Recent Work by ITEP
State Rundown 6/20: Federal tax policy heats up, states wrap sessions and weigh impacts
June 18, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
As state legislative sessions come to a close, decisions on tax policy are being made. Several southern states have cut taxes, while the northeast is making some more measured reforms.
The idea of exempting overtime pay from income tax has gained traction, but there's little evidence it's an effective policy. Alabama tried it in 2023 but ended the policy after just two years. Their reversal highlights how exempting overtime is an expensive gimmick and a distraction from real worker issues.
House Bill’s Deduction for Car Loan Interest Would Not Offset Tariff-Related Auto Price Increases for Most Buyers
June 12, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Sarah Austin
The auto loan interest deduction that recently passed the House is designed, at least in part, to mitigate the impact of tariff-induced price increases on vehicles assembled in America. But the deduction is incapable of offsetting even small-scale price increases, especially for working-class families and others with moderate incomes.
State legislatures are enjoying a relatively quiet period right now, though it is merely a temporary calm before the storm of the federal tax and budget debate begins raging again.
North Carolina Tax Proposal Prioritizes Millionaires Over Everyone Else
June 11, 2025 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Miles Trinidad
North Carolina Senators are proposing to yet again ignore the core needs of the majority of North Carolinians in favor of more income tax cuts for the wealthy few. The Senate's budget would take the personal income tax rate to 1.99 percent as soon as 2031 if certain revenue triggers are met, once again delivering billions of dollars in tax cuts mostly to the rich. And the cost of those tax cuts for North Carolina will be steep cuts to the state’s future, including public education and community colleges.
The ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Creates a $5 Billion Tax Shelter for Private School Donors
June 9, 2025 • By Amy Hanauer
On May 22, Congress passed the House reconciliation bill or “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by a one-vote margin. The bill’s dozens of destructive tax provisions would supercharge inequality and force devastating cuts to health and food aid that have been bedrocks of the American safety net since the 1960s.
As the Washington, D.C. region heads toward a likely recession, local policymakers will need to look to new revenue sources to help lessen the pain. In D.C., lawmakers ought to adopt a simple reform that would raise substantial revenue and make the District’s business tax system fairer.
Our tax policies enable people like Elon Musk and Donald Trump to accumulate more wealth than anyone could ever use in a lifetime. They then use it to steer elections and shape public policy to further enrich themselves and others like them. We should defeat the enormously destructive tax bill in Congress and instead craft tax policy that taxes the rich, makes our democracy more fair, and returns resources to the rest of the country.
State Rundown 6/5: States Wrap Sessions, Some Prepare for Fiscal Uncertainty
June 5, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
States use the final hours of their legislative sessions to address deficits and preserve revenue in preparation for the times ahead.
Trump’s Last Tax Cuts Failed Americans Like Me. Let’s Not Repeat the Mistake.
June 5, 2025 • By Brakeyshia Samms
Now as more GOP tax cuts for the rich move through Congress, history is poised to repeat itself. The bill would disproportionately benefit the well-off — and harm the financial well-being of millions of working Americans, including Black women like me.
ITEP in the News
Rolling Stone: Every Dirty Gift Trump’s Big Bill Gives the Fossil Fuel Industry
Washington Post: Conservatives Are Asking Trump for Another Big Tax Cut
NC Newsline: NC Lawmakers Urged to Act as Federal Cuts Threaten State Services
The American Prospect: Right-Wing State Tax ‘Revolution’ Rolls On
CNN: Here’s Who Will – And Won’t – Qualify for the New Car Loan Interest Deduction
ITEP Work in Action
CAP: A New Immigration System To Safeguard America’s Security, Expand Economic Growth, and Make Us Stronger
DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Statement on Final Passage of Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill
More Perfect Union: The One Big Beautiful Bill Is a Big Corporate Cash Grab
Center for Law and Social Policy: Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill Sacrifices the Well-Being of Working Families to Give Tax Breaks to Billionaires
CBPP: Missouri Poised to Enact Appalling Giveaway to its Richest Residents
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