Recent Work
2059 items
Mississippi’s Path to Income Tax Elimination Hinders Racial and Economic Equity
August 7, 2025 • By Vanessa Woods
Mississippi policymakers this year took a big step to worsen the state’s racial income and wealth divides by passing a radical plan to eventually eliminate the state’s income tax.
How Maryland’s Tax Reforms Advance Racial and Economic Equity
August 7, 2025 • By Vanessa Woods
Maryland is taking aim at income and racial disparities through a revised personal income tax. By raising taxes on high earners and cutting them for most households across racial and ethnic lines, the state is proving that progressive tax policy can drive both equity and revenue.
Trump’s Firing of BLS Commissioner is Part of Larger Erosion of Federal Data Infrastructure
August 7, 2025 • By Emma Sifre
Last week, President Trump fired the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in apparent retaliation for weak jobs numbers. The move drew sharp criticism for spooking investors and weakening trust in official data. But it also reflects a deeper problem: the ongoing erosion of the federal data infrastructure.
As states prepare for the revenue loss and disruption resulting from the federal tax bill, tax policy is being considered in legislatures across the country.
The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is an important tool to fight child poverty and help families make ends meet. When designed well, it can also make tax systems less regressive. As of 2020, only six states had CTCs. Today, 15 states have CTCs, with many credits exceeding $1,000 per qualifying child.
Excessive CEO Pay Makes Inequality Worse. Shareholders and the Public Deserve to Know About Compensation Disparities
July 30, 2025 • By Matthew Gardner
Huge executive pay packages are a prime driver of income inequality. Shareholders and the public deserve to know about how CEOs are compensated, but new SEC leadership seems to think otherwise.
State Tax Action in 2025: Amid Uncertainty, Tax Cuts and New Revenue
July 28, 2025 • By Aidan Davis, Neva Butkus, Marco Guzman
Federal policy choices on tariffs, taxes, and spending cuts will be deeply felt by all states, which will have less money available to fund key priorities. This year some states raised revenue to ensure that their coffers were well-funded, some proceeded with warranted caution, and many others passed large regressive tax cuts that pile on to the massive tax cuts the wealthiest just received under the federal megabill.
Refundable tax credits were a big part of state tax policy conversations this year. In 2025, nine states improved or created Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits.
State Rundown 7/24: States Begin Preparing for Federal Megabill Fallout
July 24, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
All eyes in statehouses in recent weeks have been on federal budget negotiations, and now that the “megabill” has passed, they are focused in on their own budgets in search of ways to cope with the enormous consequences coming their way. All states will see fewer federal dollars flowing through their coffers, higher needs due […]
Americans Want to Know Which Corporations Aren’t Paying Taxes, but House Republicans Want to Keep this Information Secret
July 23, 2025 • By Matthew Gardner
The appropriations plan released by House Republicans this weekend threatens to withhold funding for an obscure but vital financial oversight board because that board now requires corporations to disclose basic information about their income tax payments (or lack thereof).
How Will the Trump Megabill Change Americans’ Taxes in 2026?
July 22, 2025 • 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.
Sales Tax Holidays Miss the Mark When it Comes to Effective Sales Tax Reform
July 17, 2025 • 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.
States Should Move Quickly to Chart Their Own Course on SALT Deductions
July 17, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
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.
Two in Three Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes
July 16, 2025 • 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.
Nobody should be too excited and think this means our country is headed toward lower deficits - especially when the administration recently signed one of the most expensive budget reconciliation bills in history.
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