Blog – Page 47

Richard Phillips
Senior Policy Analyst

February 22, 2017

The Border Adjustment Tax Creates More Problems Than It Solves

In recent weeks, the Republican congressional leadership’s effort to introduce a comprehensive tax reform bill has increasingly faced opposition from major business groups and skeptical lawmakers from across the aisle. The primary source of dissent thus far is that the most prominent tax framework, the House GOP’s “Better Way” tax blueprint, contains a radical provision […]
Misha Hill
Policy Analyst

February 15, 2017

What to Watch in the States: Modernizing Sales Taxes for a 21st Century Economy

This is the fourth installment of our six-part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. State lawmakers often find themselves looking for ways to raise revenue to fund vital public services, fill budget gaps, or pay for the elimination or weakening of progressive taxes. Lately, that search has […]
February 15, 2017

State Rundown 2/15: Tax Overhauls Debated Around the Country

This week we are following a number of significant proposals being debated or introduced including reinstating the income tax in Alaska and eliminating the tax in West Virginia, establishing a regressive tax-cut trigger in Nebraska, restructuring the Illinois sales tax, moving New Mexico to a flat income tax and broader gross receipts tax, and updating […]
Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Senior Analyst

February 13, 2017

‘IMPROVE’ Act Fails to Improve Tennessee’s Regressive Tax Code

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposal (dubbed the IMPROVE Act) to raise the state’s gas tax while cutting three other taxes would essentially be a tax cut for the state’s wealthiest residents and a tax increase for the lowest-income Tennesseans. While the gas tax is badly in need of an update to fund maintenance and investment […]
ITEP Staff

February 9, 2017

Tax Justice Digest: What to watch in the states, debunking the supply-side myth

In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. What to Watch in the States in 2017 State and federal gas taxes are the cornerstone of our […]
Misha Hill
Policy Analyst

February 8, 2017

Lawmakers Should Not Use Disproven Trickle-Down Myth to Ramrod Tax Cuts for the Rich

For more than four decades, supply-side ideologues have promoted the myth that tax cuts for the wealthy are self-financing and the benefits eventually trickle down to everyone else, despite real-life evidence that tax cuts for the rich benefit the rich. Not even the reality of 40 years of widening income inequality or the current economic […]
February 8, 2017

State Rundown 2/8: Lessons of Kansas Tax-Cut Disaster Taking Hold in Kansas, Still Lost on Some in Other States

This week we bring news of Kansas lawmakers attempting to fix ill-advised tax cuts that have wreaked havoc on the state’s budget and schools, while their counterparts in Nebraska and Idaho debate bills that would create similar problems for their own states, as well as tax cuts in Arkansas that were proven unaffordable within one […]
Carl Davis
Research Director

February 6, 2017

Dodging Tough Fiscal Decisions with State Tax Cut Triggers and Phase-Ins

The most challenging problem that tax-cutting state lawmakers face is dealing with the budgetary tradeoffs that tax cuts require. Should education spending be reduced? Should investments in infrastructure be halted? Should the state cut back on transfers to local governments and require them to pick up the slack? Or should other taxes and fees be […]
Carl Davis
Research Director

February 2, 2017

What to Watch in the States: Gas Tax Hikes and Swaps

This is the second installment of our six part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. State tax policy can be a divisive issue, but no area has generated more agreement among lawmakers across the country than the need to raise new revenues to fund infrastructure improvements. The […]
Aidan Davis
State Policy Director

February 2, 2017

What to Watch in the States: Further Attempts to Weaken or Eliminate Progressive Taxes

This is the third installment of our six-part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. As we described last week, many states are gearing up for challenging budget debates this year. But the need to address revenue shortfalls has not stopped lawmakers in many states from pursuing harmful […]
February 1, 2017

State Rundown 2/1: 2017 State Tax Debates Getting Real

This week’s Rundown brings news of tax cuts passed in Arkansas and advanced in Idaho, proposals to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales taxes in Nevada and Michigan, revenue shortfalls forcing tough choices in Louisiana and Maine, and more governors’ state of the state addresses and budget proposals setting the stage for yet more tax […]
Carl Davis
Research Director

January 30, 2017

And Then There Were Six: Amazon Expands Its Sales Tax Collection

UPDATE: After this post was published, Amazon announced that it will begin collecting sales tax in Oklahoma on March 1. This post has been updated to reflect this development. The nation’s largest Internet retailer has made an about-face on its sales tax policy, making consumers’ ability to evade sales tax on online purchases a little […]
Lisa Christensen Gee
Director of Special Initiatives

