Manish Bhatt was the former Vice President of State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation, where he oversaw the Center for State Tax Policy and the strategic vision for the team. In addition, Manish advised state lawmakers and stakeholders on the principles of sound tax policy.
He routinely speaks around the country about state and local tax policy, including testifying before state legislatures. In 2024, his recommendations were pivotal to securing Louisiana’s broad tax reform, and he was appointed to Montana’s Property Tax Task Force. His work has been cited by the Financial Times, Forbes, CNBC, Newsweek, USA Today, and many state media outlets.
Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Manish counseled clients on foreign currency transactions, international corporate taxation, transfer pricing, and tax accounting at a Big Four accounting firm. Additionally, he has advised several startups and taught business law as an adjunct faculty member at TCU. Manish is a veteran of the US Coast Guard, serving as an officer and Judge Advocate.
He holds an LLM in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, a JD from St. Thomas University College of Law, and a BA from the George Washington University. In his free time, Manish enjoys fly fishing, equestrian sports, and skiing with his family.
Enacting centralized sales tax collection and administration in Louisiana will help simplify the sales tax code and alleviate one of the issues that make it the least competitive sales tax regime in the country.
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State lawmakers around the country have begun their legislative sessions, and many are considering tax reform. This piece highlights some of the areas on which they are likely to focus.
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Public Law 86-272’s vague language, limited scope, and failure to evolve with modern commerce has rendered it increasingly ineffective, burdening businesses with heightened litigation and compliance challenges.
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In 2025, the Texas legislature sought to make the state more competitive for small businesses by exempting a greater amount of business personal property from taxation, reducing compliance burdens at the cost of a trivial amount of revenue.
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Massachusetts lawmakers should look for opportunities to reform the tax code, revamp the state’s competitiveness, and stem the tide of outmigration. This bill, by contrast, would double down on the economically uncompetitive features of the Commonwealth’s existing tax code. Aggressively expanding NCTI inclusion is not productive or competitive.
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Oklahoma can continue to enhance its competitiveness by pursuing a variety of reforms to the corporate and individual income tax, but it should avoid policies that would negatively impact the economy, like enacting a wholesale elimination of the property tax.
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New Jersey’s residents deserve tax relief, and the state must stem the tide of out-migration. Affordable reforms in the near term could pave the way for more sweeping, and competitive, reforms to take root in the future.
Unlike banks, credit unions remain exempt from most taxes. The credit union tax exemption doesn’t make dollars, and now, it doesn’t make sense.
A tax preference originally designed to level the playing field now has the opposite effect, creating preferences for one class of financial institutions even though the distinctions between credit unions and banks are increasingly blurred.
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Lawmakers are right to enact a single-rate individual income tax. However, lawmakers should consider the full effects of the reform, ensuring that relief is not financed by shifting the tax burden to lower-income individuals and families.
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Montana’s 2025 legislative session has seen a flurry of property tax reform proposals, a response to the surge in property valuations in the state. Unfortunately, hasty decision-making can result in suboptimal policy outcomes.
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Lawmakers should finish the work they have begun over the past few decades, tackling tax rates and structures to give the state a leg up in an era of enhanced competition.
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With property tax bills on the rise, homeowners are searching for answers—and some even want to abolish the tax altogether. In this episode, we break down why property taxes are increasing, common but flawed solutions, and why the property tax remains an economically efficient revenue source.
Despite stark competitiveness differences, both New Jersey and Utah share a common goal this legislative session: reforming economic nexus rules that require out-of-state sellers and marketplace facilitators to collect and remit state sales taxes.
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Lawmakers will enter the 2025 fiscal legislative session with an opportunity to build on the successes of the November special session. Efforts should include addressing the outstanding issues within the corporate and sales tax codes that currently hold the state back.
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Louisiana’s tax code currently features a number of inefficient and uncompetitive policies that are leaving the state further and further behind.
Nationwide, property owners have experienced surges in valuations and are demanding tax relief. Lawmakers are right to find ways to provide it, but should do so with sound tax principles in mind.
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Taxes are on the ballot this November—not just in the sense that candidates at all levels are offering their visions for tax policy, but also in the literal sense that voters in some states will get to decide important questions about how their states raise revenue.
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Eliminating the property tax will unfortunately set North Dakota back in significant ways, making the state a national outlier and eroding regional competitiveness.
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Retail delivery fees are an inefficient and ineffective way to close budget gaps, and lawmakers should consider other, more sound, policy options.
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