With presidential candidates and congressional leaders debating taxes, there is renewed interest in how federal tax reform could affect the states. New federal proposals range from modest changes to major ones, such as cutting or increasing taxes, taxing consumption instead of income, overhauling business taxes, or introducing new taxes. The effects of these federal proposals on individual tax burdens would vary across states, as would their effect on state tax revenues and state economies.

Organized by the Urban Institute’s State and Local Finance Initiative and the Urban–Brookings Tax Policy Center, this forum reviewed the various consequences of possible federal tax reform for the states. The forum focused on the following questions:

• How do federal and state individual income tax systems interact, and how would the proposed changes to the federal system affect states’ income taxes?
• How would repealing the federal corporate income tax or converting it to a business cash-flow tax affect state corporate income taxes?
• How would new federal taxes affect the states?
• How would changing tax benefits for families affect the states?

Panelists

• Liz Farmer, staff writer, Governing (moderator)
• Jeff Friedman, partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
• Elizabeth McNichol, senior fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Scott Pattison, executive director and chief executive officer, National Governors Association
• Frank Sammartino, senior fellow, Urban Institute​

Event Materials

• Agenda
• Speaker biographies
• Speaker presentation
• Revisiting the State and Local Tax Deduction
• ​Incorporating State Analysis Into the TPC Microsimulation Model

For inquiries regarding this event, please contact [email protected].