Category: Personal Income Taxes
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Aidan Davis
State Policy DirectorJuly 18, 2024
Five Tax Takeaways from 2024 State Legislative Sessions
Major tax cuts were largely rejected this year, but states continue to chip away at income taxes. And while property tax cuts were a hot topic across the country, many states failed to deliver effective solutions to affordability issues. -
Eli Byerly-Duke
State Policy AnalystKeeping the Kentucky income tax on a march to zero would mean tax hikes for working families or widespread cuts to education, health care, and other public services. Reversing course is certainly the wiser course of action. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorWhile there is plenty of room to expand Direct File at the federal level, states can take matters into their own hands and bring this benefit to their residents by opting into the program. -
Alex Welch
Assistant Communications DirectorMay 16, 2024
Better Tax Codes Help Boost Teacher Pay
There are a variety of factors that affect teacher pay. But one often overlooked factor is progressive tax policies that allow states to raise and provide the funding educators and their students deserve. -
Eli Byerly-Duke
State Policy AnalystAs Iowa lawmakers change the state’s graduated personal income tax to a single flat rate, they are designing a state tax code where the rich will pay a lower rate overall than families with modest means. -
Marco Guzman
Senior Policy AnalystMarch 20, 2024
States Move to Tax the Top in 2024
These forward-thinking states are demonstrating the wide variety of options for policymakers who want to raise more from the wealthiest people, rein in corporate tax avoidance, create fair tax codes and build strong communities. -
Aidan Davis
State Policy DirectorMarch 20, 2024
Eliminating Income Taxes Would Be an Expensive Giveaway
Governors and legislative leaders in a dozen states have made calls to fully eliminate their taxes on personal or corporate income, after many states already deeply slashed them over the past few years. The public deserves to know the true impact of these plans, which would inevitably result in an outsized windfall to states’ richest taxpayers, more power in the hands of wealthy households and corporations, extreme cuts to basic public services, and more deeply inequitable state tax codes. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorMarch 11, 2024
Recent Tax Cuts Have Expanded Inequality in the States
Some states have improved tax equity by raising new revenue from the well-off and creating or expanding refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income families in recent years. Others, however, have gone the opposite direction, pushing through deep and damaging tax cuts that disproportionately help the rich. Many of these negative developments are quantified in […] -
Neva Butkus
State Policy AnalystThe governors of both Kansas and Wisconsin recently stood up to legislators who tried to push through costly tax cuts that would overwhelmingly benefit the most well-off. Lawmakers in those states and others should shift their focus from expensive, top-heavy tax cuts to tried and true policies that help middle-class and low-income families. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorMarch 4, 2024
Moving the Needle Toward Tax Fairness in the States
While many state lawmakers have spent the past few years debating deep and damaging tax cuts that disproportionately help the rich, more forward-thinking lawmakers have improved tax equity by raising new revenue from the well-off and creating or expanding refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income families. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorIt’s hard to go a week without seeing a politician or a news article hype up a state as the place that everyone is moving to – or should move to – because of low taxes. However, there’s a big problem with these proclamations: they aren’t true. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorLast week, both houses of the Kansas legislature approved a significant tax cut centered around replacing the state’s graduated rate income tax structure with a flat tax instead. The bulk of this would flow to upper-income families, mostly through lowering the state’s top income tax rate from 5.7 to 5.25 percent. This tax cut would […] -
Neva Butkus
State Policy AnalystMeaningful investments in Indiana’s future require a smart, and fair, tax code that recognizes current economic realities and can raise a sustainable stream of funding from those most able to pay. -
Aidan Davis
State Policy DirectorNearly one-third of states took steps to improve their tax systems this year by investing in people through refundable tax credits, and in a few notable cases by raising revenue from those most able to pay. But another third of states lost ground, continuing a trend of permanent tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit high-income households and make tax codes less adequate and equitable. -
Neva Butkus
State Policy AnalystMinnesota’s House, Senate and Governor’s office have each proposed their own vision as to how the state should maximize its $17.5 billion surplus and raise new revenue, and these tax plans make one thing clear: Minnesota lawmakers are serious about using tax policy to advance tax equity and improve the lives of Minnesotans. -
Brakeyshia Samms
Policy AnalystKansas lawmakers failed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a damaging flat tax package. In doing so, the state narrowly avoided traveling again down the same disastrous yet well-worn path of deep income tax cuts. States across the country can learn from Kansas’s experience by rethinking tax policy decisions and broader statewide priorities. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorApril 12, 2023
8 Things to Know About State Taxes
As Tax Day approaches, it’s worth thinking about not only the taxes that we individually pay but the overall condition of our tax code as well. State tax codes, while perhaps less discussed than the federal system, are critically important. Depending on how they are designed, state taxes can improve or worsen economic and racial […] -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorMinnesota lawmakers are considering a carveout that would treat seniors much more favorably than young families. The proposal would fully exempt all Social Security income from state income tax, even for seniors with exceptionally high incomes. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorUnder a well-designed income tax based on ability to pay, it is simply not necessary to offer special tax subsidies to older adults but not younger families. At the end of the day, your income tax bill should depend on what you can afford to pay, not the year you were born. It’s really as simple as that. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorFebruary 28, 2023
Dear Ohio: Beware the Flat Tax
The flat tax plan and others being discussed that would cut even deeper would be windfalls for the wealthy, and expensive ones at that. Families with incomes over $300,000 per year, for example, could expect to gain, as a group, about a billion dollars annually under the flat tax plan. If you asked Ohio families about their top priorities for this legislative session, it’s a safe bet that very few of them would choose a billion-dollar tax cut for this group over funding for schools, parks, and infrastructure. -
Carl Davis
Research DirectorFebruary 22, 2023
The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year
The word “tax” appears 97 times and counting in one recent summary of governors’ addresses to state legislators so far this year. The policy visions that governors are bringing, however, vary enormously. While there's good reason to worry about tax cuts for wealthy families and the flattening or elimination of income taxes, there are at least five great tax ideas coming directly out of governors’ offices this year. -
Amy Hanauer
Executive DirectorFebruary 9, 2023
Why the States Have a Major Role to Play If We Want Tax Justice
With fears of gridlock in a divided Washington, tax justice champions are building momentum in other places where there's dire need for better tax policy: the states. We can upgrade communities across the country by making 2023 a year to win tax improvements in statehouses. -
Miles Trinidad
State Policy AnalystDespite mixed economic signals for 2023, including a possible recession, many state lawmakers plan to use temporary budget surpluses to forge ahead with permanent, regressive tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of low- and middle-income households. These cuts would put state finances in a precarious position and further erode public investments in education, transportation and health, all of which are crucial for creating inclusive, vibrant communities where everyone, not just the rich, can achieve economic security and thrive. In the event of an economic downturn, these results would be accelerated and amplified. -
Jon Whiten
Deputy DirectorVoters in Massachusetts and Colorado raised taxes on their wealthiest residents to fund schools, public transportation and school lunches for kids while making their tax codes more equitable. And voters in West Virginia defeated a proposal to deeply cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and drain the coffers of county and local governments. -
Marco Guzman
Senior Policy AnalystIn a significant victory for tax fairness, Massachusetts voters approved Question 1—commonly known as the Fair Share Amendment—Tuesday night with 52 percent of the vote. The new constitutional amendment creates a 4 percent surcharge on income over $1 million, and the revenue will specifically fund education and transportation projects in the Bay State.
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