Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2023 Update
The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. federal individual income tax continued to be progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
43 min read
Featured Articles
What’s Missing from the Tax Burden Debate
When we discuss tax policy, the conversation inevitably turns to who pays, who should pay, and how much they should pay. Unfortunately, the tax burdens debate is often missing a key point: how income transfer programs—like Social Security or Medicaid—affect households’ tax burdens.
State and Local Tax Burdens, Calendar Year 2022
Tax burdens rose across the country as pandemic-era economic changes caused taxable income, activities, and property values to rise faster than net national product. Tax burdens in 2020, 2021, and 2022 are all higher than in any other year since 1978.
24 min readAll Related Articles
US Effective Tax Rates Remain Highly Progressive, Despite Some Economists’ Claims
Targeting wealth at the top through higher taxes has a certain appeal, but it also comes with a lot of drawbacks, including increased avoidance and reduced incentives to invest.
6 min read
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Makes the Individual Income Tax More Complex
While the OBBBA brings some stability by making many of the TCJA’s reforms permanent, it generally fails to reform the tax code’s accumulating complexity.
31 min read
Historical US Federal Individual Income Tax Rates & Brackets, 1862-2025
How do current federal individual income tax rates and brackets compare historically?
1 min read
Michigan’s Tax Gamble Could Risk Its Competitive Edge
Michigan voters may soon consider a dramatic change to the state’s income tax.
FAQ: The One Big Beautiful Bill, Explained
Our experts explain how this major tax legislation may affect you and how policymakers can better improve the tax code.
24 min read
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes many of the individual tax cuts and reforms of the TCJA permanent. It improves upon the TCJA by making expensing for R&D and equipment permanent. However, for the most part, it does not include further structural reforms, and instead introduces many new, narrow tax breaks to the code, adding complexity and raising revenue costs.
7 min read
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Tax Policies: Details and Analysis
We estimate the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would increase long-run GDP by 1.2 percent and reduce federal tax revenue by $5 trillion over the next decade on a conventional basis.
11 min read
Budget Reconciliation: Tracking the 2025 Trump Tax Cuts
President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025.
18 min read
Wisconsin’s Proposed Retirement Income Exclusion Would Shift Tax Burdens to Working Families over Time
With reports that Republican legislative leaders and Wisconsin Gov. Evers (D) have reached a budget deal for FY 2026 and 2027, it is worth examining two significant tax relief proposals included in the plan.
7 min read
Fiscal Forum: Future of the EU Tax Mix with Dr. Monika Köppl-Turyna
Tax Foundation Europe’s Sean Bray interviews Dr. Monika Köppl-Turyna, director of the EcoAustria Institute for Economic Research, about the future of the EU tax mix.
14 min read
State Tax Changes Taking Effect July 1, 2025
Summer has arrived, and states are beginning to implement policy changes that were enacted during this year’s legislative session (or that have delayed effective dates or are being phased in over time).
28 min read
Progressive Income Tax on the Ballot in Michigan?
If Michiganders are interested in increasing the state’s spending on education or other priorities—and believe that current revenues are insufficient to support such an increase—there are several ways to do so without significantly affecting residents’ incentives to live and work in Michigan.
4 min read
Rhode Island Should Not Imitate Massachusetts’ Tax Mistakes
Rhode Island lawmakers are debating raising the state’s top income tax rate. Though billed as a tax hike on high earners, the consequences would manifest across the state’s entire economy—creating a risk that Rhode Island will tax its way into uncompetitiveness.
“One Big Beautiful Bill Act” House GOP Tax Plan: Details and Analysis
Our preliminary analysis finds the tax provisions increase long-run GDP by 0.8 percent and reduce federal tax revenue by $4.0 trillion from 2025 through 2034 on a conventional basis before added interest costs.
9 min read
SALT Cap Workarounds for Some Pass-Through Entities Are Threatened by One, Big, Beautiful Bill
For owners of pass-through businesses, the reconciliation package (1) raises the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, (2) denies the benefit of pass-through entity-level taxes that had previously worked around the SALT cap for such pass-through businesses, and (3) increases the Section 199A deduction for qualifying pass-through entities.
4 min read
A More Generous SALT Deduction Cap in the Big, Beautiful Bill Would Cost Revenue and Primarily Benefit High Earners
Letting the SALT cap slip further upwards would undercut the TCJA’s long-term legacy, worsening the fiscal outlook of the tax package and providing an unneeded benefit to higher earners.
4 min read
State and Local Tax Collections Per Capita by State, 2025
According to the latest economic data from the US Census Bureau, the average per capita state and local tax burden is $7,109. However, collections vary widely by state, reflecting differences in tax rates and bases, natural resource endowments, the scale and scope of taxable economic activity in each state, and residents’ political preferences.
5 min read
Testimony: A High-Earner Income Tax Surcharge Would Hurt Rhode Island’s Economic Competitiveness
The economic literature overwhelmingly suggests that an income tax increase of this magnitude would negatively affect economic growth and opportunity in Rhode Island.
Taxes Still Affect Economic Growth, Contrary to Findings of Flawed IPS Study
The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) only succeeds in demonstrating that America has more millionaires than it used to, not that high-tax states are doing well in attracting or retaining them.
7 min read
Raising the Top Income Tax Rate Would Offset Economic Benefits of TCJA Individual Permanence
Raising the top income tax rate would raise several hundred billion dollars but would offset most of the pro-growth effects of making the TCJA’s individual tax provisions permanent by reducing incentives to work and invest.
5 min read