Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Publications

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State Child Tax Credits Will Boost Financial Security for Families and Children in 2027

• By Neva Butkus

Sixteen states provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. State lawmakers have several options to maximize the impact of Child Tax Credits.

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State-by-State Tax Expenditure Reports

• By ITEP Staff

Below is a list of tax expenditure reports published in the states.

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Re-Examining 529 Plans: Stopping State Subsidies to Private Schools After New Trump Tax Law

• By Miles Trinidad, Nick Johnson

The 2025 federal tax law risks making 529 plans more costly for states by increasing tax avoidance and allowing wealthy families to use these funds for private and religious K-12 schools.

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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.

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State Child Tax Credits Boosted Financial Security for Families and Children in 2025

• By Neva Butkus

Child Tax Credits (CTCs) are effective tools to bolster the economic security of low- and middle-income families and position the next generation for success.

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Two in Three Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes

• By Carl Davis

As inflation and fuel efficiency undercut traditional gas tax revenue, many states are rethinking how they fund transportation. Lawmakers across the country are beginning to modernize outdated gas tax systems to keep pace with rising infrastructure costs and changing driving habits.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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A Revenue Impact Analysis of the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025

• By Carl Davis

The Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 would provide donors to nonprofit groups that distribute private K-12 school vouchers with a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit in exchange for their contributions. In total, the ECCA would reduce federal and state tax revenues by $10.6 billion in 2026 and by $136.3 billion over the next 10 years. Federal tax revenues would decline by $134 billion over 10 years while state revenues would decline by $2.3 billion.

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A Revenue Analysis of Worldwide Combined Reporting in the States

• By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner, Michael Mazerov

Universal adoption of mandatory worldwide combined reporting would boost state corporate income tax revenues by roughly 14 percent. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia would experience revenue increases totaling $19.1 billion.

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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.

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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.

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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 […]

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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.

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State Child Tax Credits Boosted Financial Security for Families and Children in 2024

• By Neva Butkus

Fifteen states plus the District of Columbia provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states – Colorado, New York, and Utah – expanded their Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in the District of Columbia created a new credit that will take effect in 2025.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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States Should Enact, Expand Mansion Taxes to Advance Fairness and Shared Prosperity

• By Carl Davis, Erika Frankel

The report was produced in partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and co-authored by CBPP’s Deputy Director of State Policy Research Samantha Waxman.[1] Click here to use our State Mansion Tax Estimator A historically large share of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, a reality glaring in […]

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Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes

• By ITEP Staff

State and local tax codes can do a lot to reduce inequality. But they add to the nation’s growing income inequality problem when they capture a greater share of income from low- or moderate-income taxpayers. These regressive tax codes also result in higher tax rates on communities of color, further worsening racial income and wealth divides.

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Far From Radical: State Corporate Income Taxes Already Often Look Beyond the Water’s Edge

• By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner

State lawmakers are increasingly interested in reforming their corporate tax bases to start from a comprehensive measure of worldwide profit. This provides a more accurate, and less gameable, starting point for calculating profits subject to state corporate tax. Mandating this kind of filing system, known as worldwide combined reporting (WWCR), would be transformative, as it would all but eliminate state corporate tax avoidance done through the artificial shifting of profits into low-tax countries.

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States are Boosting Economic Security with Child Tax Credits in 2023

• By Aidan Davis, Neva Butkus

Fourteen states now provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states created new Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in seven states expanded existing credits. To maximize impact, lawmakers should consider making their credits fully refundable, not including an earnings requirement, setting a maximum amount per child instead of per household, setting state-specific phase-out ranges that target low- and middle-income families, indexing to…

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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.

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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.