Washington
Tax Expenditure Reports: A Vital Tool with Room for Improvement
August 14, 2013 • By Carl Davis
State and local tax codes include a huge array of special tax breaks designed to accomplish almost every goal imaginable: from encouraging homeownership and scientific research, to building radioactive fallout shelters and caring for "exceptional" trees. Despite being embedded in the tax code, these programs are typically enacted with tax policy issues like fairness, efficiency, and sustainability only as secondary considerations. Accordingly, these programs have long been called "tax expenditures." They are essentially government spending programs that happen to be housed in the tax code for ease of administration, political expedience, or both.
Portland Press Herald: Immigration reform, a boon for all, should be embraced, not feared
August 12, 2013
(Original Post) By TOM GAWARKIEWICZ Special to the Press Herald AUGUSTA — Historically, immigrants from Canada came to Maine seeking better job opportunities in the mills. Now Canada is the country attracting immigrants, luring entrepreneurs and high-skill workers to enhance its economic competitiveness. Canada recently unveiled a new startup visa program, which offers foreign entrepreneurs […]
Stateline: MA Joins Sales Tax Holiday Parade
August 2, 2013
Massachusetts is the 18th state to join the back-to-school tax holiday parade this year. The legislature has authorized a tax-free weekend to begin Aug. 10.
The Record: Report sees tax benefits, jobs for N.J. from immigration reform
August 2, 2013
New Jersey's tax revenue and housing market would get a boost, and its technology and agricultural industry would gain jobs if Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform, according to economic projections released by the White House on Thursday.
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.
Arizona Daily Star: Legalizing undocumented immigrants makes economic sense
July 29, 2013
(Original Post) July 28, 2013 12:00 am • Ben Johnson Special To The Arizona Daily Star3 As Congress takes a summer respite to figure out how to move immigration reform forward in the House, mounting evidence shows that reform would be a plus to the national economy. For instance, the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated […]
San Antonio Express-News: The economic case for immigration
July 18, 2013
(Original Post) EXPRESS-NEWS EDITORIAL BOARD : JULY 16, 2013 : Updated: July 16, 2013 5:14pm The U.S. House wants to embark on piecemeal efforts on immigration reform that are to comprehensive what a handful of sand is to a beach. It is unlikely, in any case, that it will do whatever it’s going to do […]
About.com: Unauthorized Immigrants Paying Plenty in Government Taxes
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) By Dan Moffett, About.com GuideJuly 15, 2013 A nonpartisan Washington think tank says that unauthorized immigrants generally pay as much in taxes as U.S. citizens and they would pay a lot more to the state, local and federal governments if comprehensive immigration reform happens. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released […]
NJ Spotlight: Immigration Reform Could Boost NJ Tax Revenues by $80M Yearly
July 11, 2013
(Original Post) Higher wages, more spending, increase in income taxes and sales taxes expected if undocumented workers became legal By Hank Kalet, July 11, 2013 Local and state tax coffers could gain see an injection of more than $80 million in taxes annually if federal immigration reforms are passed and undocumented workers are brought into […]
The Courier-Journal: Immigration reform would net $23M more for Kentucky
July 11, 2013
(Original Post) Jul. 10, 2013 11:48 PM Written by James R. Carroll WASHINGTON — Calling it “flawed” and “rushed,” House Republican leaders Wednesday snubbed sweeping immigration reform legislation, even as a new study showed that state and local tax revenues in Kentucky and Indiana would increase by nearly $56 million annually if reform passed. “House […]
Philadelphia Inquirer:Study shows financial gains if immigrants can work legally
July 11, 2013
With the cost to revamp immigration law looming large in the national debate, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a left-of-center nonprofit in Washington, released a study Wednesday that estimates big gains in state and local taxes if undocumented immigrants were allowed to work legally. The study estimated that New Jersey would […]
Yakima Herald Republic: Undocumented immigrants paid $292M in state, local taxes in 2010
July 11, 2013
