Connecticut

Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit, an effective tool that boosts low-paid workers’ incomes and helps lower-income families achieve greater economic security. This year, 12 states expanded and improved EITCs.

Sales tax holidays are bad policies that have too often been used as a substitute for more meaningful, permanent reform.

Nineteen states have sales tax holidays on the books in 2023, and these suspensions will cost nearly $1.6 billion in lost revenue this year. Sales tax holidays are poorly targeted and too temporary to meaningfully change the regressive nature of a state’s tax system. Overall, the benefits of sales tax holidays are minimal while their downsides are significant.

Nearly 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.

State lawmakers continue to make groundbreaking progress on state tax credits, with 17 states creating or enhancing Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits so far this year. These policies have the potential to boost family economic security and dramatically reduce the number of children living below the poverty line.

As the sweet days of summer pass, the scent of jasmine isn't the only thing blowing through the minds of state lawmakers, as tax policy discussions remain at the forefront...

Across the country, the marathon budget season has held pace, with a steady stream of bills continuing to cross the finish line...

Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.

This week, in states across the country the momentum to center improvements to family economic security remains strong...

The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

While the conversations on the debt ceiling heat up in the nation's capital, debates on state tax policy also continue to unfold in capitol buildings across the nation...

When state budgets are strong, lawmakers should put those revenues toward building a stronger and more inclusive society for the long haul. Yet, many state lawmakers have made clear that their top priority is repeatedly cutting taxes for the wealthy.

This week, a bill out of Arkansas that would cut the top personal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate found its way to the governor’s desk...

Over the past week Washington state saw a major victory for tax fairness after the state Supreme Court held the state’s capital gains tax—passed in 2021—constitutional...

As nature bursts into life and color with the arrival of spring, state tax proposals are doing the same as the legislative seeds planted by lawmakers earlier this year start to grow, blossom, and in some cases rot. However, some governors are not entirely happy with what state lawmakers have produced.

It’s March and state lawmakers are showing why the Madness isn’t only reserved for the basketball court...

This week, several big tax proposals took strides on the march toward becoming law...

At a time when corporations are seeing record profits while not paying their fair share of federal taxes, state corporate income taxes can and should play a role in raising sustainable revenue and adding progressivity to state tax codes. Right now, lawmakers in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have a unique opportunity to extend targeted tax changes that have raised billions of dollars from profitable corporations for meaningful public investments.

The 2023 legislative session is in full swing, and dominos continue to be set up as others fall...

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.

The great women’s philosopher, Pat Benatar, once said “love is a battlefield,” and there’s no greater test of our love for state tax policy than following the ups and downs of state legislative sessions...

Tax bills across the U.S. are winding their way through state legislatures and governors continue to set the tone for this year’s legislative sessions...

Tax season has officially kicked off and with Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day right around the corner, it serves as another reminder for how important the EITC is...

State legislatures are buzzing as leaders and lawmakers jockey to advance their 2023 goals...

Lawmakers in seven states will introduce legislation this week to tax wealth in a new coordinated effort to combat ever-increasing income and wealth inequality. The bills couldn’t come at a better time, as those at the very top continue to pull apart from the rest of us and far too many states contemplate piling on to this runaway inequality with seemingly endless tax cuts for those at the top.