Tax Policy Center

Resources

Tax Model Resources

These documents provide a description of the Tax Policy Center's microsimulation model of the federal tax system and materials to help understand and interpret our estimates.

  • FAQ
    Answers to common questions about TPC's tax simulation model, the estimates it generates, and the organization of tables in our database.
  • Brief Description of the Tax Model
    Updated on March 9, 2022. The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s large-scale microsimulation model produces revenue and distribution estimates of the U.S. federal tax system.
  • Description of TPC’s Business Tax Model
    Updated on August 10, 2018.
  • Brief Description of the State Tax Model
    Updated on March 21, 2024 The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) uses its state-of-the-art microsimulation model to analyze the revenue and distributional consequences of federal...
  • TPC’s Methodology for “Off-Model” Revenue Estimates
    The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) uses its large-scale microsimulation model to produce “on-model” revenue estimates of nearly all proposals...
  • How to Interpret Distribution Tables
    TPC's distribution tables provide quantitative information on the way in which tax proposals affect different groups of individuals. Ideally, we...
  • Explanation of Income Measures
    Tax Policy Center (TPC) uses a broad measure of pre-tax income, which we call “expanded cash income” or ECI, to...
  • Explanation of Baselines
    Current law refers to the law currently scheduled for a given year — that is, the law that will prevail if Congress does not act...