Hawaii

ITEP’s report on taxing advertising identifies some reasons why states are curtailing longstanding sales tax exemptions for the ad sector.

An advertising tax offers a way to raise significant money from a sector of the economy that has been getting a free ride for decades.

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

Second home taxes make a lot of sense for communities struggling with housing costs for full-time residents. They can raise real revenues too, which can be used to support further affordable housing development.

From surcharges on the income of high-earners to higher taxes on second homes, here are recent steps states have taken to tax the rich.

Most states questionably exempt advertising from sales taxes. States that extend their sales taxes to advertising and/or enact an excise tax stand to raise billions in revenue while correcting a structural bias in their tax codes that implicitly subsidizes some of the most profitable corporations in human history.

This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.