Nebraska
Revised Senate Plan Would Raise Taxes on at Least 29% of Americans and Cause 19 States to Pay More Overall
• By ITEP Staff
The tax bill reported out of the Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 16 would raise taxes on at least 29 percent of Americans and cause the populations of 19 states to pay more in federal taxes in 2027 than they do today.
How the Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Nebraska Residents’ Federal Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
The Senate tax bill released last week would raise taxes on some families while bestowing immense benefits on wealthy Americans and foreign investors. In Nebraska, 40 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 9 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.
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.
How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Nebraska 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…
State Rundown 11/1: Connecticut Balances Budget, Leaves Tax Code Out of Whack
• By ITEP Staff
This week a "historic" but highly problematic budget agreement was finally reached in Connecticut, Michigan lawmakers banned localities from taxing any food or beverages, and Nebraska and North Dakota both got unpleasant news about future revenues. Also see our "what we're reading" section for news on 11 states that have run up long-term fiscal deficits since 2002 and the impacts of flooding on local tax bases.
State Rundown 10/18: Ballot Initiative Efforts Being Finalized
• By ITEP Staff
Ballot initiatives relating to taxes made news around the country this week, with Oregon voters to consider reversing new health care taxes, Washingtonians to vote on improving education funding, and Nebraskans to potentially vote on a state tax credit for school property taxes. Meanwhile, multiple states are finalizing their proposals to lure Amazon to build a new headquarters in their state, often through the use of massive tax subsidies. And in our "What We're Reading"…
State Rundown 10/4: Wildfires in Montana and Tax Cuts in Kansas Wreak Budget Havoc
• By ITEP Staff
This week, Kansas's school funding was again ruled unconstitutionally low and unfair, while Montana lawmakers indicated they'd rather let historic wildfires burn a hole through their budget than raise revenues to meet their funding needs. Meanwhile, a struggling agricultural sector continues to cause problems for Iowa and Nebraska, but legalized recreational marijuana is bringing good economic news to both California and Nevada.
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 Nebraska with 59.3 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 Nebraska equally. The richest one percent of Nebraska residents would receive 59.3 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $521,300 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $80,910 in 2018, which would…
State Rundown 9/28: Wisconsin Budget Finalized, Oklahoma Special Session Underway
• By ITEP Staff
This week, Wisconsin's leaders finalized the state budget at last, while those in Oklahoma began a special session to close their state's revenue shortfall. Soda tax fights made news in Illinois and Pennsylvania. And New Jersey offered Amazon $5 billion in tax subsidies.
State Rundown 9/25: No Rest for the Weary as State Tax and Budget Debates Wind Down, Ramp Up
• By ITEP Staff
Last week, Wisconsin leaders finally came to agreement on a state budget, while their peers in Connecticut appear to be close behind them. Iowa lawmakers avoided a special session with a short-term fix and will have to return to their structural deficit issues next session, as will those in Louisiana who will face a $1 billion shortfall. Meanwhile, District of Columbia leaders have already resumed meeting and discussing tax and budget issues there.
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.
Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through State Tax Codes in 2017
• By ITEP Staff
Low- and middle-income working parents spend a significant portion of their income on child care. As the number of parents working outside of the home continues to rise, child care expenses have become an unavoidable and increasingly unaffordable expense. This policy brief examines state tax policy tools that can be used to make child care more affordable: a dependent care tax credit modeled after the federal program and a deduction for child care expenses.
State Rundown 8/31: Modernizing Taxes is Sometimes a Sprint, Sometimes a Marathon
• By ITEP Staff
Tax and budget debates are progressing at different paces in different parts of the country this week. In Connecticut and Wisconsin, lawmakers hope to finally settle their budget and tax differences soon. In South Dakota, a court case that could finally enable states to enforce their sales taxes on online retailers inches slowly closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Nebraska 38.4 Percent of Trump’s Proposed Tax Cuts Go to People Making More than $1 Million
• By ITEP Staff
A tiny fraction of the Nebraska population (0.5 percent) earns more than $1 million annually. But this elite group would receive 38.4 percent of the tax cuts that go to Nebraska residents under the tax proposals from the Trump administration. A much larger group, 41.8 percent of the state, earns less than $45,000, but would receive just 5.0 percent of the tax cuts.
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.
State Rundown 8/9: And Then There Were Three
• By ITEP Staff
This week, Rhode Island lawmakers agreed on a budget, leaving only three states – Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – without complete budgets. Texas, however, remains in special session and West Virginia could go back into another special session over tax issues. And in New York City, the mayor proposes a tax on the wealthy to […]
Sound Tax Policy Made a Comeback in 2017
• By ITEP Staff
2017 marked a sea change in state tax policy and a stark departure from the current federal tax debate as dubious supply-side economic theories began to lose their grip on statehouses. Compared to the predominant trend in recent years of emphasizing top-heavy income tax cuts and shifting to more regressive consumption taxes in the hopes […]
Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Nebraska with 52.6 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 Nebraska would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,572,200 in 2018. They would receive 52.6 percent of the tax cuts that go to Nebraska’s residents and would enjoy an average cut of $128,300 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.
State Rundown 7/19: Handful of States Still Have Their Hands Full with Tax and Budget Debates
• By ITEP Staff
Tax and budget debates drag on in several states this week, as lawmakers continue to work in Alaska, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. And a showdown is brewing in Kentucky between a regressive tax shift effort and a progressive tax reform plan. Be sure to also check out our "What We're Reading" section for a historical perspective on federal tax reform, a podcast on lessons learned from Kansas and California, and more!
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…
Gas Taxes Will Rise in 7 States to Fund Transportation Improvements
• By Carl Davis
Summer gas prices are at their lowest level in twelve years, which makes right now a sensible time to ask drivers to pay a little more toward improving the transportation infrastructure they use every day. Seven states will be doing this on Saturday, July 1 when they raise their gasoline tax rates. At the same time, two states will be implementing small gas tax rate cuts.
State Rundown 5/24: Several States Scramble to Finalize Budgets
• By ITEP Staff
This week, Kansas lawmakers continued work on fixing the fiscal mess created by tax cuts in recent years, as legislators in Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and West Virginia attempted to wrap up difficult budget negotiations before their sessions come to an end, and Delaware lawmakers advanced a corporate tax increase as one piece of a plan to close that state's budget shortfall. Our "what we're reading" section this week is also packed with articles about state…
Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit
• By Carl Davis
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being used as profitable tax shelters by high-income taxpayers. By exploiting interactions between federal and state tax law, high-income taxpayers in nine states are currently able […]
