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report
January 31, 2017
State Tax & Revenue Information
Below is a list of notable resources for information on state taxes and revenues: Alabama Alabama Department of Revenue Alabama Department of Finance – Executive… -
blog
January 30, 2017
And Then There Were Six: Amazon Expands Its Sales Tax Collection
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… -
blog
January 27, 2017
What to Watch in the States Series: Tax Policy 2017
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… -
blog
January 26, 2017
A Visual Tour of Who Pays State & Local Taxes
While it can be hard to look away from the important federal policy debates occurring right now in Washington D.C., state lawmakers across the country… -
blog
January 26, 2017
An Overview of State Tax Trends in 2017
Since the 2007-2009 economic crisis, rising income inequality and the role our public policies play in aiding or easing this trend have been an ongoing… -
blog
January 26, 2017
Tax Justice Digest: A Visual Tour of Who Pays, 2017 State Tax Trends
In the Tax Justice Digest we recap the latest reports, blog posts, and analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and… -
report
January 26, 2017
Fairness Matters: A Chart Book on Who Pays State and Local Taxes
When states shy away from personal income taxes in favor of higher sales and excise taxes, high-income taxpayers benefit at the expense of low- and moderate-income families who often face above-average tax rates to pick up the slack. This chart book demonstrates this basic reality by examining the distribution of taxes in states that have pursued these types of policies. Given the detrimental impact that regressive tax policies have on economic opportunity, income inequality, revenue adequacy, and long-run revenue sustainability, tax reform proponents should look to the least regressive, rather than most regressive, states in crafting their proposals.
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blog
January 25, 2017
State Rundown 1/25: Revenue Shortfalls and How to Avoid Them
This week brings more news of states facing budget crunches, a new state looking to eliminate income taxes, and plans to raise gas taxes to… -
blog
January 25, 2017
47 Years Later, Alaska Considers Playing Catch-Up with its Motor Fuel Tax
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker recently proposed tripling the gasoline and diesel tax rates paid by Alaska motorists to generate funding for the state’s infrastructure. In… -
report
January 25, 2017
Alaska's Motor Fuel Tax: A National and Historical Outlier
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker recently proposed tripling his state’s motor fuel tax rates.[1] While a variety of fuel types would be affected by this proposal, three-fourths (or $60 million) of the revenue raised each year would come from higher taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel–sometimes referred to as highway fuels–purchased by Alaska motorists.
Absent any national or historical context, tripling Alaska’s gasoline and diesel fuel tax rates may sound like a radical policy change. But an adjustment of this size is necessary because Alaska lawmakers have not updated the state’s basic highway fuel tax rate since May 1970–almost 47 years ago.[2] Because of this inaction, Alaska’s highway fuel tax has become an outlier when compared to other states’ tax rates, or when compared to Alaska’s own history.
This brief discusses four ways in which Alaska’s highway fuel tax is an outlier: