Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Name	Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Formation	1980s
Type	Nonprofit research organization
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Leader title	President

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy is a nonprofit think tank and research institute based in Washington, D.C. focusing on tax policy analyses and fiscal equity. It produces state-by-state and federal studies used by legislators, advocacy groups, media outlets, and academic researchers to assess tax burdens and revenue effects. The organization interacts with entities such as Congress of the United States, State legislatures in the United States, Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

History

Founded in the 1980s amid debates over Tax Reform Act of 1986 and state tax changes, the organization emerged alongside institutions like Economic Policy Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Cato Institute. Early work intersected with analyses by Joint Committee on Taxation, Congressional Budget Office, Internal Revenue Service, and academic centers at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and University of Chicago. The group expanded during the 1990s alongside fiscal shifts evident in the North American Free Trade Agreement era and the Great Recession (2007–2009), producing data compilations comparable to publications from Tax Policy Center, National Bureau of Economic Research, and Institute for Research on Poverty.

Mission and Research Focus

The institute's stated mission centers on tax fairness, progressive tax design, and revenue adequacy, aligning its research with policy debates involving Affordable Care Act, Social Security (United States), and Medicaid. Research topics typically address tax distribution across income groups, state and local tax structures, and the effects of tax changes on public services managed by bodies like State Treasurer (United States), Municipal government, Federal Reserve Board, and Office of Management and Budget. It has produced work influential in campaigns and litigation involving actors such as American Civil Liberties Union, National Rifle Association, United Auto Workers, and Chamber of Commerce.

Major Reports and Findings

Major publications include state-by-state analyses of tax incidence, reports on corporate taxation, and assessments of tax cuts and revenue gaps. Findings have been cited in contexts alongside reports from Moody's Analytics, Standard & Poor's, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase. Notable studies compared tax burdens across income quintiles, assessed the distributional impact of proposals similar to those debated in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and evaluated proposals resembling plans from Donald Trump and Barack Obama administrations. The institute's work has informed litigation references in cases before courts such as the United States Supreme Court and state supreme courts.

Methodology and Data Sources

Methodologies combine microsimulation, tax incidence modeling, and analysis of administrative data drawn from sources including the Internal Revenue Service, Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and state departments of revenue. Techniques parallel those used by National Tax Association, American Taxation Association, Institute for Fiscal Studies (United Kingdom), and research units at London School of Economics. The group publishes tables and spreadsheets that interact with datasets from Current Population Survey, American Community Survey, and publicly available tax return aggregates, and it cross-references projections from Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget reports.

Funding and Governance

Funding historically comes from private foundations, individual donors, and grants from organizations comparable to Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Foundation, and regional philanthropic entities. Governance includes a board of directors and advisory panels featuring former officials from Treasury Department (United States), former staff from Senate Finance Committee, academics from Columbia University, University of Michigan, Stanford University, and representatives from advocacy groups like National Employment Law Project. Financial disclosures align with practices encouraged by Nonprofit Quarterly and regulatory oversight by Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)(3) organizations.

Criticism and Reception

Critics from American Legislative Exchange Council, Tax Foundation, Mercatus Center, and policy commentators in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fox News have challenged the institute's assumptions on microsimulation, distributional weights, and behavioral responses. Academic responses from scholars at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and Duke University have debated elasticities, incidence versus statutory incidence, and vertical equity measures. Supporters cite use of the institute's analyses by state governors, mayors, labor unions, and progressive advocacy coalitions in campaigns addressing tax credits, exemptions, and corporate tax avoidance cases brought before bodies like the Internal Revenue Service and state revenue departments.

Category:Nonprofit organizations based in Washington, D.C.