July 20, 2015
The issue, said Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, is growing in importance every year that state and federal governments fail to update gas tax rates. “We are reaching a breaking point right now as evidenced by all the gas tax increases we’ve seen enacted in just a little […]
July 15, 2015
One immoral aspect of Ohio’s budget is the ongoing tax shift that blesses the rich and slaps the poor. According to a recent Dispatch article, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, said that the new budget gives the richest 1 percent of Ohioans an average tax cut of $10,236 per […]
July 13, 2015
In the absence of a national gasoline tax increase, states have been raising their gas taxes to fund long-deferred road maintenance and transportation projects. “I think what’s happening now is a lot of states are having to play catch-up. They let their infrastructure deteriorate to a point where it’s an issue that can’t be ignored […]
July 13, 2015
The fiscal 2016 budget shortfall has been inevitable since at least fiscal 2010. Rational tax reform would not increase taxes for most Alabamians. Low- and middle-income Alabamians pay more than twice as much of their income in overall state and local taxes as do those with the highest incomes, according to a study by the […]
July 13, 2015
Eight states, all but one of them headed by Republican governors, have either hiked gas taxes or scaled back planned cuts in order to fund road repairs this year, according to a new Stateline report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. “A lot of states realized they couldn’t put off this issue any longer,” Carl Davis, […]
July 9, 2015
Empowering state and local governments would make African-Americans more vulnerable to the whims of the very governments that have served them poorly. The state and local tax base is highly regressive, with Perry’s Texas being among the worst offenders. (The poorest 20 percent of Texans pay 12.5 percent of their income in state and local […]
July 8, 2015
To meet infrastructure needs, several states have had to increase other taxes, such as gasoline taxes. These states include Idaho, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah and South Dakota. Four of these states are currently finalizing infrastructure funding increases or are still discussing infrastructure funding raises. “A lot of states realized they couldn’t put […]
July 7, 2015
An analysis of these tax changes by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a national group with a sophisticated model of the tax system, shows the top 1 percent on average will see an annual tax cut of $10,236. The middle fifth of taxpayers, who made between $37,000 and $58,000, will see an average […]
July 7, 2015
The downside, not expressed by City Hall, is that sales taxes are regressive — meaning they hurt the poorest citizens the most. That’s because the tax, obviously, only applies to money spent and not money saved. Since the poor tend to save little or not all, they take a greater financial hit. According to a […]
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, Research Director of the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) writes where gas taxes used to fund transportation infrastructure increased, if only by decimal points, and about the aberration—the six-cent plunge in California. “The largest gas tax increases are taking place in Idaho (7 cents per gallon) and Georgia (6.7 cents for […]
July 2, 2015
Gas tax cuts stopped in two states: And some drivers who had been expecting lower fuel taxes are disappointed. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), notes on the Tax Justice Blog that automatic gas tax cuts had been scheduled to take place in Kentucky and North Carolina. Lawmakers […]
July 2, 2015
Hey, Michigan, look over here. Look west. OK, that’s Ironwood, which is still in Michigan. A little further. There you go. Hi. Minnesota’s the name. So you’ve got some state budget issues and you want to increase the gasoline tax. In Michigan, families earning from $17,000 to $34,000 pay 9.4 percent of that income in […]
July 1, 2015
In 1919, Oregon lawmakers were looking for a way to fund road construction and kicked off a national movement when they created the country’s first tax on gasoline. Just over a decade later, every state and the federal government had implemented a gas tax, and it eventually became the most important funding source for the […]
July 1, 2015
Oregon’s much-anticipated per-mile driving fee, called OReGO, launches today. Instead of paying the normal gas tax embedded in the price of fuel, OReGO drivers will pay 1.5 cents for every mile on the road. The initial public rollout is limited to 5,000 vehicles, but the implications of the program are vast: if all goes well, […]
July 1, 2015
July 1 is the first day of Rhode Island state government’s new fiscal year, which means a number of tax changes are taking effect as part of the state budget. Rhode Island is one of six states increasing the gas tax July 1, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal research […]
July 1, 2015
The flurry of state gas tax legislation enacted earlier this year now goes into effect for a handful of states across the country, providing an increase in funding for much-needed transportation projects. “While some drivers may view this as an unwelcome development during the busy summer travel season,” said Carl Davis, research director for the […]
July 1, 2015
Brownback and the Legislature raised the sales tax rate to help fill a large revenue shortfall created by the 2012 state income tax cuts, which included eliminating income taxes on about 330,000 owners of limited liability companies and Subchapter S corporations. Though a number of lawmakers argued this past session that the business exemption was […]
June 30, 2015
New laws go into effect Wednesday, as do changes that will impact drivers and commuters in the Washington region. Some rail commuters will pay more in Virginia, while drivers in Maryland will pay less at the toll booth and more at the gas pump. Maryland commuters, who started paying higher fares on MTA transit last […]
June 30, 2015
“On Wednesday July 1, six states will raise their gasoline tax rates. While some drivers may view this as an unwelcome development during the busy summer travel season, the reality is that most of these ‘increases’ are simply playing catch-up with inflation after years (or even decades) without an update to the gas tax rate,” […]
June 30, 2015
Six states are scheduled to increase their gas taxes on July 1 to help pay for transportation projects, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The groups said Monday that drivers in Idaho, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump beginning […]
June 30, 2015
The residents of six states will pay more at the pump starting July 1 as increased gas taxes go into effect. Motorists in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will shell out more to refuel. Californians, on the other hand, will pay less. The analysis comes from Citizens for Tax Justice and the […]
June 30, 2015
The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the new budget gives the top 1 percent of Ohio taxpayers — those whose annual incomes exceed $1 million — a tax cut of more than $10,000 a year. They get half the total tax relief. By contrast, the poorest 40 percent of Ohio households, […]
June 30, 2015
LANSING – A 15-cent increase in the tax on gasoline, phased in over three years, would be the centerpiece of a funding plan the state Senate is expected to consider this week as legislators scramble to find a way to repair Michigan’s crater-marked roads and bring relief to drivers. Gas taxes in six other states […]
June 29, 2015
Six states are scheduled to increase their gas taxes on July 1 to help pay for transportation projects, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy groups. The groups said Monday that drivers in Idaho, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump beginning […]
June 29, 2015
There is similar evidence from American states as well. One of the most common mechanisms of redistribution at the state level is the state income tax, which is often the only tax that falls more heavily on those at the top. While conservative ideologues have routinely portrayed income taxes as a hindrance to economic growth, […]