Research report

As of December 2023, 15 states offered a child tax credit (CTC) on their state individual income tax, but the structure and size of these credits varied significantly. This report summarizes and explains the policy levers involved in designing a state CTC, and it uses the Tax Policy Center state...

February 28, 2024
Richard C. AuxierDavid WeinerNikhita Airi
Research report

I propose and analyze four major revenue-neutral sets of federal income tax reforms, each of which would create a simpler and more progressive system. A new page on the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Website allows anyone to compare their filing requirements and tax burdens under the...

March 14, 2024
William G. Gale
Research report

Total state government tax revenue collections declined 12.8 percent in nominal terms and 15.7 percent in real terms in the second quarter of 2023 relative to a year earlier. The inflation-adjusted growth rates differed significantly across key revenue sources in the second quarter of 2023....

November 21, 2023
Lucy Dadayan
Research report

Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal individual income tax can create racial disparities when factors that affect tax liability are associated with race. This paper provides new evidence on racial differences in marriage tax penalties and bonuses...

October 31, 2023
Janet HoltzblattSwati JoshiNora CahillWilliam G. Gale
Research report

Lifetime Social Security and Medicare taxes are scheduled to be significantly lower than lifetime Social Security and Medicare benefits for most workers in future decades, based on the latest data. This report compares the benefits and taxes paid by beneficiaries at the age of 65 from 1960 to...

October 30, 2023
C. Eugene SteuerleKaren E. Smith
Research report

In a pending Supreme Court case, Moore v. United States, the plaintiffs are challenging the constitutionality of a provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposing a transition tax on certain undistributed foreign profits of US taxpayers. The outcome of this case may severely constrain the...

October 11, 2023
Eric Toder
Research report

Although the US tax code does not explicitly reference race or ethnicity, the federal income tax system contributes to racial disparities when factors that affect tax liabilities are correlated with race. This study is the first to use the Tax Policy Center’s microsimulation model—newly enhanced...

September 28, 2023
Janet HoltzblattLaura KawanoRobert McClellandGabriella Garriga
Research report

The federal government invests more than $500 billion annually in children through direct cash payments, including tax credits, and in-kind goods such as childcare, education, food subsidies, and healthcare coverage. This represents about 10 percent of the federal budget. Research shows these...

September 14, 2023
Elaine MaagCary LouMichelle CasasHannah DalyGabriella GarrigaLillian Hunter