Sales and excise taxes, or consumption taxes, are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state tax revenues. These taxes are levied in each of the fifty states and are often considered “hidden” to consumers since they’re spread out over many purchases rather than paid in one lump sum. This policy brief takes a closer look at how these taxes are calculated.
Publication Search Results
report
June 23, 2011
Expert to North Carolina: Don’t Cap the Gas Tax
With the state’s gas tax pegged to the price of gasoline, North Carolina is scheduled to raise its gas tax rate on July 1. This increase was entirely predictable, but…
report
June 16, 2011
Illinois Must Ignore CME’s Tax Tantrum
How much is enough? On top of the close to $500 million in corporate tax breaks Illinois doles out each year, Governor Pat Quinn now finds himself confronted by a…
report
May 19, 2011
ITEP’s Testimony on Combined Reporting Legislation
My testimony today examines the erosion of Rhode Island’s corporate income tax, and the multistate tax avoidance schemes that have contributed to this erosion. In addition, it discusses the single…
report
May 19, 2011
ITEP’s Testimony on Tax Expenditure Procedural Reform
My testimony today focuses on House Bill 5737, which would enact a variety of reforms designed to enhance the level of scrutiny applied to new tax credits, deductions, exemptions, and…
report
May 14, 2011
Connecticut Takes a Stand for Progressive Tax Policy and a Balanced Budget Approach
Five months into 2011, a glimmer of hope for progressive tax policy and a balanced, sensible approach to state budget woes has emerged in Connecticut. Lawmakers in all but a…
report
April 14, 2011
States Should Not Allow Amazon.com to Bully Them into Forgoing Sales Tax Reform
In just the last few weeks, Arkansas and Illinois joined New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island in enacting legislation requiring some online retailers, like Amazon.com, to collect sales taxes…
report
April 13, 2011
ITEP’s Testimony on Sales Tax Modernization Proposal
My testimony focuses on Governor Chafee’s Sales Tax Modernization Proposal, which would generally broaden Rhode Island’s sales tax base, lower the general state sales tax rate, and raise additional revenue…
report
April 10, 2011
Don’t Give Up on Pease: States Can Decouple from Recent Federal Tax Cuts for Wealthy Itemizers
In 2011, thirty one states and the District of Columbia allow a group of income tax breaks known as “itemized deductions” (Figure 1). Itemized deductions are designed to help defray…
report
March 31, 2011
In It for the Long Haul: Why Concerns over Personal Income Tax “Volatility” Are Overblown
The precipitous drop in state tax collections during the recent recession has prompted some observers to argue that relying on volatile state taxes is a recipe for budgetary disaster. The…
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.