Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Citations

ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

Marketplace: IRS’ Direct File is Free for Millions of Taxpayers, but Not Everyone Wants to Keep It Around.

April 15, 2025

April 15 is Tax Day. If you haven’t filed yet, one option could be the IRS’ Direct File program, which lets some taxpayers electronically file their returns directly with the agency for free, as opposed to through third-party providers.

Rarely has Congress faced such an important decision on tax policy as it does right now: whether and how to extend the massive tax cuts enacted in 2017 during the first Trump administration — tax cuts that have largely benefited the rich at the expense of working families. Read more.

Los Angeles Times: IRS Plan to Give Data to ICE Could Wallop California, Where Many Immigrants Pay Taxes

April 14, 2025

Also like many of her clients, she has routinely paid U.S. taxes in the past using what’s known as an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN, in lieu of a Social Security number. The process seemed pretty straightforward, she said, until recently, when Trump administration officials announced that IRS data would be shared with ICE agents and used to target undocumented taxpayers for the first time.

MSNBC: Trumps Social Security Team has Reportedly Marked More than 6,000 Immigrants as Dead

April 14, 2025

The New York Times was first to report on the administration’s cancellation of immigrants’ lawfully obtained Social Security numbers — essentially listing individuals as dead — as a means to impede their ability to make money or access government services and to pressure them to leave the country. 

Times Union: Editorial: Honesty Ought to Pay

April 14, 2025

The administration of President Donald J. Trump has decided to have the Internal Revenue Service share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on undocumented immigrants who have been diligently paying taxes on the promise that their files would be confidential.

Arizona Daily Star: Trump’s Deportation Net Widens to Migrants with Legal Status, Taxpayers

April 13, 2025

The Trump administration has moved to revoke parole protections issued under President Joe Biden and deport migrants like Doralis, who followed all the rules and used CBP One to enter the U.S. Read more.

NPR: 4 Takeaways from the Week: In a World That Craves Stability, Trump Brings the Chaos

April 11, 2025

The IRS agrees to share tax information of immigrants in the country without permanent legal status. The IRS previously didn't in an effort to get immigrants to pay taxes. They paid about $97 billion in taxes in 2022, including about $60 billion to the federal government, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. 

Newsweek: Florida Wants to Cut Property Taxes—But California Has a Warning

April 10, 2025

As state lawmakers consider cutting and even abolishing property taxes in Florida, California—which passed major reform in the late 1970s protecting homeowners against significant hikes—offers a cautionary tale of how well-intended tax revolts can backfire against those they should benefit. Read more.

ITEP Federal Policy Director Steve Wamhoff appeared on the Oregon Center for Public Policy’s “Policy for the People” podcast, discussing his recent report and the 2025 tax debate.

We find that since Trump’s first tax giveaway, these companies have raked in nearly $500 billion in profits and enriched their shareholders by $463 billion while paying just $140 billion in federal income taxes. Compared to the two years before the TCJA was passed, these companies’ profits have more than doubled while their effective tax rates fell by 39 percent.

As part of a group of tax proposals, Republican leaders recently called for eliminating taxes on overtime pay. Excluding overtime compensation from federal taxes would create a new tax expenditure — also known as a tax break — that would reduce federal revenues and make the U.S. tax system more complex. Here, we review how much no tax on overtime could impact federal tax receipts and deficits, as well as its effect on fairness within the federal tax system.

Conservative lawmakers’ preference to cut taxes is nothing new, but Missouri state lawmakers are currently considering a tax measure that would privilege the state’s wealthiest individuals in ways no other state with an income tax has done—by fully exempting all capital gains income from taxation. This change would exacerbate an already regressive state tax system, forcing low- and middle-income Missourians to shoulder a larger share of financing for state public services.

NBC News: IRS to Share Info with ICE About Some Undocumented Immigrant Taxpayers

April 8, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security has sought to use tax filing information to find people in the U.S. without legal status in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation. Read more.

Delaware Business Times: Dover Democrat Amends Income Tax Bill to Reflect Meyer’s Proposal

April 8, 2025

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that Delaware has the 40th most regressive state and local tax system in the country. That means those who earn the most will pay the least taxes, between property taxes, income and excise tax and more.

WGBH Boston: Immigrant Taxpayers Hesitate, Delay Filing Amid Fears of Deportation

April 8, 2025

Elgardo, an undocumented immigrant in Boston, has paid taxes like clockwork for the past seven years with an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN. The nine-digit tax processing number is available to some immigrants who want to comply with tax law but can’t access a social security number. Read more.

National Catholic Reporter: Editorial: Tax Battle a Referendum on Moral Clarity

April 7, 2025

Let us be plain: What is being proposed is not tax reform. It is not aimed at fairness, economic stability or the public good. It is a redistribution of wealth — upward, deliberate and vast, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich. And more than just poor policy, it is a profound moral failure. These proposals violate the very heart of Catholic social teaching.

Missouri Independent: Missouri Lawmakers Set to Pass Capital Gains Tax Cut with Questions about Its Total Cost

April 7, 2025

The bill nearing passage could reduce state revenues by $600 million or more, IRS data suggests, instead of the $111 million loss in official estimates Read more.

Associated Press: Mississippi and Kentucky Aim to End Personal Income Taxes

April 6, 2025

About 45 years have passed since a U.S. state last eliminated its income tax on wages and salaries. But with recent actions in Mississippi and Kentucky, two states now are on a path to do so, if their economies keep growing. Read more.

NPR’s Marketplace: Millions of Undocumented Immigrants File Taxes. Now Their Data Could Be Used to Deport Them.

April 4, 2025

Millions of undocumented immigrants pay taxes every year. And the confidentiality of the addresses and other personal data submitted to the IRS by taxpaying undocumented immigrants has remained protected for decades. But the Donald Trump administration is looking to change that, challenging a decadeslong firewall around taxpayer data. Read more.

Audio: ITEP’s Rita Jefferson Talks Property Tax Reform with KKFI-FM in Kansas City

April 4, 2025

The Kansas legislature failed to place an amendment on the ballot that would cap property valuations.  ITEP Local Analyst Rita Jefferson joined the Heartland Labor Forum live to discuss responsible ways to control soaring property taxes. (Her segment begins around the 30-minute mark.)

Tax Day is approaching, but the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts may make many undocumented immigrants hesitant to file taxes. Some worry that providing personal information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could be used against them.

Maine’s Dependent Exemption Tax Credit (DETC) is a vital investment in the state’s future. As Maine’s version of the child tax credit, it helps families with children or dependent adults afford essentials like food, rent, and childcare, especially in rural areas.

New York Times: Assessing Elon Musk’s Misleading Claims About Fraud in Government Spending

March 29, 2025

The world’s richest man made inaccurate claims about entitlement fraud, how a government payment system works and government survey costs. Read more.

Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Governor Signs Income Tax Elimination Bill. How Are You Affected?

March 28, 2025

With a stroke of a pen, and a few light-hearted jokes, the Build Up Mississippi Act, the largest total tax cut in state history was signed into law on March 27.

Ohio’s House Ways and Means Committee today holds its first hearing on HB 30, a bill that would tax the income of everyday Ohioans at the same rate as the state’s wealthiest households. The bill would eliminate the state’s top income-tax bracket of 3.5% on income above $100,000. By tax year 2026, Ohio would be left with a single rate of 2.75% on income above $27,350.