Intern at the Tax Foundation

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Currently accepting applications for fall 2013 and spring 2014 internships.

Send questions to drenkard [at] taxfoundation.org. No phone calls please.

Note: Second-year, third-year, and part-time law students should apply for our clerkship program. First-year law students are welcome to apply for our summer internship program.

About the Tax Foundation
Since its founding in 1937, the Tax Foundation has been looked to for non-partisan and principled research and analysis of tax issues at all levels of government. Best known for our annual calculation of "Tax Freedom Day," we work to raise economic awareness among taxpayers, lawmakers, and media.

While there are a number of Washington, D.C.-based public policy groups today that cover a broad range of policy issues, only the Tax Foundation provides a principled voice on the impact of tax and fiscal policy at the federal, state, and local levels.

About Our Internship Program
We offer a unique internship program designed to introduce undergraduate and graduate students to tax policy principles, and apply them in assessing and advancing public policy.Working directly with our staff in various areas of tax policy, interns gain valuable professional experience and learn about all aspects of our operation.

While data entry and routine tasks are part of the internship, the majority of the work is substantive. Interns are afforded flexibility to attend events, lectures, and seminars around Washington, D.C. As a non-partisan research institution, we encourage interns to develop a broad sense of our principles and find innovative ways to contribute to our mission.

The Tax Foundation is happy to work with outside fellowship programs to host interns, and to assist in arranging for school credit. We also accept placements from the Foundation for Teaching Economics Internships for Leaders program, the Institute for Humane Studies Koch Fellowship program, and the Koch Internship Program.

Internship Areas:

Federal Policy interns work with our team of economists with emphasis on data analysis.  Economics interns should be comfortable with mathematics and statistics and computer coding skills are a plus.

State Policy interns track major state fiscal issues, research trends, and conduct policy analysis, supporting our efforts to report and comment on current state tax topics.

Legal interns (first year law students only) assist with legal research and analysis.

Communications and Outreach interns contribute to our outreach efforts, strategizing about marketing tools, drafting and revising press releases, and substantively contributing to our podcast and video efforts.

Development and Fundraising interns creatively support fundraising activities through a campaign designed to involve innovative social media use, e-mail fundraising, print campaigns, and corporate networking.

Graphic Design interns are expected to produce images and documents for web and print publication, thinking creatively about our marketing efforts. This internship can be virtual (outside the office), allowing interns can build their graphic design portfolio in a flexible environment.

Examples of Intern Projects
Past interns, with the assistance of our staff, have researched and published commentaries on policy in newspapers and journals, participated in area events, and posted on our tax policy blog. Examples include:

• Phil Dittmer (summer 2011) authored a large study on effective corporate tax rates, dueled on the blog with a congressman regarding federal tax reform, and wrote blog posts on shoe tariffs, tax penalties on the Amish, and transaction taxes.
• Fred Hubach (summer 2011) authored a study on tax amnesties.
• Jason Sapia (summer 2011) researched obesity taxes, co-authored a study on local income taxes, and wrote blog posts on ethanol tax credit and Illinois tax checkoffs.
• Sarah Hyon (spring 2011) researched unemployment insurance taxes and gasoline taxes.
• Kailee Tkacz (spring 2011) authored a review of Connecticut tax changes, studied tax-induced cigarette smuggling, and met the IRS commissioner, and wrote blog posts on film tax credits, congressional hearings, and the estate tax.
• Alex Wood-Doughty (spring 2011) compiled data for Facts & Figures, drafted testimony on California tax reform, co-authored a study on Michigan tax reform, and blog posts on tax breaks for Twitter, online sales taxes, and mandatory tax preparation.
• Steven Pahuskin (summer 2010) prepared a study of income taxes imposed on out-of-state athletes.
• Xander Stephenson (summer 2010) authored 6 blog posts, researched state tax changes and sales tax holidays, and attended over 30 related events in the DC area.
• Micah Cohen (summer 2009) co-authored with Kiran an op-ed, "Solving California's Budget Problems," published in his hometown paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Andre Dammert (summer 2009) co-authored a piece with Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge on corporate tax rates in the OECD countries.
• Will Luther (summer 2008) prepared a study on film tax credits published in-house and distributed to state legislators and activists across the country.
• Sarah Larson (summer 2008) organized logistics for summer conferences and authored 10 blog posts on many topics.
• Adam Creighton (summer 2007) authored a tongue-in-cheek op-ed, "Taxing Obesity: A Modest Proposal," which was published in The American.
• Sara Cseresnyes (summer 2006) co-authored an op-ed, "Soda Tax the Wrong Way to Curb Obesity," which was published in the Denver Post.
• Justine Lam (summer 2004) authored an op-ed, "Don't Let the Cigarette Tax Hurt the Poor," which was published in the Contra Costa Times.
• Nicole Akar (summer 2004) was quoted in an editorial on tax exemptions in the Florida Times-Union.

Applying

Tax Foundation internships are available each fall, spring, and summer, and applications are considered on a rolling basis, with preference given to earlier applications (see the notation at the top of this page for which applications are being considered currently).

Application deadlines:
For Summer 2013: No later than April 1, 2013
For Fall 2013: No later than August 1, 2013
For Spring 2014: No later than December 1, 2013

Internships (except virtual internships) are located at our office in downtown Washington, D.C., and are unpaid unless indicated otherwise. We are committed to responding to completed applications within 2 weeks of deadlines.

To apply, please fill out the form below.

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