Arkansas

The corporate and personal income tax changes under Senate Bill 8 would cost the state more than $200 million, with 70 percent of the overall cuts benefiting Arkansans in the top 20 percent of households.

In a dramatic development, Arkansas lawmakers are returning to work at the state Capitol this week, after Gov. Huckabee Sanders called for a special session of the Legislature last Friday. Top of the agenda? Whether Arkansas should adopt another round of costly income tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy households and corporations, on top of cuts already […]

Sales tax holidays are bad policies that have too often been used as a substitute for more meaningful, permanent reform.

The Dog Days of summer are upon us, and with most states out of session and extreme heat waves making their way across the country, it’s a perfect time to sit back and catch up on all your favorite state tax happenings (ideally with a cool drink in hand)...

We can make modest reforms to better tax those who are taking a larger share of our wealth and income in order to reinforce a major pillar of our promise to Americans.

Nearly one-third of states took steps to improve their tax systems this year by investing in people through refundable tax credits, and in a few notable cases by raising revenue from those most able to pay. But another third of states lost ground, continuing a trend of permanent tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit high-income households and make tax codes less adequate and equitable.

This op-ed was originally published by Route Fifty and co-written by ITEP State Director Aidan Davis and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Advisor for State Tax Policy Wesley Tharpe. There’s a troubling trend in state capitols across the country: Some lawmakers are pushing big, permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and […]

Many state legislatures this year have been considering property tax cuts – but too many are ignoring the solution that speaks more directly to questions of property tax affordability than any other policy option: the “circuit breaker."

Concerns over property tax affordability have been at the forefront this year as housing prices have climbed and property tax bills have often increased along with them. As lawmakers mull a range of property tax cuts, circuit breakers are the best possible approach—and these policies are receiving far too little attention in the states.

Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.

The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

While the conversations on the debt ceiling heat up in the nation's capital, debates on state tax policy also continue to unfold in capitol buildings across the nation...

With Tax Day quickly approaching it’s worth taking some time to reflect not just on tax forms (though those are important!), but also on the current state of state tax policy...

This week, a bill out of Arkansas that would cut the top personal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate found its way to the governor’s desk...

We all want to live in a state with great schools, well-maintained infrastructure, thriving communities, and strong families. But Arkansas’s Governor and many legislative leaders have expressed their support for sharply cutting – or even eliminating – our personal income tax, which would undermine our ability to ever achieve this goal. Read more.

From dedicating new taxes to fund climate action and public health to vacancy and “mansion” taxes, many local leaders are already exploring ways to make their tax systems more progressive and sustainable. ITEP is committed to helping local leaders and advocates build on this work by advancing knowledge about local tax solutions.

As nature bursts into life and color with the arrival of spring, state tax proposals are doing the same as the legislative seeds planted by lawmakers earlier this year start to grow, blossom, and in some cases rot. However, some governors are not entirely happy with what state lawmakers have produced.

State governments provide a wide array of tax subsidies to their older residents. But too many of these carveouts focus on predominately wealthy and white seniors, all while the cost climbs.

State 2023 legislative sessions are proving to be eventful ones. With many states eager to make use of their budget surpluses, major tax changes are still being proposed and others signed into law. Michigan residents will soon see an increase to their state Earned Income Tax Credit (from 6 percent to 30 percent) after the […]

This week, several big tax proposals took strides on the march toward becoming law...

The 2023 legislative session is in full swing, and dominos continue to be set up as others fall...

This week, a fresh bouquet of tax proposals was delivered by state lawmakers, but not all of them have left us with that warm, fuzzy feeling in our stomachs...

The great women’s philosopher, Pat Benatar, once said “love is a battlefield,” and there’s no greater test of our love for state tax policy than following the ups and downs of state legislative sessions...