from Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
July 1, 2025
Most every Texan stands to see at least some benefit from the tax cuts at the heart of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” But the biggest benefits are geared toward the wealthiest people, who will not only continue to enjoy hefty tax cuts but also gain access to a host of new tax breaks of […]
Every Texan: Texas Taxes Are Upside-Down. Big Tax Cuts Don’t Help.
March 18, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
Texas’ tax system is upside-down. When it comes to funding our public services, schools, and state and local governments, Texans with lower incomes are expected to pay more than their fair share. Read more.
The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott Wants to Set a High Bar for Local Tax Increases
February 10, 2025
Gov. Greg Abbott, in his bid to curb Texas’ high property taxes, wants Texas voters to have the final say on any property tax hike. Local governments that collect property taxes — including cities, counties and school districts — should have to win approval from a two-thirds majority of voters if they want to raise their tax rates, Abbott said.
Every Texan: Current Border Militarization Operations Are a Wasteful Attempt at Deterrence
January 31, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
There is little return to show on past border militarization investments. Beginning in 2021, the Governor launched a multi-year campaign called Operation Lone Star that, in part, allowed his Trusteed Programs office to distribute billions of dollars in grants to once resource-starved border communities. SB 1 prepares to double down on this failed investment with […]
Sen. Warren: Warren, Whitehouse, Casar, Lawmakers Slam 35 Companies for Paying Their Executives More Than They Pay in Federal Income Taxes
September 30, 2024 • By ITEP Staff
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas) led their colleagues in slamming 35 major companies that have been paying their executives more than they pay in federal income taxes. The lawmakers point to this as an additional reason why Congress must reform the tax code in 2025 to […]
ITEP’s Kamolika Das Responds to Misleading Baltimore Sun Op-ed
September 19, 2024
ITEP Local Policy Director Kamolika Das had this letter to the editor published in the Baltimore Sun on September 18: David F. Tufaro’s recent commentary about the Renew Baltimore campaign is wildly misleading (“Baltimore’s high property taxes sustain a broken system,” Sept. 15). The Renew Baltimore proposal to drastically cut and permanently cap Baltimore’s property tax […]
Every Texan: Undocumented Texans Paid $4.9 billion in State and Local Taxes in 2022.
August 8, 2024 • By ITEP Staff
Undocumented immigrants are essential contributors to Texas’ economy and robust job growth. Regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, immigrant families pay state and local taxes to support vital public services that benefit all of us, such as schools and colleges, roads, parks, and libraries. A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) confirms in 2022 1.9 million undocumented Texans paid a hefty $4.9 billion in state and local taxes.
Audio: ITEP’s Marco Guzman on Taxes Paid by Texas Undocumented Immigrants
August 6, 2024
Marco appeared on Texas Public Media’s The Source on August 4, 2024. Listen to the clip here.
Forbes: California Is Not Actually a High-Tax State According To New Study
May 17, 2024
Depending on where you fall on the income scale, California may not actually be that high tax of a state. For many in the middle class and below, California may let you keep more of your hard-earned income than many other states, according to a new study, “Who Pays” from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). While California has the highest marginal tax rate in the nation at 13.3%, only some households pay this rate on their income. That doesn’t stop so-called low-tax states like Texas and Florida from blasting the tax policy of the Golden State.
MarketWatch: Moving to Florida Might Not Be the Tax Play It’s Cracked Up to Be — Unless You’re Loaded
January 12, 2024
Florida, Texas and Tennessee have become hot real-estate markets in recent years, in part because they offer the allure of low taxes and cheap living costs. But a new analysis of how much state and local taxes cost rich and poor residents in those states throws cold water on the assumption that moving to states like Florida […]
Every Texan: Proposition 3 Will Maintain Texas’ Extreme Wealth Inequality
October 21, 2023 • By ITEP Staff
We all benefit when everyday Texans, regardless of where we live or what we look like, have a fair opportunity to prosper. Contrarily, a state tax system designed to favor the ultra-wealthy undermines all of us. In Texas, the wealth gap is so extreme that 66 billionaires living in the state own more wealth than 70% […]
The Texas Tribune: Why Tax Policy Experts Fear the Texas House Plan to Lower Property Taxes Could Have Dire Ripple Effects
May 16, 2023
Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners. Read more.
Testimony of ITEP’s Marco Guzman Before the Nevada Assembly Committee on Revenue
April 10, 2023 • By Marco Guzman
For a video of Marco’s testimony, click here. Thank you, Assemblywoman Anderson, and thank you chairman and members of the Assembly for the opportunity to speak on the topic of Nevada’s state tax system. My name is Marco Guzman, and I am a Senior State Policy Analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy […]
Houston Chronicle: Middle-Class Texans Lap Up the Low Taxes Lie
October 7, 2022
Texas is a low-tax state only if you make a lot of money. If you don’t, then you’re better off in California. The biggest lie Texas politicians have ever told — and both parties have perpetuated it — is the lack of an income tax is an absence of taxation. But Texas doesn’t collect much […]
Bloomberg: Hedge Funds, Tech Spur Texas Wealth Boom as California Fades
June 4, 2021
The growth comes with headaches. Traffic is getting worse and public transportation is limited. The influx of people is driving up housing prices, forcing up the cost of living by boosting property taxes. Given high levies on real estate and the state sales tax, the fiscal burden on middle-class people is higher in Texas than […]
Jacobin: In Washington State, the Left Won a Major Victory for Taxing the Rich
May 14, 2021
Last week, Washington State passed a capital gains tax aimed at the state’s ultra-wealthy. The tax is historic because Washington, despite its progressive reputation, until now had the worst tax code in the nation when it comes to fairness, behind Texas, Florida, and South Dakota. A landmark 2018 report by the Institute on Taxation and […]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Texas Parents Get Big Tax Breaks from COVID Relief Bill
March 11, 2021
Nearly 6.8 million Texans with children could receive monthly checks starting in July, under the new economic relief plan President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday. Nearly one of three adult Texans would qualify for the aid, which would help 7.8 million Texas children, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]
Marketplace: High-income taxpayers help some states stay above water
March 1, 2021
However, in 22 states, tax revenue actually increased, with revenue in four states — Idaho, Utah, South Dakota and Colorado — up more than 5%. Revenue fell in the remaining states, with seven down more than 10% —Texas, Oregon, Florida, Nevada, North Dakota, Hawaii and Alaska. This disparity has a lot to do with the […]
The New York Times: California: Liberal Model or Cautionary Tale?
February 16, 2021
Below is an excerpt of an LTE by ITEP Research Director Carl Davis: Of course, the very richest people in California pay more tax than they would if they lived in Texas or Washington. But these top earners can afford to live wherever they want. The best available research concludes that top earners rarely […]
Bloomberg: Musk Flees California. He Now Faces a Battle to Escape Its Taxes
December 10, 2020
Fear of rich people moving for tax reasons is overblown, says Carl Davis, research director at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP. Studies show the wealthy actually move less often than other Americans. “A billionaire can obviously afford to live wherever they want,” Davis said. “There’s no reason on Earth that […]
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