Tax Policy Center
Tax Policy Center is a nonpartisan, jointly-operated research venture between the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution that produces independent tax policy analysis, microsimulation models, and tariff tracking tools for policymakers, academics, media, and the public, distributing all products at no cost.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Tax Policy Center does
Tax Policy Center (officially the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center) is a nonpartisan, jointly-operated research venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, headquartered at 500 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC. It produces rigorous, independent analysis of federal, state, and international tax policy for federal and state policymakers, congressional staff, Treasury and IRS officials, academic researchers, journalists, and the general public. The organization distributes all publications, model estimates, blog posts, and event information at no cost to the public, operating as a public good supported by grants, donations, and institutional support from its two parent organizations rather than commercial pricing.
The core product surface is anchored by a set of technical modeling assets: a large-scale Individual Tax Microsimulation Model built on IRS Statistics of Income data reweighted to be nationally and state representative; a Business Tax Model for analyzing corporate and pass-through tax policy; a State Tax Model for state-level tax and fiscal analysis; and a newer suite of tariff analytics including a Tariff Rules Engine that computes roughly 10 billion tariff rates from USITC data across policies such as Section 301, Section 232, Section 122, IEEPA, and trade agreements; a Tariff Revenue Model that incorporates behavioral adjustments and domestic industry competitiveness; and a Tariff Supply Chain Model that uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis Input-Output framework to map tariff burden from imported goods to final goods and services. Surrounding the modeling layer are educational products including the Briefing Book (an encyclopedia of taxes), Fiscal Facts, Daily Deduction, the TaxVox blog, the TPC Tariff Tracker feature, and Model Estimate Tables surfacing revenue and distributional projections.
The business model is grant-and-donation funded rather than revenue-generating from end users. Goto-market is content-led and partnership-driven: products are distributed via the website, partner channels at Urban Institute and Brookings, and earned media citations in major outlets. The customer set is horizontally segmented across policymakers, academics, media, and the public, with no commercial sales motion. Notable ongoing partnerships include the annual IRS/TPC Joint Research Conference on Tax Administration (since 2011), and co-hosted events with the University of North Carolina Tax Center, American Tax Policy Institute, NYU Tax Law Center, and the Murphy Institute at Tulane University.
Tax Policy Center firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tax Policy Center
- Legal name
- Tax Policy Center
- Website
- https://taxpolicycenter.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Tax Policy Center is a nonpartisan, jointly-operated research venture between the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution that produces independent tax policy analysis, microsimulation models, and tariff tracking tools for policymakers, academics, media, and the public, distributing all products at no cost.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tax Policy Center industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Public Policy Tax Research
- NAICS
- Administration of Economic Programs (9261), Public Finance Activities (921130)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Tax Policy, Legislation & Rulings (BPAIADAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Tax Law (BPAHAAAG), State/Provincial Taxation & Revenue Administration (BPAIABAD), Excise, VAT/Sales Tax & Indirect Tax Administration (BPAIADAH), Taxpayer Services, Education & Outreach (BPAIADAM)
Keywords
Where Tax Policy Center is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Tax Policy Center business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Tax Policy Center product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tax Policy Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization that produces rigorous analysis of U.S. tax policy through proprietary microsimulation models, tariff tracking tools, and a reference encyclopedia of taxes. It distributes its research, model estimates, blog commentary, and event content free of charge to policymakers, academics, journalists, and the general public. As the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, it operates as a joint venture of two leading U.S. policy research institutions.
Product overview
Tax Policy Center operates as a research organization offering a suite of tax policy analysis products and models. The core offerings include TaxVox (the organization's blog for analysis and commentary), the TPC Tariff Tracker for monitoring tariff developments, Tax Model Analysis utilizing a large-scale microsimulation model based on IRS data, Model Estimate Tables for revenue and distributional projections, and the Briefing Book as a comprehensive tax policy reference. The analytical infrastructure includes specialized sub-products: the Tariff Rules Engine (computing approximately 10 billion tariff rates), the Tariff Revenue Model (estimating behavioral-adjusted tariff collections), and the Tariff Supply Chain Model (distributing tariff burden using Input-Output frameworks). Additional educational resources include Fiscal Facts and Daily Deduction. TPC also maintains a State Tax Model for analyzing state-level tax policies. Together these products provide comprehensive tax policy research, modeling, and analysis capabilities for policymakers, academics, and the public.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- TaxVox TaxVox is the Tax Policy Center's blog, publishing ongoing analysis and commentary on tax policy issues affecting state governments and the federal legislature. It serves policymakers, academics, journalists, and the general public.
- TPC Tariff Tracker The TPC Tariff Tracker tracks tariff developments and provides daily-updated estimates of how tariffs affect federal revenues, households, and the broader economy. It serves policymakers, journalists, and the public.
- Tax Model Analysis Tax Model Analysis is the Tax Policy Center's microsimulation modeling capability using detailed tax return data to estimate the distributional and revenue effects of tax policy proposals. It is targeted at federal and state policymakers, analysts, and researchers.
- Model Estimate Tables Model Estimate Tables present revenue and distributional estimates from TPC's tax models, showing impact projections across fiscal years for use by policymakers, analysts, and researchers.
- Briefing Book The Briefing Book is a comprehensive online encyclopedia of taxes that provides foundational reference information on tax policy topics for policymakers, journalists, academics, students, and the general public.
- Fiscal Facts Fiscal Facts is a quick-reference resource that provides facts and data on fiscal and tax policy issues, intended for use by journalists, policymakers, researchers, and the public.
- Daily Deduction Daily Deduction is a daily newsletter and update service providing tax policy news and analysis for subscribers including policymakers, journalists, and the public.
