
December 2, 2013
(Original Post) Post on November 26, 2013 by Allan Freyer When Thanksgiving rolls around, no one wants to watch someone else eat all the turkey and then have to pick up the grocery bill all by themselves. But that’s what’s happening in our nation’s budget debate—highly profitable multinational corporations are using special tax loopholes, credits, […]
October 15, 2013
By RACHAEL BADE | 10/14/13 11:03 PM EDT Four decades ago at the Washington Hotel, a quirky economist made a pitch on the back of a napkin to Ford administration officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld: Cutting taxes would create an economic boom. Back then, many Republicans opposed tax cuts, but that famous “Laffer […]
• By Carl Davis
Gas tax revenues are on an unsustainable course. Over the last five years, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from the general fund to the transportation fund in order to compensate for lagging gas tax revenues. By 2015, the transportation fund will be insolvent unless an additional $15 billion transfer is made. Larger transfers will be needed in subsequent years.
• By ITEP Staff
Besides working on these major research projects, I developed CTJ/ITEP’s strong online media presence. One of the most important roles I play is as the primary web manager for both CTJ and ITEP. Similarly, over the past two years I successfully initiated and then maintained CTJ and ITEP’s social media presence. Center for American Progress […]
• By Meg Wiehe
New Census Bureau data released this month show that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high, despite other signs of economic recovery. The national 2012 poverty rate of 15 percent is essentially unchanged since 2010 , but still 2.5 percentage points higher than pre-recession levels. This means that in 2012, 46.5 million, or about 1 in 6 Americans, lived in poverty.1 The poverty rate in most states also held steady with five states…
September 16, 2013
By Ned Barnett The downtown lot where Raleigh’s Occupy movement once camped is now empty. The fast-food workers who picketted over being paid the meager minimum wage of $7.25 an hour have gone back to making burgers and fries. The Moral Monday protesters have vanished from outside the state Legislative Building, their weekly gatherings […]
• By ITEP Staff
The tax plan recently signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory fails to make the fundamental changes North Carolina needs to create a modern, adequate and fair revenue system that can boost the state’s economy and strengthen schools, health care and other services families need to prosper and the economy needs to grow. The plan […]
August 21, 2013
An 18-cent disparity in the cost of a gallon of gas between Maryland and Virginia appears to support predictions of radical price changes after lawmakers in both states took widely different approaches to raising transportation funding through gas taxes this year.
August 2, 2013
The correlation between states having no income tax and their economic growth is not as direct as Reagan White House economic adviser Arthur Laffer says it is, argues tax economist Joel Slemrod.
August 1, 2013
Back in the old days, when you went to the movies, theaters often would show a double feature, and these two movies would be preceded by a cartoon and a newsreel. The double feature is long gone, as is the cartoon, and the newsreel has been replaced with about 20 minutes of previews of coming attractions and, if you get there early enough, a bunch of advertisements.
August 1, 2013
In this 2012 Making Sen$e report, former Reagan White House economic adviser Arthur Laffer drew his famous curve on a napkin -- just the way he did for the Ford administration -- and explained how it works.
July 22, 2013
Many states with back-to-school sales tax “holidays” are expanding them to cover almost any purchase, in addition to the usual kids’ clothing, shoes, books and school supplies. As schools and students replace ink and paper with pixels, some states are expanding their holidays to cover sales taxes on low-cost computers and tablets. These electronics […]
July 22, 2013
(Original Post) Post on July 19, 2013 by Jeff Shaw5 Comments » When making important decisions, people have a right to the best possible information. Facts, not ideology, should drive our policy agendas. This is especially true on budget and tax issues, which affect everyone in North Carolina. Unfortunately, John Hood’s recent column on the […]
July 18, 2013
(Original Post) By Igor Volsky on Jul 16, 2013 at 12:45 pm Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (Credit: Takaaki Iwabu/The News & Observer) North Carolina lawmakers rammed through massive tax reforms on Tuesday that would disproportionately benefit higher-income earners, bringing the measure to a vote in the House after approximately 25 minutes of debate. The legislative […]
• By ITEP Staff
The latest Senate tax plan continues to provide large tax cuts to the wealthiest taxpayers and profitable corporations, while shifting more of the overall tax load to middle-class families and reducing revenue for schools, health care and other services by nearly $1 billion each year when fully implemented. While Senators say the new scheme addresses […]
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) July 8, 2013 at 9:02 am Posted by: Nicholas Johnson This year’s state tax debates have revealed a very important flaw in how states typically make tax policy. Fortunately, it’s a flaw that can be fixed. In most states, policymakers lack sufficient information on how tax changes will affect the after-tax distribution of […]
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Elaine S. Povich, Staff Writer A crowd of about 100 line up outside of the Apple Store in the Saddle Creek shopping center in Germantown, Tenn., to get a head start on last year’s tax free weekend. (AP) Many states with back-to-school sales tax “holidays” are expanding them to cover almost […]
July 8, 2013
(Original Post) By Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: July 05, 2013 New Jersey’s roads may not be paved with gold, but they certainly are expensive. The state ranks highest in the nation in the cost of maintaining its roads, spending almost twice as much per mile as the number-two state, California, according to a […]
July 3, 2013
(Original Post) From Connecticut to Wyoming, lawmakers are turning to these hikes to fund long overdue road and infrastructure projects. By Bruce Kennedy It’s the summer driving season, and while gas prices traditionally rise this time of year, they’ve been falling of late. But July 1 was the start of a new fiscal year for […]
July 2, 2013
(Original Post) POSTED BY RYAN HOLEYWELL | JULY 1, 2013 Drivers hitting the road for the Independence Day holiday will encounter higher gas taxes in eight states, according to data compiled by Citizens For Tax Justice. While the changes could frustrate drivers — if they notice the slight hikes — there’s a silver lining: many […]
July 1, 2013
(Original Post) Jul 1, 2013, 3:57pm EDT Logistics & Transportation Chris Bagley Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal North Carolina increased its motor fuels tax to its second-highest level in history on Monday. The increase was small, just one-tenth of a cent per gallon, but the 37.6-cents-per-gallon level is second only to the 38.9 cents per […]
June 24, 2013
By Christopher Gergen and Stephen Martin There are times when stark choices about the future of our state arise – and we seem to be at one of these crossroads now. The debate is trapped in the wonky world of tax reform. But the implications of this debate are very real and worth paying attention […]
• By ITEP Staff
Both the Senate and House tax plans would give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and profitable businesses while failing to address the state’s flawed tax system, which requires low- and moderate-income taxpayers to pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than wealthy taxpayers.The current tax system’s Earned Income Tax […]
June 18, 2013
(Original Post) Published June 09, 2013Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina is joining a growing number of states exploring new fees for hybrid and electric car owners to help make up for revenue those drivers aren’t paying in gas taxes on their fuel-efficient vehicles. The proposal strikes many owners of alternative-fuel vehicles and some […]
• By ITEP Staff
80 percent of taxpayers would see slightly higher taxes under the first comprehensive tax legislation introduced this legislative session, while the top 1 percent of earners would get a tax cut. The proposal threatens to erode resources for schools, health care and other services North Carolina needs to be economically competitive. The proposal (Senate Bill […]