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This week in state tax news we saw a destructive tax cut effort defeated in Georgia, a state shutdown avoided in New York, and lawmakers hone in on major tax debates in Massachusetts, Nebraska, South Carolina, and WestVirginia. State efforts to collect taxes owed on online purchases continue to heat up as well. — Meg […]
NC Policy Watch: What you need to know as the state Senate moves to cut taxes yet again
April 3, 2017
The North Carolina Senate is moving ahead yet again – perhaps as early as this afternoon – with a new proposal to further reduce state taxes and the revenues they generate to fund essential public structures and services. While the plan is billed as “a billion dollar middle class tax cut,” a closer look at […]
Evidence Counts: Senate Tax Plan Creates Big Budget Hole, Shifts Tax Load Onto Working Families (Updated)
March 31, 2017
Last Wednesday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 409 that makes sweeping changes to the state’s tax system that decrease personal income and severance taxes while increasing sales taxes. Similar to previous Senate tax proposals, SB 409 shifts the tax load onto working families to pay for tax cuts for wealthier West Virginians. On top of […]
The Progressive Pulse: Why cutting taxes for business again makes no sense
March 31, 2017
When businesses pay their share of taxes, North Carolina is able to invest in the things that build thriving communities and a prosperous economy – things like good schools, roads, public health and a clean environment. The Senate’s tax plan, Senate Bill 325, includes a tax cut for businesses that goes against this proven principle. […]
Evidence Counts: Tax Reform Might Improve WV’s Business Tax Climate, Sound Familiar?
March 29, 2017
Today, the House will vote on HB 2933, the latest version of “tax reform” in the state. HB 2933 would broaden the sales tax base, lower the sales tax rate to 5%, and create a flat 5.1% income tax rate. The bill would drastically increase West Virginia’s already regressive tax system. The vast majority of […]
State Rundown 3/29: More States Looking to Raise or Protect Revenues Amid Fiscal and Federal Uncertainty
March 29, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
This week we see West Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota, and Nebraska continue to deliberate regressive tax cut proposals, as the District of Columbia considers cancelling tax cut triggers it put in place in prior years, and lawmakers in Hawaii, Washington, Kansas, and Delaware ponder raising revenues to shore up their budgets. Meanwhile, gas tax debates continue […]
Evidence Counts: House and Senate Tax Proposals Shift Tax Load Onto Working Families (Updated)
March 26, 2017
The House and the Senate have advanced two similar tax bills that make substantial changes to the state’s personal income and sales tax, which account for over 75 percent of state general revenue fund collections. Both of these bills will shift the tax load from the wealthy onto working families. It is unclear how either […]
What to Watch in the States: State Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) on the Move
March 24, 2017 • By Misha Hill
While every state’s tax system is regressive, meaning lower income people pay a higher tax rate than the rich, some states aim to improve tax fairness through a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Federal lawmakers established the in 1975 to bolster the earnings of low-wage workers, especially workers with children and offset some of […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony to the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Senate Bill 35
March 22, 2017
The federal earned income tax credit (EITC) was designed to keep people working, lift families out of poverty, boost their income to help weather financial emergencies, and help offset payroll taxes, which hit low-income families the hardest. The EITC was founded in 1975 under President Gerald Ford and is considered the most powerful anti-poverty program […]
This week in state tax news saw major changes debated in Hawaii and West Virginia and proposed in North Carolina, a harmful flat tax proposal in Georgia, new ideas for ignoring revenue shortfalls in Mississippi and Nebraska, an unexpected corporate tax proposal from the governor of Louisiana, gas tax bills advance in South Carolina and […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony to the House Ways & Means Committee on House Bill 49
March 21, 2017
Governor Kasich’s tax proposal would further reinforce the shift in Ohio’s state and local tax system in favor of affluent residents and against those with lower or middle incomes. Under the plan, Ohioans who made under $56,000 last year – those in the bottom three-fifths of the income spectrum – on average would pay more tax than they do now.
Hope Policy Institute: Everyone Pays Taxes, Including Undocumented Immigrants
March 21, 2017
According to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), it is estimated that undocumented immigrants in Mississippi pay almost $22,684,000 in state and local taxes. Nationally, undocumented immigrants pay over $11.74 billion in state and local taxes. The report, entitled “Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions,” highlights the contributions of undocumented immigrants as taxpayers to state and local governments.
Maine Center for Economic Policy: MECEP Testifies Against Bills to Cut Taxes for the Wealthy at Expense of Maine’s Schools
March 20, 2017
Augusta, Maine (Monday, March 20, 2017) State legislators on the taxation committee will hold a public hearing today on several bills that would roll back the tax to pay for education enacted under Question 2, the ballot initiative passed by Maine voters in November 2016. As a result of Question 2, the state will have the capacity to provide 55% of school funding mandated by voters previously in 2004.
