Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Michigan

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State Rundown 9/10: States Brace for (and in Some Cases Embrace) Ballots and Budgets

• By ITEP Staff

States across the country will consider a host of ballot measures that could reshape the fairness and adequacy of their states’ tax systems, while other states are receiving budget forecasts that could further shape upcoming policy debates.

Detroit Free Press: John James Wants to Ax Income Tax. Experts See Cuts, Boon for Wealthy

August 31, 2026

The income tax helps fund schools, Medicaid, prisons, state police and more. Eliminating it would entail a massive overhaul of public services and benefit the wealthiest Michiganders, according to fiscal and tax policy experts.

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State Rundown 7/29: The Misguided, Miserly Missouri Amendment to Eliminate the Income Tax

• By ITEP Staff

Missouri voters are facing a major decision at the ballot box next week on Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to eliminate the individual income tax and expand the state’s sales tax on any good or service to make up for lost revenue.

CSG Midwest: Conform or decouple? Changes in federal tax policy stir debates in state legislatures

• By ITEP Staff

“Congress often tinkers with the tax code from one year to the next, so state conformity debates happen all the time, says Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “But they’re usually much more minor considerations.”

Michigan Democratic Party: Michigan Democrats Slam GOP Billionaire Bailout Budget On One-Year Anniversary of OBBBA’s Passage

• By ITEP Staff

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found the OBBBA “will increase taxes for most Americans, significantly expand income inequality, and add trillions to the national debt, while delivering substantial tax cuts to high-income households, corporations, and foreign investors.”

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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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State Rundown 6/25: Trending This Summer? New Revenue!

• By ITEP Staff

It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.

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State Rundown 6/11: Taxing the Rich Heats Up

• By ITEP Staff

As we head into summer, many state legislatures are in the final stretches of their sessions. Rhode Island moved another step closer to joining the ranks of Washington, Maine, and Hawai’i in enacting a new high-income surcharge this year.

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State Rundown 6/4: Fiscal Flowers and Weeds Bloom in June

• By ITEP Staff

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

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State Rundown 5/7: Federal Showers Make States Dour

• By ITEP Staff

The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.

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State Rundown 4/8: Budget and Tax Packages Take Shape as Sine Die Approaches in Many States

• By ITEP Staff

State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.

State Tax Watch 2026

• By ITEP Staff

ITEP tracks tax discussions in legislatures across the country and uses our unique data capacity to analyze the revenue, distributional, and racial and ethnic impacts of many of these proposals. State Tax Watch offers the latest news and movement from each state.

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State Rundown 3/18: New Mexico Enacts Most Significant Corporate Tax Reform of the Year

• By ITEP Staff

As states lawmakers continue to weigh their linkages to the federal tax code in light of the recent federal tax law, New Mexico provides a blueprint for limiting multinational corporate tax avoidance.

Testimony: ITEP’s Brakeyshia Samms on Why Evanston Should Adopt a Property Tax Circuit Breaker

• By Brakeyshia Samms

Members of the City Council,  Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about property tax circuit breakers. My name is Brakeyshia Samms, and I am a senior analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization that focuses on local, state, and federal tax policy issues with an emphasis on revenue sustainability and […]

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State Rundown 2/19: Necktie (NCTI) Offers a Way Out of a Knotty Situation

• By ITEP Staff

State lawmakers are grappling with a range of challenges as their fiscal outlooks deteriorate, federal tax enforcement wanes (after the Trump administration cut the IRS workforce by 25 percent), and a rewritten federal tax code sends states scrambling to decide what changes they might want to make in their own codes.

Mackinac Center: Lawmakers Should Reject Sales Tax Holidays

• By ITEP Staff

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues that tax holidays may slightly reduce the regressive nature of sales taxes but produce minimal overall benefit. Read more.

Education Week: How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?

February 19, 2026

As tax season dawns, backlash to a nationwide surge in property-tax bills is spurring states to double down on proposals to diminish one of the main revenue sources for school districts. At least 10 states are pitching the end of one of schools’ chief revenue sources. Read more.

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Michigan Ballot Proposal Would Boost Public Education While Creating a Fairer Tax System

• By Miles Trinidad, Matthew Gardner

A new proposal in Michigan would create a 5-percentage point surcharge on top earners with taxable incomes over $1 million for joint filers and $500,000 for single filers. This would raise about $1.7 billion a year, which would be used for public education priorities.

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State Rundown 2/11: This Valentine’s Day, Conscious Decoupling Is Our Love Language

• By ITEP Staff

While some may be excited for a romantic Valentine’s Day this weekend, many state lawmakers are breaking up and decoupling from recent federal tax changes that are poised to leave states with revenue shortfalls – much like a bad date who forgets their wallet and asks you to pick up the tab.

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State Rundown 1/22: Cautious Tone Noticeable in Most Statehouses

• By ITEP Staff

Most states are adopting a very cautious approach so far this year as legislators begin their sessions and governors make their annual addresses, thanks to ongoing economic uncertainty and federal retrenchment.

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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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Linking to Tipped and Overtime Income Deductions Would Worsen State Shortfalls, Do Little to Help Workers

• By Neva Butkus, Galen Hendricks

State deductions for tips and overtime are not only ineffective at supporting working-class people, it will come at a substantial cost to state budgets.

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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 Rundown 11/5: Voters Say “Yes!” to Public Investments

• By ITEP Staff

Despite being an off-year election, voters made a call for shared public investments at the polls.