ITEP Work in Action
Advocates and policymakers at the state and federal levels rely on ITEP’s analytic capabilities to inform their debates on proposed tax policy changes. In any given year, ITEP fields requests for analyses of policies in 25 or more states. ITEP also works with national partners to provide analyses of federal tax policy proposals. This section highlights reports that use ITEP analyses to make a compelling case for progressive tax reforms.
Testimony: ITEP’s Sarah Austin Urges Washington House Finance Committee to Decouple from Venture Capital Tax Break
January 28, 2026
The prepared testimony below was delivered by ITEP Senior Analyst Sarah Austin to the Washington House Finance Committee on January 27, 2026. For more on the tax break in question, check out our October 2025 brief. Chair Berg, Vice Chair Street, and members of the House Finance Committee, My name is Sarah Austin, I’m a […]
Washington Governor’s Office: Governor Ferguson Announces Support for Millionaires’ Tax
January 6, 2026
Washington ranks next to last for fairness and equality in our tax system — meaning those who make the least pay much larger shares of their income than those with the most resources. Washington families whose income is in the bottom 20% pay 13.8% of their total income in taxes, while those whose income is […]
Rep. Steve Cohen: Congressmen Cohen and Beyer and Senator Wyden Introduce the Billionaire Income Tax Act
September 18, 2025
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Don Beyer (VA-8) and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon today introduced bicameral Billionaire Income Tax Act bills in an effort to establish a level of fairness in federal taxation and prevent millionaires and billionaires (and one prospective trillionaire) from avoiding significant liability. The measure would tax wealth gains as […]
Washington State Budget & Policy Center: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in Washington State
May 22, 2025
In 2022, people who are undocumented paid nearly $1 billion ($997 million) in Washington state and local taxes.2 If 10% of people who are undocumented are deported, it would result in a loss of $100 million per year in state and local tax revenues.
ITEP’s Who Pays? Cited in Washington Bill Creating Financial Intangibles Tax
March 24, 2025
Senate Democratic leaders in Washington state have introduced a series of bills aimed at making the state’s tax code more balanced. In the bill text for a new financial intangibles tax, ITEP’s Who Pays? report is cited: “Washington’s tax system remains the second most regressive in the nation as it asks those with the least […]
Washington State Budget & Policy Center: The Truth About Washington’s Revenue Shortfall
March 14, 2025
During the 2025 legislative session, Washington state lawmakers face a budget shortfall that threatens funding for the public programs we all rely on. Read more.
Gov. Jay Inslee: Gov. Inslee Releases Future-Focused Budget Proposal
December 18, 2024
Today, Gov. Jay Inslee released a balanced budget proposal that protects progress on the programs and services that working families and businesses depend on — public safety, education, early learning, housing and behavioral health. Read more.
Washington Center for Equitable Growth: The Promise of Equitable and Pro-Growth Tax Reform
October 16, 2024
The impending expiration of large portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of 2025 presents federal policymakers with a significant opportunity to reform the federal tax code in the United States. Too often, political openings for pro-growth tax reform have instead been transformed into opportunities to introduce new tax cuts for those at the top of the income and wealth distribution. Proponents of these tax cuts usually defend their actions by invoking a now-widely discredited “trickle-down” theory of economic growth.
Washington State House Democrats: WA Improves Tax Equity Based On New Report
January 15, 2024
Washington’s tax system is becoming more fair for working families. Read more.
