Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

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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.

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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…

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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 Lawmakers across the country are beginning to modernize outdated gas tax systems to keep pace with rising infrastructure costs and changing driving habits.

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June Budget Report Doesn’t Erase Our Nation’s Fiscal Challenges

July 15, 2025 • By Joe Hughes

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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Anti-Tax Revolts Backfire: What We’ve Learned from 50 Years of Property Tax Limits

July 15, 2025 • By Rita Jefferson

Across-the-board property tax cuts create less fair local tax systems in the long run. State legislators and local governments should prioritize the residents who can least afford their property taxes, not the residents and businesses who can.

More Recent Work

Across the States

Tax Watch

State Tax Watch 2025

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.

Get weekly updates by signing up for our State Rundown newsletter.

Learn more about state taxes across the country, read Who Pays?

State Rundown & On the Map

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

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

Two in Three Americans Live in States with Variable-Rate Gas Taxes

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…

Expert's View

Carl Davis

Carl Davis
Research Director

The Geographic Distribution of Extreme Wealth in the U.S.

Excessive concentration of wealth runs counter to our national aspiration for genuine equality of opportunity, and it saps the vitality of our democracy through the consolidation of power and influence. Tax policy offers a powerful means of beginning to address our nation’s stark level of inequality, but current law is clearly falling short of its potential.

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