Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Citations

ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

Kentucky’s legislative leaders have made reducing the state’s individual income tax rate their top priority in recent years. Lawmakers have repeatedly acted on that, reducing the rate several times and costing the state billions annually that could have been invested in kids and families. Read more.

Public Assets Institute: State of Working Vermont 2025

January 5, 2026 • By ITEP Staff

In many ways, 2025 has been a year like no other. Federal actions affecting the state have been fast and furious: freezing grants, eliminating housing supports, withholding or slashing food benefits and heating assistance, decimating healthcare access both by cutting Medicaid and ending enhanced insurance premium tax credits. All of this adds up to hundreds of […]

The New Year will bring little certainty to everyday North Carolinians.  State legislators have failed to use the policy tools available to them to address rising costs for the basics, from food to child-care to housing. Read more.

New York Times: Trump Has a New Auto Loan Tax Break. Here’s Who Could Benefit.

December 31, 2025

Many Americans can take advantage of President Trump’s deduction on auto loan interest, but the tax break will provide only modest savings. Read more.

Indiana Capitol Chronicle: Indiana Lawmakers To Weigh Joining Trump’s Tax Cuts

December 23, 2025

One worry with Indiana adopting all the federal changes is that it would further reduce the state’s tax base, said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst for the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That could make the state more dependent on its 7% sales tax — among the highest in the country — that […]

Policy gimmicks in HR 1 disguise its true nature as a huge tax giveaway to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations — Maine should not compromise the future well-being of its residents to give tax breaks to the rich. Read more.

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.

Associated Press: States Faces a Choice on Whether To Embrace Trump’s Tax Cuts on Tips, Overtime and More

December 19, 2025

Lawmakers across the U.S. will be debating whether to adopt new federal tax breaks for tips, overtime and business expenses… “States in general are approaching this skeptically,” said Carl Davis, research director at the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Read more.

This November, the DC Council significantly increased economic security for approximately 78,000 children and their families through legislation that restores the District’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) and strengthens the DC Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Read more.

The Kentucky General Assembly will perform its most important job — crafting a two-year state budget that funds education, health, social services and other critical needs. But unlike recent years, when pandemic-era stimulus created robust revenue growth, lawmakers are now facing a serious budget crunch due to the loss of federal funds, a weakening economy […]

Evidence suggests the 2021 temporary Child Tax Credit expansion reduced material hardship and improved parental mental health. This expansion was also associated with improvements in child behavioral health. Read more.

This article provides a brief history of the capital gains preference, examines statistical income and wealth disparities based on gender and race, and proposes solutions to reduce the negative impact of the capital gains preference that leaves behind women and persons of color. Read more.

Billionaire corporations have engaged in a lobbying blitz with the Treasury to obtain a retroactive R&E carveout from the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax. Lawmakers are urging the Treasury not to further rig the tax code in favor of billionaire corporations. Read more.

The New York Times: Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts

December 12, 2025

“We are giving companies an awful lot of money to do something they were going to do anyway; that’s the issue with most tax incentives,” said Matt Gardner. 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. […]

ProPublica: Wave of Tax Cuts Has Left Many States Vulnerable to Trump SNAP and Medicaid Crisis

December 10, 2025

President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shift billions in costs for SNAP and Medicaid to states. But with 26 having cut or eliminated state income taxes just since 2021, they may not have the money to continue the programs. Read more.

Associated Press: Governor Suggests Hawaii May Scale Back on Income Tax Cuts, Tap Reserves To Help Balance Budget

December 10, 2025

Some critics questioned the structure of the tax cuts from the beginning, citing analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that concluded nearly half of the savings from the income tax cuts would go to the top the top 20% of earners, meaning people who earn more than $147,000 annually. It now appears Green may be taking […]

CNN: Why Trump Is Speaking Like a Democrat About Obamacare

December 4, 2025

He fought against Obamacare for years, and his “One Big Beautiful Bill” act is expected to cut more than $1 trillion from health care and food stamps. That’s why his support for extending the enhanced subsidies has surprised some political observers. Read more.

The Associated Press: FACT FOCUS: Trump Says Tariffs Can Eventually Replace Federal Income Taxes. Experts Disagree

December 4, 2025

Tariff revenue doesn’t even come close to where it would need to be if federal income taxes were eliminated, and experts say such a plan isn’t at all feasible. Read more.

Newsweek: Republican Governor to Propose Scrapping Income Tax

December 3, 2025

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) said that eliminating a state’s income tax, anywhere, benefits wealthy people over lower-income residents. Read more.

PBS/NPR Southwest Florida: Eliminating Property Taxes Would Make Florida’s ‘Worst in the U.S.’ Regressive System Even Worse

December 3, 2025

The Sunshine State has the most “regressive” tax structure of all 50 states, according to a recent study by a national tax analysis organization. That means the wealthy pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes while the poor and middle class pay more. Read more.

The working class drives prosperity, and it’s time for an agenda in Frankfort that puts them first. From the state’s rural counties to our biggest cities, it’s Kentuckians—whether white, Black or brown—who make it all go. Supported by the right policies, ones that reward their efforts and prioritize their concerns, more Kentuckians could work in […]

Washington Post: Corporations To Claim $16B From Retroactive GOP Tax Break, Federal Report Says

December 2, 2025

Corporations are expected to claim $16 billion in new tax breaks this year for purchases they had already made and put into use before the July passage of the Republican tax law. Read more.

We are in the midst of what many are deeming the largest transfer of wealth in U.S. history from Black, brown and poor communities to the ultra-wealthy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimates that Trump’s 2025 federal tax cuts will result in the richest 1% receiving $117 billion in tax cuts in […]

The Trump administration continues to enact harmful policies, like those contained in HR.1, which make massive cuts to education, health care, food assistance, and housing programs, to give tax cuts to the rich. The poverty rate is bound to continue to increase in the next few years. As a result, women and children will face […]