Nebraska
What to Watch in the States: Further Attempts to Weaken or Eliminate Progressive Taxes
• By Aidan Davis
This is the third installment of our six-part series on 2017 state tax trends. The introduction to this series is available here. As we described last week, many states are gearing up for challenging budget debates this year. But the need to address revenue shortfalls has not stopped lawmakers in many states from pursuing harmful […]
State Rundown 2/1: 2017 State Tax Debates Getting Real
• By ITEP Staff
This week’s Rundown brings news of tax cuts passed in Arkansas and advanced in Idaho, proposals to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales taxes in Nevada and Michigan, revenue shortfalls forcing tough choices in Louisiana and Maine, and more governors’ state of the state addresses and budget proposals setting the stage for yet more tax […]
State Tax & Revenue Information
• By ITEP Staff
Below is a list of notable resources for information on state taxes and revenues: Alabama Alabama Department of Revenue Alabama Department of Finance – Executive Budget Office Alabama Department of Revenue – Tax Incentives for Industry Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office Alaska Alaska Department of Revenue – Tax Division Alaska Office of Management & Budget Alaska […]
And Then There Were Six: Amazon Expands Its Sales Tax Collection
• By Carl Davis
UPDATE: After this post was published, Amazon announced that it will begin collecting sales tax in Oklahoma on March 1. This post has been updated to reflect this development. The nation’s largest Internet retailer has made an about-face on its sales tax policy, making consumers’ ability to evade sales tax on online purchases a little […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Some facts about LB 337 — the governor’s tax plan
• By ITEP Staff
Below are some facts regarding, LB 337, the governor’s income tax cut plan: The example middle-class Nebraska taxpayer used to roll out the plan would not receive a tax cut under LB 337. Once the standard deduction is applied, this taxpayer, who earns $29,831, would not pay the top tax rate on any income, and therefore would […]
What to Watch in the States Series: Tax Policy 2017
• By Lisa Christensen Gee
Over the next few weeks we will be blogging about what we’re watching in state tax policy during 2017 legislative sessions. In this “What to Watch in the States” series, we will look at the following: State responses to short- and long-term revenue deficits Boosting funding for infrastructure, though sometimes at the expense of other […]
State Rundown 1/18: Revenue Woes Piling Up Faster Than Solutions
• By ITEP Staff
This week we continue to track revenue shortfalls, governors’ budget proposals, and other tax news around the country, finding most proposals to be focused on slashing taxes and reducing public investments despite public opinion and economic research showing the benefits of well-funded state services and progressive tax policies. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, […]
State Rundown 1/11: State Legislative Sessions Kick Off Amid Uncertainty
• By ITEP Staff
This week brings still more states looking for solutions to revenue shortfalls, multiple governors’ State of The State addresses, important reading on counter-transparency and local-preemption efforts, and more. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe A Nebraska legislator this week diagnosed the state’s $900 million revenue shortfall in plain terms, describing it as “self-inflicted […]
State Rundown 1/4: Revenue Shortfalls, Gas Tax Changes Dominate Early Debates
• By ITEP Staff
This week we bring you updates on major revenue shortfalls looming in Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, as well as gas tax changes taking effect in some states and being debated in others. — Meg Wiehe, ITEP State Policy Director, @megwiehe Oklahoma lawmakers are weighing options to close the state’s $870 million shortfall. Up for discussion are […]
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill, Meg Wiehe
For much of the last century, estate and inheritance taxes have played an important role in fostering strong communities by promoting equality of opportunity and helping states adequately fund public services. While many of the taxes levied by state and local governments fall most heavily on low-income families, only the very wealthy pay estate and inheritance taxes. Changes in the federal estate tax in recent years, however, caused states to reevaluate the structure of their…
Albany Times-Union: There’s another way people in expensive cities are ‘penalized,’ and they might not know it
November 21, 2016
“Part of the reason why Albouy’s ideas have not caught on is that it would be complicated. ‘It would add incredible complexity to the tax code,’ said Matthew Gardner, senior fellow with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. There are many good reasons, he said, why things cost more in New York than they […]
Yahoo! Finance: New Jersey just hiked its gas tax by 159%. Is your state next?
November 7, 2016
“Of course, New Jersey isn’t the only state that has or is toying with raising gasoline taxes. Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington upped their gas taxes in 2015, notes the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Louisiana, Tennessee, Alaska, Alabama and Minnesota are contemplating increases in 2017.” […]
State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
Despite this unlevel playing field states create for their poorest residents through existing policies, many state policymakers have proposed (and in some cases enacted) tax increases on the poor under the guise of "tax reform," often to finance tax cuts for their wealthiest residents and profitable corporations.
Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through State Tax Codes
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
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.
Governing: Back-to-School Tax Holidays Losing Popularity Among Lawmakers
August 30, 2016
“[Tax holidays] don’t help lower-income people much either, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).” Read more
Indexing Income Taxes for Inflation: Why It Matters
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Read brief in PDF here. All of us experience the effects of inflation as the price of the goods and services we buy gradually goes up over time. Fortunately, as the cost of living goes up, our incomes often tend to rise as well in order to keep pace. But many state tax systems are […]
Minnesota Politics: Strapped states cancel sales-tax holidays
August 5, 2016
The Bay State isn’t the only state to forgo its sales-tax holiday in order to raise additional funds. Kansas, North Carolina, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, state legislators are among those that have also decided against holding new tax holidays or reinstating them during the last few years, and they’ll be saving money as a […]
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
• By Meg Wiehe
This brief was updated July 2018 Read this Policy Brief in PDF here. Sales taxes are an important revenue source, composing close to half of all state tax revenues.[1] 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 […]
Higher Education Income Tax Deductions and Credits in the States
• By Carl Davis
Read full report in PDF Download detailed appendix with state-by-state information on deductions and credits (Excel) Every state levying a personal income tax offers at least one deduction or credit designed to defray the cost of higher education. In theory, these policies help families cope with rising tuition prices by incentivizing college savings or partially […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2016)
• By Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated in March 2017 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page Public debates over federal immigration reform often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United […]
Convenience Store and Fuel News: Which States’ Gas Taxes Are Going Up in 2016? And which are going down?
January 12, 2016
“Four states increased gasoline taxes at the start of 2016, while five actually lowered them. That’s according to an analysis by The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonpartisan, Washington-based research organization that focuses on local tax-policy issues. The four states that increased their gasoline tax on Jan. 1 are Florida, Maryland, Nebraska […]
Open Sky Policy Institute: Policy brief: More about the gas tax and inflation
• By ITEP Staff
On average, Nebraskans paid nearly $1,200 more annually for gas per car in 2013 than they did in 1993.However, in 2013, Nebraskans paid just $3 more in state gas taxes per car than they did in 1993, and they actually paid $12 less than they did in 2003. Read full policy brief here
Journal Star: Editorial, 10/4: Focus on balancing tax system
October 5, 2015
“According to a ranking by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Nebraska has the 28th most unfair tax system in the country. Restoring balance to Nebraska’s tax structure would improve the fairness of the system. That would benefit taxpayers no matter where they live.” Read more
State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
The U.S. Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2014, the national poverty rate was 14.8 percent - statistically unchanged from the previous year. However, the poverty rate remains 2.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2007, before the Great Recession, indicating that recent economic gains have not yet reached all households and that there is much room for improvement. The 2014 measure…
