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Nikhita Airi

Research Associate

Primary tasks

Biography

Nikhita Airi is a research associate in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a contributor to the Urban Institute’s State and Local Finance Initiative. Her research focuses on the earned income tax credit and child tax credit, state income and sales taxes, and federal grants to state and local governments.

Airi holds a BA in Economics from Reed College.

Research Reports

Research report

State and Local Issues
Constructing a Child Tax Credit That Fits Every State
Richard C. Auxier, David Weiner, Nikhita Airi

February 28, 2024
Brief

Individual Taxes
Understanding Yearly Changes in Family Structure and Income and Their Impact on Tax Credits
Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi, Lillian Hunter

February 3, 2023
Brief

Individual Taxes
Helping New Mothers Understand the Benefits of Filing Taxes
Nikhita Airi, Luisa Godinez-Puig, Kim S. Rueben

December 23, 2022
Brief

Individual Taxes
Trusted Messengers' Role in Helping New Mothers File Taxes
Nikhita Airi, Luisa Godinez-Puig, Kim S. Rueben

December 23, 2022
Brief

Individual Taxes
Comparing Plans to Reduce Child Poverty: the Family Security Act 2.0 Framework and the Expanded Child Tax Credit
Kevin Werner, Nikhita Airi, Elaine Maag

December 6, 2022
Research report

Individual Taxes
How Well Can Limited Data Predict Annual Tax Credits
Elaine Maag, H. Elizabeth Peters, Nikhita Airi, Karen E. Smith

October 17, 2022
Research report

Individual Taxes
The Pros and Cons of Cannabis Taxes
Richard C. Auxier, Nikhita Airi

September 28, 2022
Brief

Federal Budget and Economy
Lessons from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for an Inclusive Recovery from the Pandemic
Aravind Boddupalli, Nikhita Airi, Tracy Gordon, Solomon Greene

November 19, 2021
Brief

State and Local Issues
How Broad Are State Sales Tax Bases?
Nikhita Airi, Frank Sammartino

April 19, 2021
Brief

Individual Taxes
Designing an Effective and More Universal Charitable Deduction
C. Eugene Steuerle, Robert McClelland, Nikhita Airi, Chenxi Lu, Aravind Boddupalli

March 17, 2021
Brief

Individual Taxes
Extending the California Earned Income Tax Credit to Postsecondary Students
Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi

March 3, 2021
Brief

Individual Taxes
Options to Increase the EITC for Workers Without Children at Home
Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi

February 4, 2021
Brief

Individual Taxes
Extending the Earned Income Tax Credit to Students: A Comparison of Aid Policies
Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi, Sandy Baum, Kim S. Rueben

December 17, 2020
Brief

Individual Taxes
Understanding the Maze of Recent Child and Work Incentive Proposals
Elaine Maag, Nikhita Airi

June 1, 2020
Brief

Individual Taxes
Extending the Earned Income Tax Credit: How the Economic Security Project’s Cost-of-Living Refund Would Affect Family Caregivers
Elaine Maag, Melissa M. Favreault, Nikhita Airi