- State Tax Model The State Tax Model analyzes state-level tax policies and supports a state fiscal data repository, including analyses of state child tax credits. It targets state policymakers, researchers, and analysts.
Quantifiable outcome
- Tracks tariff developments affecting federal revenues, households, and the economy with daily-updated analysis
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Tax Policy Center
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Tax Policy Center technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Tax Policy Center partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- American Tax Policy InstitutemajorCo-organized 'Taxes and the Future of Philanthropy' conference. Joint collaboration on tax policy research and events.
- University of North Carolina Tax CentermajorCo-host of events including 'Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Investment Incentives and Financial Reporting' and 'Responding to Income Shifting by Multinational Corporations'. UNC Tax Center is an affiliated center of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)coreAnnual IRS/TPC Joint Research Conference on Tax Administration - the only annual conference focused on tax administration research. Partners with IRS Office of Research, Applied Analytics, and Statistics. Conference has been held annually since 2011 (16th edition in 2026).
- Urban InstitutecoreCo-founding parent organization. TPC is the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, with Urban Institute providing institutional infrastructure, staff, and research support.
- Brookings InstitutioncoreCo-founding parent organization. TPC is the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, with Brookings providing institutional infrastructure, staff, and research support through its Economic Studies Program.
- Murphy Institute at Tulane UniversityminorCo-host of conference 'How Are States Responding to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?' along with Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at University of Tennessee.
- Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at University of TennesseeminorCo-host of conference examining state responses to the TCJA.
- Tax Law Center at NYU LawmajorCo-hosted event 'How the Supreme Court Case Moore v. United States Could Alter the Tax Landscape' examining constitutional tax implications.
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Tax Policy Center competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- American Enterprise Institute: AEI is a broader think tank with a dedicated tax policy program that produces research and convenes scholars on tax reform. AEI is a frequent co-panelist with TPC at tax conferences (e.g., Kyle Pomerleau at the Burman tribute), and AEI's tax work competes for the same media citation set, though from a more market-oriented editorial stance.
- Manhattan Institute: Manhattan Institute is a policy research organization producing tax and fiscal policy analysis, including work on state tax reform and federal tax cuts. Direct overlap with TPC's State Tax Model and federal budget work, though from a center-right editorial stance.
- Urban Institute: Urban Institute is the other co-founding parent of TPC, providing institutional infrastructure, staff, and research support. Urban's broader research agenda on economic policy, housing, and social policy complements and overlaps with TPC's tax-and-fiscal remit, particularly through shared senior fellows.
- Brookings Institution: Brookings is a co-founding parent organization of TPC and hosts several TPC senior fellows within its Economic Studies program. Brookings' broader economic policy work frequently references and incorporates TPC analysis, and TPC benefits from Brookings' brand and distribution channels.
Direct peers
- Penn Wharton Budget Model: Wharton's Penn Wharton Budget Model produces revenue and distributional estimates of federal tax proposals using microsimulation, directly competing with TPC's Model Estimate Tables. Both publish fiscal-impact scoring cited by media and policymakers, and both publish methodology documentation for replication.
- Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: ITEP is a nonpartisan tax policy research organization that produces microsimulation analyses of state and federal tax policy with a focus on distributional impact by income and race. Direct overlap with TPC's work on individual tax, state tax, and distributional tables.
- Tax Foundation: Tax Foundation is the closest direct peer: a nonpartisan tax policy research organization that produces microsimulation modeling, distributional analysis, and policy commentary consumed by policymakers, media, and the public. Both organizations compete for citation in Washington tax debates and publish similar briefing-book-style educational content.
- Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: CRFB is a bipartisan fiscal policy organization focused on federal budget sustainability and debt. TPC's federal budget and economy research and Burman tribute event overlap directly with CRFB's fiscal-policy remit, and TPC Director Tracy Gordon and CRFB's Marc Goldwein are frequent co-panelists.
- Congressional Budget Office: The CBO is a government entity that produces official revenue and distributional estimates of federal tax legislation. TPC competes with CBO for citation and influence on Capitol Hill, and several TPC senior fellows (McClelland, Rosenberg, Holtzblatt) are CBO alumni. Output overlap on tax policy scoring is substantial.
- Joint Committee on Taxation: The Joint Committee on Taxation is Congress's official scorekeeper for tax legislation, producing the official distributional and revenue estimates cited by House and Senate tax-writing committees. TPC's microsimulation outputs are often framed as alternatives or checks against JCT's official scoring.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tax Policy Center social profiles
Digital presenceTax Policy Center financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tax Policy Center leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Tax Policy Center funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tax Policy Center M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tax Policy Center
What does Tax Policy Center do?
Tax Policy Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization that produces rigorous analysis of U.S. tax policy through proprietary microsimulation models, tariff tracking tools, and a reference encyclopedia of taxes. It distributes its research, model estimates, blog commentary, and event content free of charge to policymakers, academics, journalists, and the general public. As the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, it operates as a joint venture of two leading U.S. policy research institutions.
Is Tax Policy Center a public or private company?
Tax Policy Center is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Tax Policy Center founded?
Tax Policy Center was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Tax Policy Center based?
Tax Policy Center is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Tax Policy Center's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are American Enterprise Institute, Manhattan Institute, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. Direct peers are Penn Wharton Budget Model, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Tax Foundation, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation.
Does Tax Policy Center have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tax Policy Center.
What industry is Tax Policy Center in?
Tax Policy Center's product category is Public Policy Tax Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIADAA, Tax Policy, Legislation & Rulings, with a secondary code of BPAHAAAG, Tax Law. Its NAICS code is 9261.