Oregon
Statesman Journal: Examine land value taxation as solution to property tax problems
February 4, 2013
Written by Kris Nelson Commentary The flaws in Oregon’s property tax structure have begun to receive widespread attention. The tax rate limitations and use of taxable assessments emanating from Measures 5 and 50 have resulted in economic distortions and disparities in tax bills among property owners. Our previous study of the cumulative effects of Measure […]
Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama’s tax system among most regressive in nation, says report
January 30, 2013
State not alone: ‘Virtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair’ Written by Brian Lyman Jan. 30, 2013 11:17 AM, | Alabama’s tax system ranks as one of the ten most regressive in the country, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank based in […]
Chicago Magazine: Illinois- The Fourth Most Regressive Taxes in America
January 30, 2013
(Original Post) Posted today at 11:21 a.m.By Whet Moser One of the ongoing complaints about Illinois’s tax system—besides general complaints about it being too high for everything—is its prairie flatness, which is unusual among states. One complaint is that it hits low-income taxpayers hardest (Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, has proposed a graduated tax); the other is […]
The Hill: State tax systems regressive
January 30, 2013
(Original Post) By Bernie Becker – 01/30/13 07:02 AM ET Practically every state charges a higher share of taxes from lower- and middle-class families than the highest earners, a new study from a liberal-leaning group found. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the bottom 20 percent of earners paid an effective tax […]
USA Today: Time to tweak gas taxes? States weigh options
January 25, 2013
(Original Post) Larry Copeland, USA TODAY7:47a.m. EST January 25, 2013 A great tax debate is breaking out in state capitals from Vermont to Texas: How do we maintain and expand our vital-but-aging networks of roads, bridges and urban transit systems? For nearly a century, the nation has funded projects primarily with revenue from gasoline taxes. […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: No Special Treatment: Seven Reasons Why Oregon Should Not Reduce or Eliminate the Income Tax on Capital Gains
January 15, 2013
This issue brief examines seven reasons why giving special treatment to income from capital gains is a terrible idea: it would not stimulate additional economic growth, it would not attract much venture capital, it would waste millions chasing after the few Oregonians who move to Washington to avoid Oregon income taxes, it would mainly benefit […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: The 2007 Kicker: Wrongheaded, Unjust, Costly, and a Federal Tax Increase
January 15, 2013
The “close of session” economic and revenue forecast released in late August by the Office of Economic Analysis confirmed that personal income tax revenues for the 2005-07 budget cycle exceeded the 2005 close of session forecast by 2 percent or more.1 Under Oregon law, the Department of Revenue will send – or “kick back” – […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: No Gain, Just Pain: Most Oregonians Would Not Benefit from Measure 59, But They Would Lose Public Services
January 15, 2013
Measure 59, which would allow an unlimited deduction of federal income taxes on state tax returns, offers no tax break to more than three out of four Oregon taxpayers. And yet the measure’s hefty price tag — more than about 9 percent of General Fund revenues, each budget cycle — would force deep cuts in […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: No Contest: Why Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit is Better for Working Families and Oregon than the Tax Bracket Increase
January 15, 2013
Next year, the Oregon Legislative Assembly may face two different income tax measures purporting to help working families. One plan, proposed by Republicans in the legislature, would double the size of Oregon’s two lowest income tax brackets, doubling the share of income that is taxed at 5 and 7 percent (hereinafter, the “Tax Bracket Increase”).[1] […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: Will Poor, Working Families Be Roadkill?
January 14, 2013
The Jobs and Transportation Act’s Regressive Tax and Fee Increases Will Set Back Low-Income Working Families With Children Unless the Legislature Enacts a Modest EITC Expansion Read the Full Report (PDF)
Oregon Center for Public Policy: A Step Toward Balance: Measures 66 and 67 Move Oregon Closer to a Tax System Based on Ability to Pay
January 14, 2013
Today, low-income Oregonians pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than wealthy Oregonians. In fact, the highest-income Oregonians pay the lowest share of their income in state and local taxes. In addition to raising needed revenue, Measures 66 and 67 begin to address this imbalance. Facing a revenue crisis brought […]
Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers are Taxpayers, Too
January 14, 2013
Recent public discussion emerging from Oregon’s gubernatorial race focuses on, and at times exaggerates, the costs to Oregon of providing certain public services to undocumented immigrant workers and their families. Relatively little has been mentioned about the contributions undocumented workers make to Oregon. Read the Original Full Report
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wisconsin’s tax burden gets lighter but not for all
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) By Dave Umhoefer of the Journal SentinelPosted: April 12, 2010 | At the end of last year, one Midwestern state emerged carrying its lightest total tax burden since the early 1960s. Only six states nationwide saw a bigger drop in the percentage of taxpayer income taken for government spending over an […]
Lewiston Morning Tribune: Slapped Down
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) LEWISTON MORNING TRIBUNE, IDAHO | Fri, Mar 12, 11:16 AM Mar. 12–CHEERS … to Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. When Idaho Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter ridiculed the Evergreen State’s refusal to gut every last program in the name of avoiding any and all tax increases, Gregoire slapped him down. With good cause. […]
The Seattle Times: Initiative 1077 would make state taxes fairer and create opportunity
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) By Bill Gates SrSpecial to The Times THIS year, a typical middle-class family in our state will pay more than 11 percent of its hard-earned income in state and local taxes. Poor families will pay at an even higher rate. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses, already struggling in the current […]
McClatchy Washington Bureau: One rich guy who wants to pay higher taxes: Bill Gates Sr.
