
August 1, 2013
As August begins, retailers are stepping up sales promotions to attract back-to-school shoppers. And several states are offering tax-free shopping to encourage purchases.
July 31, 2013
[email protected] July 31, 2013 State sales tax will take a holiday this weekend, giving consumers a chance to save on the purchases of clothes, appliances, electronics and other goods. Lifting the 4 percent state sales tax is a tradition that dates to the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when legislators wanted to help storm […]
July 24, 2013 • By Meg Wiehe
Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2012. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) Thursday, July 11, 2013 by Rebecca Helmes Your kids may have just finished school for the summer, but it’s time to start devising your back-to-school shopping plan. A break from sales taxes may come as a welcome respite for consumers and retailers. But these tax vacations have been consistently panned from a fiscal […]
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) Forget about a comprehensive immigration bill. And so much for a bipartison bill out of the House. By Albor Ruiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS A reality check. That’s what the Republican tactic on immigration reform, announced last Wednesday by the Speaker of the House after a much-publicized closed-door meeting with his party, […]
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) By Dan Moffett, About.com GuideJuly 15, 2013 A nonpartisan Washington think tank says that unauthorized immigrants generally pay as much in taxes as U.S. citizens and they would pay a lot more to the state, local and federal governments if comprehensive immigration reform happens. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released […]
July 11, 2013
(Original Post) by Bruce Fisher Issue v12n28 (07/11/2013) A future based on the rich entertaining the poor? When the Indianapolis Colts play the Denver Broncos on October 20, 2013 in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the average ticket price, according to a ticket website called Vivid Seats, will be $467. That is the before-tax weekly […]
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) Originally published: July 9, 2013 8:56 PM Updated: July 9, 2013 9:31 PM By VÍCTOR MANUEL RAMOS [email protected] Granting legal status to immigrants who entered the United States illegally could net New York $224 million in additional state and local tax revenues, mirroring a national spike in contributions, according to a new analysis […]
July 10, 2013 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe
In the public debates over federal immigration reform, much has been made of the argument that undocumented immigrants would be a drain on federal, state and local government resources if granted legal status under reform. But it is also true that the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are already taxpayers, and that their local, state and federal tax contributions would increase under reform.
July 2, 2013
(Original Post) POSTED BY RYAN HOLEYWELL | JULY 1, 2013 Drivers hitting the road for the Independence Day holiday will encounter higher gas taxes in eight states, according to data compiled by Citizens For Tax Justice. While the changes could frustrate drivers — if they notice the slight hikes — there’s a silver lining: many […]
June 28, 2013
June 28,2013 Once again Vermont finished high in the ranking of children’s well-being released earlier this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation’s Kids Count survey of the states measures children’s well-being in 16 categories relating to economic well-being, health, education and family and community. These include categories such as the number […]
June 17, 2013 • By ITEP Staff
June 4, 2013. A new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that legalizing undocumented immigrants, paired with labor standards enforcement, would boost economic productivity. Reform would remove barriers to advancement for newly legalized immigrants, create a level playing field for businesses, and align our systems of taxation, social services, and social insurance so that […]
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) Asian Journal, News Report, Posted: May 16, 2013 LOS ANGELES – In California, Asian and Hispanic immigrants pay nearly $30 billion in federal taxes, $5.2 billion in state income taxes, and $4.6 billion in sales taxes each year. In New York, immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in economic output in the state. […]
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) By Noah Bierman| Globe Staff May 13, 2013 WASHINGTON — It’s early to be drinking, but just after 10:30 a.m. on a weekday, Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams beer, pops open a bottle of lager and regales his audience with stories. It’s no barroom banter. Koch is standing behind a […]
May 16, 2013 • By ITEP Staff
In addition to this Budget Overview section, this briefing also includes a section on the Economic Context for deliberations regarding the state’s 2013-2014 budget and a section on Tax Policy, a major focus of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s work. Read the Full Report (PDF)
May 16, 2013 • By ITEP Staff
One sometimes hears that recent state income tax increases on the rich could cause them to leave Connecticut for New York and points south. Academic research has shown that taxes are simply not a significant factor in families’ moving decisions. Nonetheless, some believe they are, and so it is important for policymakers to understand how […]
May 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Steve Mistler [email protected] House Bureau AUGUSTA — A Maine family of four earning $50,000 a year would save about $647 on its state income taxes under a sweeping tax reform proposal to be aired in a public hearing today before the Legislature’s Taxation Committee. However, that same family also would pay hundreds […]
May 6, 2013
(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]
April 22, 2013
(Original Post) April 19, 2013|By WADE GIBSON | COMMENTARY, The Hartford Courant Most people would agree that Connecticut’s wealthiest residents should pay a greater share of their income in taxes than middle- and working-class residents. With 100, 1,000 or even 10,000 times more disposable income than the average resident, the state’s richest individuals can afford […]
April 19, 2013 • By ITEP Staff
State revenues plummet in recessions, just when states can least afford the loss. Some proposals to address this flaw in state tax systems would change the systems’ structure — for instance, by replacing state personal income taxes with sales taxes — but wouldn’t solve the problem and would exacerbate others in state tax systems. States […]
April 9, 2013
(Original Post) The Huffington Post | By Jillian Berman Posted: 04/08/2013 6:29 pm EDT | Updated: 04/09/2013 11:53 am EDT Walmart, Apple, J.Crew and scores of other famous retailers are members of a group pushing for changes in the corporate tax code that would benefit companies that stash more cash abroad. The Retail Industry […]
April 1, 2013
(Original Post) 24/7 Wall Street6a.m. EDT March 30, 2013 According to Census data released this week, state and local tax revenue rose in the U.S, for the 13th quarter in a row. With April 15 less than three weeks away, America’s business owners will complete their personal taxes along with the rest of the country. […]
March 15, 2013
At $4 per gallon of fuel, 69 cents in tax is paid at the pump Mar 14, 2013 Written by Theresa Juva-Brown As if the yo-yoing of gasoline prices isn’t puzzling enough, try understanding all the fuel taxes drivers pay in New York. New York City-area drivers pay eight separate taxes at the pump. From […]
March 11, 2013
(Original Post) By Mark Ballardand Michelle Millhollon Capitol news bureau March 11, 2013 At the top of a “talking points” memo handed to legislators, Gov. Bobby Jindal justifies overhauling the state’s tax system in order to increase the state’s ranking on an index drafted by the Tax Foundation. Stephen Moret, Jindal’s secretary of the state […]
March 11, 2013
(Original Post) A new report just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows the Lone Star State economy lagging far behind states that have income taxes. Reviewing economic data over the past decade In measures of growth per capita, median household income growth, and average annual unemployment rates, the study show Texas […]