Maine
How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Maine Residents’ Federal Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, includes some provisions that raise taxes and some that cut taxes, so the net effect for any particular family’s federal tax bill depends on their situation. Some of the provisions that benefit the middle class — like lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to…
Analysis of the House Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe, Steve Wamhoff
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on Nov. 2 in the House of Representatives, would raise taxes on some Americans and cut taxes on others while also providing significant savings to foreign investors.
Trickle-Down Dries Up: States without personal income taxes lag behind states with the highest top tax rates
• By Carl Davis, Nick Buffie
Lawmakers who support reducing or eliminating state personal income taxes typically claim that doing so will spur economic growth. Often, this claim is accompanied by the assertion that states without income taxes are booming, and that their success could be replicated by any state that abandons its income tax. To help evaluate these arguments, this study compares the economic performance of the nine states without broad-based personal income taxes to their mirror opposites—the nine states…
Select State News Coverage of ITEP’s 50-State Analysis of the GOP Tax Proposal
October 10, 2017
The Sentinel: Trump Tax Even in Harrisburg Will Feature Truckers The Columbus Dispatch: 15% of Ohioans Could See Tax Increase Under GOP Plan KGW Portland: Richest Oregonians Benefit Most from Proposed Tax Cuts Raleigh News & Observer: The Racial Wealth Divide Could Grow with Tax Changes Northwest Indiana Times: Hoosiers Would Lose in Trump Tax […]
Benefits of GOP-Trump Framework Tilted Toward the Richest Taxpayers in Each State
• By Steve Wamhoff
The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and Congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would affect states differently, but every state would see its richest residents grow richer if it is enacted. In all but a handful of states, at least half of the tax cuts would flow to the richest one percent of residents if the framework took effect.
GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Maine with 38.8 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
• By ITEP Staff
The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would not benefit everyone in Maine equally. The richest one percent of Maine residents would receive 38.8 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $473,000 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $30,390 in 2018, which would…
State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools
• By ITEP Staff
Astonishingly, tax policies in virtually every state make it harder for those living in poverty to make ends meet. When all the taxes imposed by state and local governments are taken into account, every state imposes higher effective tax rates on poor families than on the richest taxpayers.
Options for a Less Regressive Sales Tax in 2017
• By ITEP Staff
Sales taxes are one of the most important revenue sources for state and local governments; however, they are also among the most unfair taxes, falling more heavily on low- and middle-income households. Therefore, it is important that policymakers nationwide find ways to make sales taxes more equitable while preserving this important source of funding for public services. This policy brief discusses two approaches to a less regressive sales tax: broad-based exemptions and targeted sales tax…
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Maine Millionaires Primary Recipients of Proposed Trump Tax Breaks
• By ITEP Staff
New analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows Maine’s millionaires would get an average tax cut of $135,220 under President Trump’s proposed tax plan. Maine millionaires represent only 0.3 percent of all Maine households, yet would receive more than a quarter of all tax breaks.
Nearly Half of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million Annually
• By ITEP Staff
A tiny fraction of the U.S. population (one-half of one percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But in 2018 this elite group would receive 48.8 percent of the tax cuts proposed by the Trump administration. A much larger group, 44.6 percent of Americans, earn less than $45,000, but would receive just 4.4 percent of the tax cuts.
In Maine 28.6 Percent of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million
• By ITEP Staff
A tiny fraction of the Maine population (0.3 percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But this elite group would receive 28.6 percent of the tax cuts that go to Maine residents under the tax proposals from the Trump administration. A much larger group, 47.5 percent of the state, earns less than $45,000, but would receive just 8.1 percent of the tax cuts.
State Rundown 8/2: Legislative Tax Debates Wind Down as Ballot Initiative Efforts Ramp Up
• By ITEP Staff
Budget deliberations continue in earnest this week in Alaska, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. In South Dakota and Utah, the focus is on gearing up for ballot initiative efforts to raise needed revenue, though be sure to read about legislators nullifying voter-approved initiatives in Maine and elsewhere in our "what we're reading" section.
State Rundown 7/27: State Legislative Debates Winding Down but Tax Talk Continues
• By ITEP Staff
While only a few states still remain mired in overtime budget debates, there is plenty of budget and tax news from around the country this week. Efforts are underway to repeal gas tax increases in California and challenge a local income tax in Seattle, Washington. And New Jersey legislators' law to modernize its tax code to tax Airbnb rentals has been vetoed for now.