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) Brad Shannon | Tacoma News Tribune last updated: January 18, 2011 07:24:02 PM Bill Gates Sr., the retired lawyer and wealthy father of the Microsoft co-founder, thinks Washington state’s tax system is out of whack and needs repair. The poor pay too much tax, the rich pay too little, Gates says. […]
KEPR TV: WA Pays Highest Cell Phone Tax in Nation
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) By Chelsea Kopta Story Published: Jan 25, 2011 at 5:46 PM PST PASCO, Wash. — Perhaps nothing is certain in Washington State but taxes and complaining about taxes. Now there’s a new hike to gripe about: your cell phone. Cell phones are the tax man’s latest target. And if you didn’t […]
Richmond Times-Dispatch: States Taxing the Rich: A Very Bad or Good Idea
January 8, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) NEAL PEIRCE © WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUPPublished: September 20, 2009 WASHINGTON In a dramatic break from tax trends of recent decades, eight states have voted this year to push up the percentages of income that their wealthiest citizens must pay. Connecticut is the latest to take this step, following Delaware, Hawaii, […]
Williston Observer: Taxes and the wisdom of our forebears
January 7, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) July 16, 2009 BY BRIAN MILLER One hundred years ago, on July 17, 1909, Sen. William E. Borah, R-Idaho wrote the words, “The income tax is the fairest and most equitable of the taxes. It is the one tax which approaches us in the hour of prosperity and departs in the […]
The Bulletin: Measures 66 & 67: Here’s the story behind the numbers
January 7, 2013
(PDF of the Original Post) By Nick Budnick / The Bulletin Published: January 14. 2010 4:00AM PST SALEM — Both sides of the tax battle over the Jan. 26 ballot argue that they, and not their opponent, are the champions of tax fairness in Oregon. The union-backed coalition that is supporting Measures 66 and 67, […]
Real Clear Politics: Mystery of the Missing Millionaires
January 7, 2013
(PDF of the Original Post) By Froma Harrop A daffy Wall Street Journal editorial about the “vanishing millionaires” of Oregon lit a spark in a fairly humorless week. It offers the usual boilerplate about the rich fleeing to tax-friendlier provinces because their state raised taxes, but this time with a great visual: “One-quarter of the […]
MinnPost.com: Minnesota taxes- Where do we go from here?
January 4, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) By Sharon Schmickle | Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Sure, you’ve heard it before: Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoes yet another DFL bid to close the state’s budget chasm by raising income taxes on high earners. But the tax issue has many lives in this election year when the Independence Party’s gubernatorial endorsee, […]
Stateline: Md. ‘millionaire’s tax’ debate is back
January 4, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009 By Stateline.org Staff Reports A headline in this morning’s Baltimore Sun — “Maryland lost nearly 30% of millionaires last year” — is sure to revive a debate over the higher tax rates that Free State legislators imposed on millionaires in 2008. At least eight other states this […]
Frederick News Post: Huntin’ millionaires
January 4, 2013
(PDF of Original Post) Elizabeth Marsh Cupino Originally published December 10, 2009 Set up a roadblock. Put out an APB. Maryland’s comptroller has reported that the number of millionaires in the state dropped by 30 percent in 2008 and that some wealthy residents might be trying to make a break for it. We can’t have […]
Huffington Post: The Millionaire Migration Myth: Don’t Fall for This Anti-Tax Scare Tactic
January 4, 2013
(Original Post) Posted: 03/31/11 09:21 PM ET Virtually every state in the country has a tax system that heavily favors the rich. Despite this fact, only a handful of states responded to the revenue slump brought on by the Great Recession with any sort of tax increase on this favored group. What gives? With so […]
