Washington
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.
ITEP’s report on taxing advertising identifies some reasons why states are curtailing longstanding sales tax exemptions for the ad sector.
An advertising tax offers a way to raise significant money from a sector of the economy that has been getting a free ride for decades.
From surcharges on the income of high-earners to higher taxes on second homes, here are recent steps states have taken to tax the rich.
As many legislative sessions end, lawmakers are revealing their priorities.
Taxing Advertising Would Modernize State Sales Tax Bases for the Information Age
May 7, 2026 • By Nick Johnson
Most states questionably exempt advertising from sales taxes. States that extend their sales taxes to advertising and/or enact an excise tax stand to raise billions in revenue while correcting a structural bias in their tax codes that implicitly subsidizes some of the most profitable corporations in human history.
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.
State Rundown 4/1: No Fooling Around Anymore in Washington, But Cruel Pranks in South Carolina
April 1, 2026 • 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.
The Guardian: Washington State’s ‘Historic’ Millionaire Tax Takes Aim at Super-Rich – Will It Succeed?
March 31, 2026
This was very overdue, and people in Washington are really excited to see it,” she said. “The bottom line is that billionaires are walking away with a larger share of our economy every single year, and working people can’t afford the basics any more. This movement was growing, this moment was coming.”
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