Tax Policy Center

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.

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

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

• Tax policy research
• Microsimulation modeling
• Fiscal policy analysis
• Tariff impact tracking
• Public finance research

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• American Tax Policy InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2020Co-organized 'Taxes and the Future of Philanthropy' conference. Joint collaboration on tax policy research and events.
• University of North Carolina Tax CentermajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 June 2018Co-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)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Annual 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 InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founding parent organization. TPC is the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, with Urban Institute providing institutional infrastructure, staff, and research support.
• Brookings InstitutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-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 UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-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 TennesseeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of conference examining state responses to the TCJA.
• Tax Law Center at NYU LawmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-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

Broad 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

• Xx.com/TaxPolicyCenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/taxpolicycenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tax-policy-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tax Policy Center