Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Publications

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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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How Will the Trump Megabill Change Americans’ Taxes in 2026?

• By Steve Wamhoff, Michael Ettlinger, Carl Davis, Jon Whiten

The megabill will raise taxes on the poorest 40 percent of Americans, barely cut them for the middle 20 percent, and cut them tremendously for the wealthiest Americans next year.

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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.

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States Should Move Quickly to Chart Their Own Course on SALT Deductions

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Nick Johnson

While a federal SALT cap is hotly debated, capping deductibility at $10,000 was an unambiguously good idea at the state level. States would be smart to stick with the current cap or, better yet, go even farther and repeal SALT deductions outright. Going along with a higher federal SALT cap would double down on a regressive tax cut that will mostly benefit a small number of relatively wealthy state residents and cost states significant revenue.

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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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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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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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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…

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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.

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Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts

• By Carl Davis

Wealthy families are overwhelmingly the ones using school voucher tax credits to opt out of paying for public education and other public services and to redirect their tax dollars to private and religious institutions instead. Most of these credits are being claimed by families with incomes over $200,000.