Trump Touts Tax Cuts for the Wealthy as a Plan for Working People
• By Steve Wamhoff
Unless the administration takes a radically different direction on tax reform from what it has already proposed, its tax plan would be a monumental giveaway to the top 1 percent. The wealthiest one percent of households would receive 61 percent of all the Trump tax breaks, and would receive an average of $145,400 in 2018 alone.
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Trump Tax Plan Would Give Richest Maine Taxpayers an Average $53,000 Tax Cut and Trigger Deep Cuts to Federal Dollars for Maine
• By ITEP Staff
A new analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reveals a federal tax reform plan based on President Trump’s April outline would fail to deliver on its promise of helping middle-class taxpayers, showering three out of every five dollars of the total tax cut on the richest 1 percent nationwide. In Maine, the top 1 percent of the state’s residents would receive an average tax cut of $53,000 compared with an average tax cut of $400 for the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers in the state.
50-State Analysis of Trump’s Tax Outline: Poorer Taxpayers and Poorer States are Disadvantaged
• By Alan Essig
Not only would President Trump’s proposed tax plan fail to deliver on its promise of largely helping middle-class taxpayers, it also would shower a disproportionate share of the total tax cut on taxpayers in some of the richest states while southern and a few other states would receive a smaller share of the tax cut […]
Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Maine with 33.9 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
• By ITEP Staff
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Maine would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,212,000 in 2018. They would receive 33.9 percent of the tax cuts that go to Maine’s residents and would enjoy an average cut of $53,220 in 2018 alone.
Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Tax Proposals Would Not Benefit All States or Taxpayers Equally
• By Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
The broadly outlined tax proposals released by the Trump administration would not benefit all taxpayers equally and they would not benefit all states equally either. Several states would receive a share of the total resulting tax cuts that is less than their share of the U.S. population. Of the dozen states receiving the least by this measure, seven are in the South. The others are New Mexico, Oregon, Maine, Idaho and Hawaii.
Bloomberg BNA: Low Tax Revenue Fuels State Deficits, Budget Battles
July 16, 2017
In more than a dozen other states, legislators fought down to the wire. Maine and New Jersey were forced into brief government shutdowns. Much press was given to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) time at the beach over the July 4th weekend when some stretches of state coastline were closed to beach-goers. “In some […]
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By ITEP Staff
Sales taxes are an important revenue source, composing close to half of all state tax revenues. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family’s income, the more the family must spend on goods and services subject to the tax. Lawmakers in many states have enacted “sales tax holidays” (at least 16 states will hold them in 2017), to provide a temporary break on paying the tax on purchases of clothing, school…
State Rundown 7/11: Some Legislatures Get Long Holiday Weekends, Others Work Overtime
• By ITEP Staff
Illinois and New Jersey made national news earlier this month after resolving their contentious budget stalemates. But they weren’t the only states working through (and in some cases after) the holiday weekend to resolve budget issues.
Maine Center for Economic Policy: What Happens When Those with the Most Pay the Least Taxes?
• By ITEP Staff
With the 3 percent surcharge repealed, the state’s tax code is out of balance. Those with the most are asked to pay the least. This means a middle-class family keeps 91 cents on average after state and local taxes for each dollar earned, versus 93 cents kept by the wealthiest in the state. This preferential tax treatment of wealthy Maine household also comes at a cost to roads, public health, and quality education that low…
State Rundown 6/28: States Scramble to Finish Budgets Before July Deadlines
• By ITEP Staff
This week, several states attempt to wrap up their budget debates before new fiscal years (and holiday vacations) begin in July. Lawmakers reached at least short-term agreement on budgets in Alaska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, but such resolution remains elusive in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
State Rundown 6/21: Crunch Time for Many States with New Fiscal Year on Horizon
• By Meg Wiehe
This week several states rush to finalize their budget and tax debates before the start of most state fiscal years on July 1. West Virginia lawmakers considered tax increases as part of a balanced approach to closing the state’s budget gap but took a funding-cuts-only approach in the end. Delaware legislators face a similar choice, […]
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Senate Republican Vote Defies Will of Voters, Compromises Current and Future School Funding to Give Tax Cuts to Wealthy
• By ITEP Staff
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, repealing the citizen approved surcharge would give a $16,300 tax break on average to the top 1% of Maine households and cost the state over $300 million in school funding over current and future biennia.
