At the Tax Foundation, our interns work on substantive projects that have a real impact on national, state, and global tax reform debates. Our program not only introduces you to the principles of sound tax policy but also teaches you how to apply them to advance public policy and tax literacy. Interns will gain experience from a talented and dynamic team passionate about working with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to improve lives through smarter tax policy and education.
2024 Summer Internship Tracks
We are always looking for interns to support our federal, state, and global tax teams, development team, external affairs team, and educational initiative, TaxEDU.
A Tax Foundation internship provides you hands-on experience working on these teams as well as the opportunity to hear from expert speakers on a variety of topics throughout the summer. Our program is unique in that it provides significant exposure to every department at the Tax Foundation to build a well-rounded experience.
Applications will re-open in 2024 and are reviewed on a rolling basis. Internships typically start in May and end in early-August.
Federal Tax Policy
Federal team interns conduct research and analysis on timely debates in federal tax policy while also supporting our modeling efforts to score the economic, distributional, and revenue effects of proposed federal tax changes.
State Tax Policy
State team interns help write about important state-level tax developments and assist in the research for major Tax Foundation publications.
Global Tax Policy
Global team interns help conduct comparative analyses of tax systems in countries around the world, facilitate meetings with policymakers and stakeholders, and track tax policy developments at the OECD and European Union.
Development
Development team interns help maintain key relationships with the Tax Foundation’s large donor network. Interns obtain a working knowledge of the fundamentals of fundraising including stewardship with top organizations and policymakers, engaging in research, CRM database management, developing communication materials, and representing the Tax Foundation to our diverse donor base.
TaxEDU
TaxEDU interns actively advance tax literacy by helping develop free educational materials and conduct outreach to college and high school educators, students, taxpayers, and lawmakers nationwide.
External Affairs
External affairs interns help connect Tax Foundation research with policymakers from Washington, D.C. to Washington state as well as business and public policy leaders throughout the world. Interns get hands-on experience tracking policy developments, conducting outreach, crafting communications, and managing events.
Important Details
The Tax Foundation is happy to work with outside fellowship programs to host interns and to assist in arranging for school credit. Full-time summer interns will be compensated at $15 per hour. Our staff operates on a hybrid schedule, which includes several days in the D.C. office each week. Preference will be given to interns working in the D.C. metro area.
Applications are considered on a rolling basis, with preference given to earlier applications.