By Mike Faulk Yakima Herald-Republic YAKIMA, Wash. — Undocumented immigrants paid $292 million in state and local taxes in Washington in 2010, according to a new study. Released this week by the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the study ranks the state 10th in the nation for most taxes paid […]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: Immigration Reform Would Bolster Georgia’s Strained Finances
July 10, 2013
Georgia would gain nearly $100 million in state and local tax revenue each year if Congress allows undocumented immigrants now living in the United States to work here legally, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Comprehensive immigration reform is under debate in Washington and passing a forward-looking […]
Reuters: Immigration overhaul could boost U.S. states’ revenue
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:03am EDT (Reuters) – Granting citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States could boost state and local government coffers by about $2 billion annually, said a liberal-leaning think tank study released on Wednesday. The findings come as the House of Representatives […]
Off the Charts: Getting the Whole Story in State Tax Debates
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 […]
Crain’s Chicago Business: Why immigration reform is a tax boon for Illinois
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Paul Merrion July 10, 2013 Immigration reform eventually would increase state and local tax collections in Illinois by almost $150 million a year, a new study has found. Undocumented immigrants in Illinois paid about $563 million in state and local income, property and sales taxes in 2010, according to the Institute on […]
Associated Press: States look to tax hybrid and electric car owners to recoup road funding
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 […]
US News & World Report: What’s the Matter with Kansas’ Tax Policy?
June 18, 2013
(Original Post) By Pat GarofaloJune 13, 2013 Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has presided over one of the most rightward lurches of any state in the nation, on issues such as health care, abortion and education. But the crown jewel of his administration has been a package of cuts to Kansas’ income tax – the […]
US News & World Report: What’s the Matter with Kansas’ Tax Policy?
June 18, 2013
(Original Post) By Pat GarofaloJune 13, 2013 Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has presided over one of the most rightward lurches of any state in the nation, on issues such as health care, abortion and education. But the crown jewel of his administration has been a package of cuts to Kansas’ income tax – the […]
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 […]
Reno News & Review: It happens
May 23, 2013
(Original Post) By Dennis [email protected] This article was published on 05.23.13. Nevada has a crappy tax system. Here’s why. It was sweltering. Januaries in Carson City are cold, of course, but the Nevada Assembly hall was jammed with bodies and television lights. Even on a weekday evening people traveled to the capitol for these occasions. […]
The Progressive Pulse: Blowhard lobbyist for corporations and the rich in town to promote tax increases on average North Carolinians
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) Post on May 16, 2013 by Rob Schofield How low have things sunk in the Raleigh policy debate? This low: A front group for corporations and greedy billionaires is bringing a has-been Washington lobbyist to town to promote higher taxes on poor and middle class North Carolinians and some are calling it a […]
International Digital Times: Tommy Chong Cancer Goes Up In Smoke; Veteran Funnyman Says Weed Saved His Life And Could Save America, Too
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) Now that Tommy Chong’s cancer has been cured, the Grammy Award-winning comedian is setting his sights on another challenge: saving America. In a recent interview with CBS News, Chong talked about how legalizing marijuana could solve the country’s fiscal problems. “Look at the situation we’re in now. Sequesters. Cuts. Everything cut across the […]
Boston Globe: Big seller Boston Beer asks for small-brewer tax break
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) By Noah Bierman| Globe Staff May 13, 2013 WASHINGTON — It’s early to be drinking, but just after 10:30 a.m. on a weekday, Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams beer, pops open a bottle of lager and regales his audience with stories. It’s no barroom banter. Koch is standing behind a […]
Alabama 13: Taxing the Dinner Table
May 10, 2013
Posted: May 09, 2013 6:25 PM EDT Updated: May 09, 2013 11:10 PM EDT By Jon Paepcke BIRMINGHAM, AL – With every bar code swipe, the numbers add up in Alabama. Did you know that for every dollar you spend on groceries four cents goes to the state? It’s true. Did you also know we […]
