Virginia
Think Progress: How The IRS’s Shutdown-Induced Delay Will Hurt The Poor
October 24, 2013
(Original Post) BY BRYCE COVERT ON OCTOBER 24, 2013 AT 12:26 PM Thanks to the government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says it will delay the start of the tax-filing season by a week or two so that it has enough time to get its systems ready. It will begin accepting returns somewhere between […]
US News & World Report: An Unhappy Anniversary for the Gas Tax
October 21, 2013
(Original Post) This article originally appers on www.usnews.com. The gas tax hasn’t been raised in 20 years, and it’s hurting the economy By CARL DAVIS October 11, 2013 Last week, as Congress was melting down over funding the government, an unfortunate anniversary came and went, marking 20 years since Congress last took serious steps towards […]
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.
Center for American Progess: The Real Cost of Cuccinelli
September 23, 2013
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 […]
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 experiencing an increase in either the number or share of residents living in poverty while only two states saw a decline.2
The Washington Times: Uneven results with changes to gas tax in Md., Va.
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.
The Patriot-News: Green energy’s unintended consequences: As I See It
August 16, 2013
The green energy movement -- the effort to switch from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, but also biofuels such as ethanol-is driven by good intentions ... mostly. But it is also riddled with unintended, even ridiculous, consequences that often outweigh the good the movement hopes to achieve.
The Boston Globe: Tax break is no holiday for Mass.
August 12, 2013
(Original Post) By Tom Keane | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 06, 2013 THERE ARE certain things our elected officials do that make easy pickings for a columnist, and right at the top of the list is the Bay State’s annual sales tax holiday. (Make that mostly annual; we skipped 2009). As July waned, the […]
The Davis Enterprise: Snippets of energy news
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.
PBS: How Low Can They Go? Arthur Laffer Defends Slashing State Income Taxes
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.
Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
July 24, 2013 • By Meg Wiehe
Sales taxes are an important revenue source, comprising close to half of all state revenues in 2012. But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family's income, the more of its income the family must spend on things subject to the tax.
McClatchy-Tribune: States expand sales tax holidays beyond back-to-school items
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 […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Immigration Reform Generates Revenue
July 10, 2013
State and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants in Virginia would increase 42 percent to $259.6 million from $183 million under immigration reform, according to a new report released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Nationally, state and local contributions would increase by more than $2 billion. Read the Full Report
Stateline: States Expand Sales Tax Holidays Beyond Back-to-School Items
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 […]
CNN Money: Just in Time for the Holiday, 8 States Raise Gas Taxes
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 […]
Triangle Business Journal: N.C. gas tax rises to 37.6 cents a gallon
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 […]
Bloomberg Businessweek: Electric-Car Owners Get Taxed for Not Paying Gas Taxes
June 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Alison VekshinJune 06, 2013 Hugh Joyce, a contractor in Richmond, Va., owns three plug-in cars, and like many green-car evangelists, he’s unabashed about his love for them—especially his new $80,000 Tesla (TSLA) Model S. It’s “the most important vehicle since the Model T,” he says. “It’s the first electric car with a […]
The Commonwealth Institute: What Would a Cut to the Top Individual Income Tax Rate Mean for Virginians?
May 17, 2013
A proposal to eliminate Virginia’s top individual income tax rate would overwhelmingly benefit the state’s wealthiest residents, who already spend far less of their household budgets on state and local taxes than any other group. Nearly 40 percent of Virginia taxpayers would see no reduction in their taxes under the plan and most of the […]
The American Prospect: You’ve Got Sales Tax
May 6, 2013
(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Tax calculator for Missouri legislation doesn’t give the full picture
May 2, 2013
(Original Post) I’m writing in response to Virginia Young’s “Tax shuffle could shake up Missouri” article (April 29) but specifically regarding the tax plan calculator that accompanies it online. The chart in the article comparing current law, the Senate and House plans is quite helpful and points out important distinctions between the proposals, but the […]
The Motley Fool: The 7 States With the Lowest Gasoline Taxes
April 22, 2013
(Original Post) The price of gasoline is constantly on people’s minds. The prices you see on those gas-station signs everywhere you drive are tough enough to swallow, but what you may not know is the extent to which gas taxes contribute to those prices. The federal tax is $0.184 per gallon, and states add their […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Destination Unknown
April 12, 2013
Navigating Virginia’s New Transportation Funding Package – and Potential Potholes The final transportation package passed by the General Assembly raises a lot of money for our roads, bridges and mass transit– but it creates some problems, too. The final legislation (HB2313) makes far-reaching changes in the way transportation is funded in Virginia. Among the key […]
Southern Maryland Online: Business Owners Say They’ll Suffer with Higher Gas Taxes
April 2, 2013
(Original Post) Posted on March 31, 2013 By AMBER LARKINS ANNAPOLIS — Charlie Kidwell, who has owned FreeState Auto and Truck Service in Capitol Heights for nearly 25 years, said his business will be hurt by Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gas tax hike, which passed the Senate Friday. The Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013, which passed […]
Politifact: Dick Saslaw says all states, except Virginia, “keep raising their gas tax”
February 28, 2013
(Original Post) Sen. Minority Leader Richard Saslaw has spearheaded the opposition this winter to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s plan to raise transportation revenues by abolishing the state gas tax and replacing it with a sales tax increase. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, says the only way to raise ample money for roads is to increase both the sales and […]
Bloomberg BNA: Virginia Transportation Package Relies On Federal Sales Tax Legislation for Funding
February 27, 2013
(Original Post) Subscription Required ‘Cobbled Together Package.’ Carl Davis, a senior analyst at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the state Legislature approved an unnecessarily “complicated” package for a relatively simple funding issue. “There are much more straightforward options then this cobbled together package of revenue raisers,” Davis said. “If Virginia just […]
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