Sales taxes are among the most important–and most unfair–taxes levied by state governments. Sales taxes accounted for a third of state taxes in 2011, but sales taxes are regressive, falling far more heavily on low- and middle- income taxpayers than on the wealthy. In recent years, lawmakers thinking they might lessen the impact of these taxes have enacted “sales tax holidays” that provide temporary sales tax breaks for purchases of clothing, computers, and other items. This policy brief looks at sales tax holidays as a tax reduction device.
Publication Search Results
-
brief July 1, 2012 Sales Tax Holidays: A Boondoggle
-
report May 24, 2012 Tax Bill Signed by Governor Brownback Makes Kansas an Outlier
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback recently signed into law Senate Substitute for HB 2117, a tax bill that dramatically changes the Kansas income tax structure. The legislation will cut taxes by… -
report May 17, 2012 Latest Kansas Tax Bill Carries $680 Million Price Tag and Raises Taxes on Those Least Able to Pay
A joint House-Senate conference committ ee is poised to approve a revised version of the tax bill recently sent to the Governor by the House of Representatives. An Institute on… -
report May 10, 2012 Three Strategies for Making Enacted Kansas Tax Plan Less Unfair and Less Costly
Yesterday, the Kansas House of Representatives passed, and sent to Governor Sam Brownback, a tax plan, Senate Substitute for House Bill 2117, that had been previously ratified by the state… -
report May 8, 2012 Kansas Tax Bill Would Cost $600 Million a Year While Hiking Taxes on Low-Income Families
Kansas legislators are set to vote on a tax bill recently approved by a joint House-Senate conference committee. An ITEP analysis of the agreed-upon tax bill shows that it would… -
report April 25, 2012 How Federal Tax Reform Can Help or Hurt State and Local Governments
Federal tax reform can affect state and local taxes in several ways. The federal government can create, repeal or change tax expenditures in a way that is passed on to… -
report April 24, 2012 Regarding Proposals to Increase Taxes on Upper-Income Rhode Islanders
My testimony focuses in general on the slate of bills in front of the committee today that would raise taxes on wealthy Rhode Islanders. These bills present Rhode Island policymakers… -
report April 1, 2012 Repealing Estate Tax Will Not Create An Economic Boom
Since Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam proposed reducing the state’s estate tax in February, Tennessee lawmakers have shown increasing interest in this idea. Recently, a House subcommittee one-upped the governor by… -
report March 30, 2012 Tax Plans Put Kansas on Road Away from Fair & Adequate Tax Reform
Both the House and Senate have recently passed bills, loosely modeled on the Governor’s plan, that would reduce income tax rates, but their plans are different in very important ways.… -
report March 24, 2012 Idaho House Tax Plan Stacked In Favor of the Wealthy
Most Tax Cuts Flow to the Top 1%, Vast Majority of Idahoans Receive No Benefit An income tax cut recently passed by the Idaho House of Representatives, and backed by…