Illinois

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.

Property tax bills are undeniably a concern for many low- and moderate-income households across the nation...

Many cities, counties, and townships across the country are in a difficult, or at least unstable, budgetary position. Localities are responding to these financial pressures in a variety of ways with some charging ahead with enacting innovative reforms like short-term rental and vacancy taxes, and others setting up local tax commissions to study the problem.

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.

Undocumented immigrants pay taxes that help fund public infrastructure, institutions, and services in every U.S. state. Nearly 39 percent of the total tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants in 2022 ($37.3 billion) went to state and local governments.

Contact: Jon Whiten ([email protected]) Immigration policies have taken center stage in public debates this year, but much of the conversation has been driven by emotion, not data. A new in-depth study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy aims to help change that by quantifying how much undocumented immigrants pay in taxes – both […]

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.

Four states expanded or boosted refundable tax credits for children and families, and the District of Columbia is poised to create a new Child Tax Credit. These actions — in Colorado, Illinois, New York, Utah, and D.C. — continue the recent trend of improving the well-being of children and families with refundable tax credits.

Major tax cuts were largely rejected this year, but states continue to chip away at income taxes. And while property tax cuts were a hot topic across the country, many states failed to deliver effective solutions to affordability issues.

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.

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 […]

State budgets are falling into place as lawmakers near the end of their legislative sessions...

Legislative sessions across the country are still very much in for summer, which means more pencils, more budgets, and more tax plans...

Uncertainty abounds in state tax debates lately...

This week, special sessions with major tax implications are in the air...

Happy (belated) Tax Day!

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.

Over the past week Utah continued its slow march toward a more inequitable tax code...

Many state legislative sessions are in the final stretch...

More than one dozen cities and counties levy progressive taxes on high-price real estate transactions — sometimes called mansion taxes — and over a dozen more are considering such policies. By asking buyers and sellers with greater financial means to contribute more to the common good, these policies are equipping communities with resources to make progress on critical challenges of local and national concern.

Anti-tax interests finally found the end of the tax cutting appetite in a few states this week...

State legislative sessions are in full swing with New Jersey and Oklahoma both particularly active this week...