City of Seattle Revenue Stabilization Workgroup: Final Report
August 10, 2023
Seattle strives to support a social safety net for people in need and to uplift our diverse communities. Those services are too often financed by putting a disproportionate burden on those least able to afford it. Washington State ranks as having the most regressive tax system in the country. It doesn’t need to be that […]
Washington State Supreme Court: Opinion Upholding Capital Gains Excise Tax
March 24, 2023
In 2021, the Washington Legislature enacted a capital gains tax, levied at a rate of seven percent on the sale or exchange of certain long-term capital assets. Read more. (See pages 4 and 11 for ITEP citations)
Washington State Budget & Policy Center: New Reforms Bring Balance and Equity to State’s Tax Code and Economy
July 9, 2021
People seeking a more equitable state tax code and stronger supports for parents scored major victories earlier this year in Washington state, after more than a decade of hard work and focused advocacy by community leaders. By enacting a new excise tax on extraordinary stock profits (capital gains) and an expansive new tax credit for […]
Washington Governor’s Office: Inslee signs economic justice legislation to help working families
May 4, 2021
Gov. Jay Inslee today signed an economic justice legislative package, including the Working Families Tax Credit and the capital gains excise tax, that starts the process of making Washington’s upside-down tax system fairer and more equitable. Read more
Washington Center for Equitable Growth: Weekend reading: Inequities in U.S. taxation and homeownership edition
April 23, 2021
Homeowners of color who sell their homes receive lower prices due to such factors as reduced neighborhood school quality, but they pay the same property taxes because these factors are not incorporated into tax assessments. Black and Hispanic homeowners also face discrimination in assessment appeals. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains the regressivity […]
Washington State Budget & Policy Center: Why Now Is the Time to Pass a Tax on Extraordinary Profits
March 8, 2021
Members of the Washington State Senate have an historic opportunity to create a more just state tax code while bolstering and sustaining our state’s fiscal and economic recovery long after federal recovery funds fade away. Senate Bill 5096 would create a new 7% excise tax on extraordinary profits from the sale of financial assets (capital […]
Washington State Budget & Policy Center: Washington State’s Upside-down Tax Code is Even More Racist than You Think
February 12, 2021
Lawmakers in Olympia are finally listening to communities and rightly focusing on addressing racial disparities that have permeated our state economy and institutions for far too long. They must act immediately to reform many areas of public policy – from policing to housing, health care to employment – that serve to oppress Black, Indigenous, and […]
Washington State Budget and Policy Center: It’s time to include undocumented immigrants in state response to COVID-19
May 21, 2020
In addition to state and local taxes, new estimates show that the labor of undocumented workers in Washington state has resulted in nearly $400 million of contributions to the state and federal unemployment trust fund over the past ten years. Yet these workers are systematically denied protection when they become unemployed. Read more
The New Orleans Advocate: James Gill: Louisiana’s Tax System Isn’t the Most Unfair in the Nation, But It’s not for Lack of Trying
November 3, 2018
According to a study just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, Washington State sets the regressive standard, while we rank 14th. If your income is $17,100 or less in Louisiana, you'll pay 11.9 percent of it in taxes. That number shrinks the further you go up on the income scale and is roughly halved by the time you reach fat-cat territory. Sales and excise taxes take 9.2 percent from the poorest, and 1.2 percent from the richest.
The Olympian: Olympia Went to Court to Block an Income Tax Proposal. Two Years Later, It’s Backing Seattle’s Version.
October 26, 2018
In 2016, an Olympia household earning $25,000 a year paid about 13 percent of its income in state and local taxes, while a household earning $250,000 paid less than 4 percent, according to the resolution. A report this month from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country, thanks to its lack of a personal income tax and comparatively high sales taxes.
Real Change: Study: Washington Bottoms Out on US Tax Assessment
October 24, 2018
Guess what? Washington state’s taxation system continues to be one of the most regressive in the country. This news comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which did a deep dive into the taxation policies of all 50 states.
Washington Examiner: Think tank: Texas Isn’t a Low-tax State if You’re Poor
October 23, 2018
Carl Davis for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: [ M]any states traditionally considered to be “low-tax states” are actually high-tax for their poorest residents. The “low tax” label is typically assigned to states that either lack a personal income tax or that collect a comparatively low amount of tax revenue overall. But a focus on these measures can cause lawmakers to overlook the fact that state tax systems impact different taxpayers in very different ways, and that low-income taxpayers in particular often do not experience these states as being even remotely “low tax.”
Seattle Met: Report: Washington State Taxes Are Still the Most Inequitable in the Country
October 18, 2018
In Washington state, the less money you make, the larger your percentage of income goes toward taxes. A study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released on Wednesday concludes that Washington state still has the most regressive taxes in the U.S., meaning the poorest households pay a disproportionate amount of taxes compared to the richest households in the state.
Iowa Fiscal Partnership: Tax Inequity: Iowa’s Continuing Story
October 17, 2018
Iowa taxes its middle- and low-income families more as a share of income than it does wealthy families, a long-term trend worsened by the 2018 tax overhaul. The latest “Who Pays” report by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), again shows the effect of sales taxes and property taxes on lower-income households tilts Iowa’s overall tax system so the poorest pay the highest percentage in taxes.
Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers in Washington County Pay Millions in Oregon Taxes
October 17, 2018
An estimated 27,000 undocumented Washington County residents pay more than $20 million annually in state and local taxes. For perspective, that is enough to hire 232 teachers. Read more here
Budget and Policy Center: Washington State Again Ranks Worst In The Nation For Our State Tax Code
October 17, 2018
Despite the many ways Washington state takes prides in its spirit of innovation, it still ranks dead last when it comes to its tax code, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Our state has the most upside-down tax code in the country, forcing people with the lowest incomes to pay 17.8 percent in state and local taxes as a percent of their income – while the state’s wealthiest residents pay just 3 percent.
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