Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Wisconsin

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State Rundown 11/5: Election Day Put Taxes on the Ballot

• By ITEP Staff

While voters delivered an historic rebuke of the economic and tax policies of the Trump administration as affordability concerns became a flashpoint, voters also decided on major tax ballot questions that will raise and protect revenue and do more to tax the rich in Washington, California, and Colorado.

WORT FM: Progressive Income Tax Is the Fairest Method of State Revenue

November 2, 2026

Today on A Public Affair, Eli Byerly-Duke from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) joins Bert Zipperer to discuss how fair the state tax law is in the state of Wisconsin.

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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 5/14: Fund Priorities or Increase Shortfalls?

• By ITEP Staff

As many legislative sessions end, lawmakers are revealing their priorities.

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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 4/1: No Fooling Around Anymore in Washington, But Cruel Pranks in South Carolina

• By ITEP Staff

In Washington, Gov. Bob Ferguson and lawmakers decided to stop fooling around with one of the nation’s most upside-down tax codes and finally brought to life a new millionaires’ tax, the first new income tax created in a state since 1991.

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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.

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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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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Local Governments Are Increasingly Strapped: 2026 Will Bring New Challenges and New Opportunities

• By Kamolika Das

2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.

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State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants

• By ITEP Staff

With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.

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State Rundown 12/3: Property Tax Cuts and Deficits

• By ITEP Staff

States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.

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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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The 5 Biggest State Tax Cuts for Millionaires this Year

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Aidan Davis

Some states continue to hand out huge tax cuts to millionaires. The five largest tax cuts this year will cost states a total of $2.2 billion per year once fully implemented.

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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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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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State Rundown 7/8: State Tax Cuts Continue Despite Federal Megabill Passing

• By ITEP Staff

The last states are wrapping up legislative sessions, and some are crossing the finish line with major income tax cuts.

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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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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.

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How Much Do the Top 1% in Each State Get from the Trump Megabill?

• By Carl Davis

The Senate tax bill under debate right now would bring very large tax cuts to very high-income people. In total, the richest 1 percent would receive $114 billion in tax cuts next year alone. That would amount to nearly $61,000 for each of these affluent households.

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State Rundown 6/20: Federal tax policy heats up, states wrap sessions and weigh impacts

• 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.

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State Rundown 6/5: States Wrap Sessions, Some Prepare for Fiscal Uncertainty

• By ITEP Staff

States use the final hours of their legislative sessions to address deficits and preserve revenue in preparation for the times ahead.

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Analysis of Tax Provisions in the House Reconciliation Bill: National and State Level Estimates

• By Carl Davis, Jessica Vela, Joe Hughes, Steve Wamhoff

The poorest fifth of Americans would receive 1 percent of the House reconciliation bill's net tax cuts in 2026 while the richest fifth of Americans would receive two-thirds of the tax cuts. The richest 5 percent alone would receive a little less than half of the net tax cuts that year.