Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Maryland

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State Rundown 12/10: ‘Tis the Season to Reclaim Lost Revenue

• By ITEP Staff

property tax debates are taking place throughout the nation.

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Local Vacancy Taxes: A Tool but Not a Panacea

• By Rita Jefferson

Vacancy taxes will not single-handedly solve problems in cities, but they are worth considering to address housing shortages, land use, and building thriving communities.

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State Rundown 11/13: States Tackle Impending Deficits, Pennsylvania Secures an EITC

• By ITEP Staff

Revenue forecasts look increasingly grim as states anticipate shortfalls due to the slowing economy and impacts of the new federal tax law.

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State and Local Policymakers Can Resist Austerity Even Amid Historic Federal Retreat

• By Kamolika Das

The progressivity of the federal tax code has been waning. State and local policymakers should respond by protecting their revenue bases, promoting equity, and safeguarding vulnerable communities from harmful budget cuts. 

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The Wealth Proceeds Tax: A Simple Way for States to Tax the Wealthy

• By Sarah Austin, Carl Davis

Taxing the proceeds generated by wealth through a new Wealth Proceeds Tax is a simple way for states to raise billions in new revenue and improve the fairness of their tax systems.

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State Rundown 10/27: As Temperatures Cool Tax Policy Heats Up

• By ITEP Staff

States across the nation are debating how best to respond to costly new federal tax cuts.

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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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Quite Some BS: Expanded ‘QSBS’ Giveaway in Trump Tax Law Threatens State Revenues and Enriches the Wealthy

• By Sarah Austin, Nick Johnson

States should decouple from the federal Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exemption.

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State Rundown 10/1: State and Local Governments Doing the Opposite of Shutting Down

• By ITEP Staff

State and local officials are staying very busy by considering a dizzying amount of reversals.

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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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SALT in the Wound: New Tax Law’s Limit on State Tax Deductions Exempts Some of the Very Wealthiest

• By ITEP Staff

The new tax law enacted last month found a temporary compromise on the level of the cap, boosting it to $40,000 through 2029, but failed to fix a loophole that allows some rich taxpayers with good accountants to completely avoid the cap

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State Rundown 8/20: States to Face Serious Conformity, Revenue Issues as Summer Ends

• By ITEP Staff

While tax news has slowed as summer comes to an end, there are rumblings beneath the surface that could be an inauspicious sign of the times ahead for states and state budgets.

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Trump’s Tax Law Clobbers State Budgets. Now’s the Time to Prepare.

• By ITEP Staff

The Trump megabill hands the richest 1% a trillion-dollar windfall while gutting funding for health care, education, and disaster relief — leaving communities to pick up the pieces. State and local leaders must step up, tax the wealthiest fairly, and safeguard the essentials that keep America healthy, educated, and safe.

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Mississippi’s Path to Income Tax Elimination Hinders Racial and Economic Equity

• 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.

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How Maryland’s Tax Reforms Advance Racial and Economic Equity

• 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.

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State Tax Action in 2025: Amid Uncertainty, Tax Cuts and New Revenue

• 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.

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Which States Expanded Refundable Credits in 2025?

• By Neva Butkus

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.

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State Rundown 7/24: States Begin Preparing for Federal Megabill Fallout

• 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 […]

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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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How Much Would Every Family in Every State Get if the Megabill’s Tax Cuts Given to the Rich Had Instead Been Evenly Divided?

• By Michael Ettlinger

If instead of giving $117 billion to the richest 1 percent, that money had been evenly divided among all Americans, we'd each get $343 - or nearly $1,400 for a family of four.

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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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Local Tax Trends in 2025

• By Rita Jefferson

As federal aid ends and economic uncertainty grows, local governments face tough budget choices. Now is the time for localities to protect vulnerable residents and build stronger, more equitable fiscal foundations.

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Trump Megabill Will Give $117 Billion in Tax Cuts to the Top 1% in 2026. How Much In Your State?

• By Michael Ettlinger

The predominant feature of the tax and spending bill working its way through Congress is a massive tax cut for the richest 1 percent — a $114 billion benefit to the wealthiest people in the country in 2026 alone.