Evidence Counts: Wealthiest 1% of West Virginians Gain from Tax Cuts in Health Care Repeal
March 20, 2017
The House proposal to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), provides only a tiny fraction of very wealthy West Virginians tax cuts while reducing the number of Americans with health coverage by an estimated 24 million. The two big tax cuts included in the […]
The Economic Progress Institute: Understanding Rhode Island’s Motor Vehicle Tax
March 19, 2017
The Motor Vehicle Tax (commonly known as the “Car Tax”) is a property tax collected by each Rhode Island municipality based on the value of each motor vehicle owned. There are three components that determine how much each individual car is taxed: valuation, tax rate and exemption. Read more here
North Carolina Justice Center: BTC POLICY BASIC: Marginal versus Effective Personal Income Tax Rates
March 19, 2017
A great deal of confusion abounds in discussions about state personal income tax rates and how they apply to income. This policy basic clarifies the difference between marginal and effective tax rates, and gives a North Carolina-specific example of how these rates work in action. Read more here
North Carolina Justice Center: Still walking the path to zero: The Senate tax plan will harm North Carolina’s goal of building a stronger, inclusive economy
March 19, 2017
Senate leaders continue to pursue reductions to the income tax rate for wealthy taxpayers and profitable corporations even as they claim to be focused on helping low- and moderate-income taxpayers. This year they will do so without proposing immediate replacement of the revenue with sales-tax base expansions. The result is a loss of nearly $1 […]
Montana Budget & Policy Center: Capital Gains Tax Credit Valuing Wealth Over Work in Montana
March 19, 2017
In 2003, the Montana Legislature passed a capital gains tax credit that benefits a very narrow portion of our population at the great expense of our collective ability to adequately invest in public programs, from education to health care. Currently, Montana is one of just nine states offering a significant tax break for capital gains […]
Kansas Center for Economic Growth: A Flat Tax Would Only Worsen Kansas’ Budget Crisis
March 18, 2017
Governor Sam Brownback’s 2012 plan to phase out the state income tax created an unprecedented fiscal crisis for Kansas. Some options presented for addressing this crisis would “flatten” Kansas’ income tax and require all Kansans to pay the same income tax rate, regardless of how much they earn. Read more here
State tax debates have been very active this week. Efforts to eliminate the income tax continue in West Virginia. Policymakers in many states are responding to revenue shortfalls in very different ways: some in Iowa, Mississippi, and Nebraska seek to dig the hole even deeper with tax cuts, while the Missouri House’s response has been […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Testimony Regarding S.B. No. 787 – AAC Revenue Items To Implement the Governor’s Budget
March 9, 2017
At Connecticut Voices for Children, we view the state budget as the clearest statement of Connecticut’s policy priorities. We believe that these priorities should advance long-term inclusive economic prosperity, equity of opportunity, and support for our most vulnerable residents. We believe that an effective revenue system can advance these core priorities by adhering to five […]
Minnesota Budget Project: Undocumented Immigrants Pay $83 Million in State Taxes, Would Pay More with Immigration Reform
March 9, 2017
Undocumented immigrants play a vital role in Minnesota’s economy and currently pay an estimated $83 million in state and local taxes, according to a new report from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Under immigration reform that provides a path to legal status, ITEP estimates these contributions would substantially increase.
This week brings more news of states considering reforms to their consumption taxes, on everything from gasoline in South Carolina and Tennessee, to marijuana in Pennsylvania, to groceries in Idaho and Utah, and to practically everything in West Virginia. Meanwhile, the fiscal fallout of Kansas’s failed ‘tax experiment’ has new consequences as the state’s Supreme […]
Thursday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. The day draws attention to the progress that has been made and the work that still needs to be done in advancing gender equality. Many campaigns on issues like equal pay or paid family leave acknowledge that economic policies impact women and men differently. But we often overlook […]
Connecticut Voices for Children: Testimony Regarding Estate and Gift Taxes and Exempting Retirement Income: SB 5, SB 58, HB 6358, SB 6, SB 272, HB 6558, and HB 5587
March 3, 2017
Exemptions to Pensions and Social Security – Exempting retirement income would not only cause immediate revenue deterioration, but given the state’s aging population, could threaten long-term adequacy of the income tax. According to the University of Virginia’s Demographics’ Research Group, Connecticut’s share of individuals age 65 and older is expected to increase rapidly from 14 […]
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