January 30, 2020

From TaxVox

State and Local Issues
Three Lessons for Policymakers Designing a State Child Tax Credit
March 11, 2024 –
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) temporarily but significantly expanded the federal child tax credit (CTC), and child poverty fell from 9.7 percent to...
State and Local Issues
As Congress Debates a More Generous Child Tax Credit, 11 States Already Deliver a Fully Refundable CTC
March 7, 2024 –
A bipartisan tax plan that overwhelmingly passed in the House is now stuck in the Senate in part because of proposed changes to the child...
Individual Taxes
The New Child Tax Credit Proposal Versus Old Concerns About Work Incentives
January 24, 2024 –
Momentum behind a tax plan drafted by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) has...
Individual Taxes
Evidence Suggests Expanding The Child Tax Credit Could Ease Hardship Among Families With Kids
January 10, 2024 –
Fast-approaching government shutdown deadlines in Congress are providing renewed momentum for an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). A targeted CTC expansion would deliver...
State and Local Issues
Lessons From The 2021 Child Tax Credit Expansion Informing State Policy Debates
September 12, 2023 –
It’s been two years since the expiration of the expanded child tax credit (CTC), a temporary provision of the American Rescue Plan that effectively provided...
State and Local Issues
State and Local Government Jobs Still Haven’t Recovered from the Pandemic
August 9, 2023 –
New jobs data show while private employment fully recovered over a year ago, state and local public employment remains below its pre-pandemic peak. Overall, total...
Federal Budget and Economy
Debt Limit Deal Continues Misallocation Of Budget Dollars
June 26, 2023 –
The recent compromise between Republicans and Democrats on extending the federal debt limit was hailed for avoiding the disaster of a default, demonstrating that both...
Federal Budget and Economy
The President’s Budget Priorities Still Don’t Change Its Long-Term Trajectory
April 4, 2023 –
Like all presidential budgets, President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 proposals reflect the priorities he would set for the nation. As in prior years, Biden would...
Individual Taxes
Creative New Ways To Help Low-Income Families File Their Taxes
January 30, 2023 –
New mothers , families with low incomes , and immigrant parents often miss out on tax benefits by failing to file returns. But with tax...
Individual Taxes
Family Security Act 2.0 Child Allowance Would Help Families with Kids, with Drawbacks for Single Parents
December 8, 2022 –
The Family Security Act 2.0 (FSA 2.0) framework introduced this past June by Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Richard Burr (R-NC) emerged...
State and Local Issues
Which States Tax Student Loan Forgiveness, and Why Is It So Complicated?
September 15, 2022 –
The Biden administration’s plan for broad-based student loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 per individual won’t affect borrowers’ federal tax bills, but it could have...
Federal Budget and Economy
In The Context Of The Federal Budget, The Inflation Reduction Act Wasn’t Very Big
September 12, 2022 –
It’s always tempting to exaggerate the importance of the latest big fight in Congress. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) made some major policy...
Individual Taxes
Effective Income Tax Rates Have Fallen for The Top One Percent Since World War II
September 15, 2021 –
While average effective tax rates barely changed in the US from 1945 to 2015, the average tax rates of high-income households fell sharply—from about 50...
Individual Taxes
Congress Must Redesign the Charitable Deduction: How to Do It Well
March 23, 2021 –
In 2017 and again in 2020, Congress made deficient—but temporary—changes to the federal income tax deduction for charitable giving. By significantly increasing the standard deduction,...
Individual Taxes
The Child Tax Credit Grows Up to Lift Millions of Children Out of Poverty
March 16, 2021 –
Last week, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law. And the Child Tax Credit (CTC) that began life in 1998 as a...
State and Local Issues
Congress Can Help State and Local Governments Prepare for a Rainy Day Without Repealing the SALT Cap
January 14, 2021 –
With Joe Biden in the White House and narrow control of the Congress, Democrats are likely to try to restore the full state and local...
Individual Taxes
Families Can Use the Child Care Tax Credit to Pay for Informal Day Care, But the System Can Be Improved
December 30, 2020 –
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the face of child care.
State and Local Issues
Why Do States Tax Illegal Drugs?
November 18, 2020 –
Say you came into possession of some illegal drugs. What’s your next move? According to some states, you should immediately pay the state’s tax on...
Individual Taxes
COVID-19 Is Changing The Labor Market. Tax Policy Must Change Along With It.
October 13, 2020 –
The coronavirus recession has dealt a devastating blow to millions of US workers with consequences that could persist for years.
Effective Income Tax Rates Have Fallen For The Top One Percent Since World War II
January 6, 2020 –
For the individual income tax, effective tax rates — measured as federal income tax divided by adjusted gross income (AGI) —have fallen significantly over the...
TPC’s New Guide To The 2020 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Policy Proposals: We’re Keeping Track So You Don’t Have To.
December 12, 2019 –
More than 300 tax ideas explained