Income Taxes

Property taxes are the largest source of revenue for over half of the 50 largest cities, but to a lesser degree than for other local governments.

Large cities have the technical capacity, the economic base, and often more political might than smaller localities and governments that local officials should utilize to design fairer tax systems.

This fall, voters across the country will consider a host of ballot measures that could reshape the fairness and adequacy of their states’ tax systems. Here’s some of what we’re following.

In a win for Missouri workers and families, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to replace the state's income tax with increased or expanded sales taxes.

Yesterday Missouri voters rejected Amendment 5, declining to give lawmakers a blank check to raise or expand sales taxes, something some lawmakers sought to enable enormous income tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest households.

Missouri voters are facing a major decision at the ballot box next week on Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to eliminate the individual income tax and expand the state’s sales tax on any good or service to make up for lost revenue.

This week a U.S. House of Representatives committee approved a bill that would effectively take away Washington, D.C.’s fiscal autonomy, requiring Congressional approval of any new D.C. laws that increase taxes or fees.

On August 4, Missouri voters will vote on whether to increase taxes on the middle class and seniors to fund tax cuts for the richest households in the state.

This year several states raised income tax rates on high-income people to fund crucial services and make progress toward remedying the regressive tilt of their tax codes.

It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.

If Juneteenth is to mean anything beyond symbolism, it must also be a call to confront the policies that continue to shape racial inequities today. One of the most powerful drivers of that inequity is our tax system.

The spending plan, signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee today, features a new millionaires’ tax, the state’s first permanent child tax credit, expanded eligibility for its Social Security exemption , and strategic decoupling from federal business tax provisions.

As we head into summer, many state legislatures are in the final stretches of their sessions. Rhode Island moved another step closer to joining the ranks of Washington, Maine, and Hawai’i in enacting a new high-income surcharge this year.

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

From surcharges on the income of high-earners to higher taxes on second homes, here are recent steps states have taken to tax the rich.

The task for local elected officials in this moment is therefore clear: use available tools to make the wealthy pay their fair share to fund the essential public goods that allow our communities to live safe, healthy, and thriving lives.

The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.

This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.

Bezos' hand-picked editorial board argues that our tax code does not need to be more progressive because the share of federal income tax paid by the rich already exceeds their share of income. This is grossly misleading for at least two reasons.

Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that will have residents vote on a proposal at the ballot box. The ask: for them to pay more in sales taxes to offset cuts – and the possible elimination – of the state's individual income tax, which makes up nearly two-thirds of Missouri’s general fund.

States continue to debate whether and how to link their state tax codes to the 2025 federal tax law. This is not just a technical debate.

Yesterday was Tax Day, and with many state legislative sessions wrapping, some tax changes are gearing up or crossing over the finish line.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Friday put her seal of approval on a supplemental budget bill that includes a “millionaires’ tax.”

Tax cuts are looming large on the horizon in North Carolina. So large, in fact, that even some traditionally anti-tax voices are starting to get nervous.

State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.