January 27, 2017

What to Watch in the States Series: Tax Policy 2017

Over the next few weeks we will be blogging about what we’re watching in state tax policy during 2017 legislative sessions. In this “What to Watch in the States” series, we will look at the following: State responses to short- and long-term revenue deficits Boosting funding for infrastructure, though sometimes at the expense of other […]
Carl Davis
Research Director

January 26, 2017

A Visual Tour of Who Pays State & Local Taxes

While it can be hard to look away from the important federal policy debates occurring right now in Washington D.C., state lawmakers across the country will also be debating consequential fiscal policy changes in 2017 that will deserve close scrutiny. The context of those debates will vary by state: from coping with major revenue shortfalls, […]
Meg Wiehe
Deputy Executive Director

January 26, 2017

An Overview of State Tax Trends in 2017

Since the 2007-2009 economic crisis, rising income inequality and the role our public policies play in aiding or easing this trend have been an ongoing part of the public discourse. In spite of what we know about the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us, federal and state policymakers continue to sell […]
ITEP Staff

January 26, 2017

Tax Justice Digest: A Visual Tour of Who Pays, 2017 State Tax Trends

In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. New! A Visual Tour of Who Pays State and Local Taxes To help inform 2017 statehouse debates, ITEP […]
January 25, 2017

State Rundown 1/25: Revenue Shortfalls and How to Avoid Them

This week brings more news of states facing budget crunches, a new state looking to eliminate income taxes, and plans to raise gas taxes to fund transportation projects. Be sure to check out the What We’re Reading section for a look at how repealing federal health reform could add to those crunches and a review […]
Carl Davis
Research Director

January 25, 2017

47 Years Later, Alaska Considers Playing Catch-Up with its Motor Fuel Tax

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker recently proposed tripling the gasoline and diesel tax rates paid by Alaska motorists to generate funding for the state’s infrastructure. In a different state, tripling the motor fuel tax might be a radical policy change. But Alaska’s tax has not been updated since 1970 and because of those 47 years of […]
ITEP Staff

January 19, 2017

Tax Justice Digest: Kansas again, state budget woes, and corporate tax cuts

In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been working on lately. Trickle-down policies did not and will not work In December, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback told the Wall Street Journal that […]
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy Analyst

January 18, 2017

Trump Plan to Give Billions in Tax Breaks to Multinational Corporations May Have Bipartisan Support

There are a lot of troubling components of the tax reform packages being proposed by President-Elect Donald Trump and the House GOP, but one that especially stands out is the push to give companies a tax break on the earnings they are holding offshore. Unfortunately, proposals rewarding the nation’s most egregious tax dodging multinational corporations […]
Lisa Christensen Gee
Director of Special Initiatives

January 18, 2017

Kansas State of the State: Worlds Apart

Back in December, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback gave an interview with the Wall Street Journal and suggested President-elect Trump should follow his state’s example and cut taxes as well as spending. The sheer gall of the suggestion belies the fact that Kansas’s tax cuts have resulted in credit downgrades, lack of adequate funding for essential […]
January 18, 2017

State Rundown 1/18: Revenue Woes Piling Up Faster Than Solutions

This week we continue to track revenue shortfalls, governors’ budget proposals, and other tax news around the country, finding most proposals to be focused on slashing taxes and reducing public investments despite public opinion and economic research showing the benefits of well-funded state services and progressive tax policies. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, […]
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy Analyst

January 17, 2017

Congress Shouldn’t Defy Public Opinion and Good Policy by Cutting Taxes for Corporations and the Wealthy

Members of Congress have floated fundamental changes to the tax code for years, but last week marked a ramping up of these efforts as Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan met with President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors to discuss how to move forward with tax reform in 2017. Plans floated by the incoming […]
Richard Phillips
Senior Policy Analyst

January 17, 2017

State of Play: The Coming Debate Over the Ryan and Trump Tax Plans

If the incoming Trump Administration and Republican-lead Congress have their way, fundamental changes to the tax code are afoot. The most important similarity between the Ryan and Trump tax plans are dramatic reductions in the corporate tax rate and across-the-board tax cuts whose benefits primarily flow to the richest Americans. Because of their potentially catastrophic […]
January 11, 2017

State Rundown 1/11: State Legislative Sessions Kick Off Amid Uncertainty

This week brings still more states looking for solutions to revenue shortfalls, multiple governors’ State of The State addresses, important reading on counter-transparency and local-preemption efforts, and more. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe A Nebraska legislator this week diagnosed the state’s $900 million revenue shortfall in plain terms, describing it as “self-inflicted […]