Publications
State Earned Income Tax Credits Will Support Families and Workers in 2027
• By Neva Butkus
Nearly two-thirds of states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit. These credits boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping working class families achieve greater economic security.
Missouri’s Amendment 5 Would Cut Taxes for the Rich and Raise Taxes on Seniors and the Middle Class
• By Eli Byerly-Duke
On August 4, Missouri voters will vote on whether to increase taxes on the middle class and seniors to fund tax cuts for the richest households in the state.
State-by-State Tax Expenditure Reports
• By ITEP Staff
Below is a list of tax expenditure reports published in the states.
The Wealth Proceeds Tax: A Simple Way for States to Tax the Wealthy
• By Sarah Austin, Carl Davis
Taxing the proceeds generated by wealth through a new Wealth Proceeds Tax is a simple way for states to raise billions in new revenue and improve the fairness of their tax systems.
The 5 Biggest State Tax Cuts for Millionaires this Year
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Aidan Davis
Some states continue to hand out huge tax cuts to millionaires. The five largest tax cuts this year will cost states a total of $2.2 billion per year once fully implemented.
The Potential of Local Child Tax Credits to Reduce Child Poverty
• By Kamolika Das, Aidan Davis, Galen Hendricks, Rita Jefferson
Local governments have a critical role to play in reducing child poverty. Local Child Tax Credits could provide large tax cuts to families at the bottom of the income scale, lessening the overall regressivity of state and local tax systems.
State Earned Income Tax Credits Support Families and Workers in 2025
• By Neva Butkus
Nearly two-thirds of states now have an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Momentum continues to build on these credits that boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping lower-income families achieve greater economic security.
Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform
• By Miles Trinidad
Sales tax holidays are often marketed as relief for everyday families, but they do little to address the deeper inequities of regressive sales taxes. In 2025, 18 states offer these holidays at a collective cost of $1.3 billion.
Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits
• By Rita Jefferson
Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. State legislators and local governments should prioritize the residents who can least afford their property taxes, not the residents and businesses who can.
Analysis of Tax Provisions in the Trump Megabill as Signed into Law: National and State Level Estimates
• By Steve Wamhoff, Carl Davis, Joe Hughes, Jessica Vela
President Trump has signed into law the tax and spending “megabill” that largely favors the richest taxpayers and provides working-class Americans with relatively small tax cuts that will in many cases be more than offset by Trump's tariffs.
Analysis of Tax Provisions in the House Reconciliation Bill: National and State Level Estimates
• By Carl Davis, Jessica Vela, Joe Hughes, Steve Wamhoff
The poorest fifth of Americans would receive 1 percent of the House reconciliation bill's net tax cuts in 2026 while the richest fifth of Americans would receive two-thirds of the tax cuts. The richest 5 percent alone would receive a little less than half of the net tax cuts that year.
Trump 2025 Tax Law: Research and Resources
• By ITEP Staff
Want to know more about the tax and spending megabill that President Trump recently signed into law? We've got you covered.
Advantaging Affluence: A Distributional Analysis of Missouri HB 798’s Uneven Tax Cuts for Wealth and Work
• By Aidan Davis, Carl Davis, Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Eli Byerly-Duke, Matthew Gardner
Missouri House Bill 798 would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates, fully eliminate taxes on capital gains income from sale of assets, and eliminates the state’s modest Earned Income Tax Credit that assists many working people in lower-paid jobs. HB 798 would radically transform Missouri’s income tax code into a system that privileges income from wealth over income from work, leaving many middle-income families to pay a higher income tax rate than wealthy people…
Proposed Missouri Tax Shelter Would Aid the Wealthy, Anti-Abortion Centers Alike
• By Carl Davis
In Missouri, donations to anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers come with state tax credits valued at 70 cents on the dollar. One bill currently being debated in the state would increase that matching rate to 100 percent—that is a full, state-funded reimbursement of gifts to anti-abortion groups.
The (Mostly Untapped) Power of Local Income Taxes
• By Rita Jefferson
Local income taxes can be an important progressive revenue raiser, as they ask more of higher-income households and are connected to ability to pay. They can raise substantial revenue to fund key public services to make cities and regions better off.
Trump’s Plan to Extend His 2017 Tax Provisions: Updated National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Steve Wamhoff
Trump’s plan to make most of the temporary provisions of his 2017 tax law permanent would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. This includes all major provisions except the $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) paid.
Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: Updated National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Steve Wamhoff
The TCJA Permanency Act would make permanent the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that are set to expire at the end of 2025. The legislation would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. Below are graphics for each state that show the effects of making TCJA permanent across income groups. See ITEP’s […]
State Earned Income Tax Credits Support Families and Workers in 2024
• By Neva Butkus
Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit. These credits boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping lower-income families achieve greater economic security.
Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform
• By Marco Guzman
Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2024. These suspensions combined will cost states and localities over $1.3 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system.
Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants
• By ITEP Staff
Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Providing access to work authorization for undocumented immigrants would increase their tax contributions both because their wages would rise and because their rates of tax compliance would increase.
Improving Refundable Tax Credits by Making Them Immigrant-Inclusive
• By Emma Sifre, Marco Guzman
Undocumented immigrants who work and pay taxes but don't have a valid Social Security number for either themselves or their children are excluded from federal EITC and CTC benefits. Fortunately, several states have stepped in to ensure undocumented immigrants are not left behind by the gaps in the federal EITC and CTC. State lawmakers should continue to ensure that immigrants who are otherwise eligible for these tax credits receive them.
America Used to Have a Wealth Tax: The Forgotten History of the General Property Tax
• By Carl Davis, Eli Byerly-Duke
Over time, broad wealth taxes were whittled away to become the narrower property taxes we have today. These selective wealth taxes apply to the kinds of wealth that make up a large share of middle-class families’ net worth (like homes and cars), but usually exempt most of the net worth of the wealthy (like business equity, bonds, and pooled investment funds).The rationale for this pared-back approach to wealth taxation has grown weaker in recent decades…
Boosting Incomes, Improving Equity: State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2023
• By Aidan Davis, Neva Butkus
Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit, an effective tool that boosts low-paid workers’ incomes and helps lower-income families achieve greater economic security. This year, 12 states expanded and improved EITCs.
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Marco Guzman
Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2023, and these suspensions will cost nearly $1.6 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system. Overall, the benefits of sales tax holidays are minimal while their downsides are significant.
Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.
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