Tax Policy Center

sales tax holiday

State and Local Issues: TaxVox
Whether to celebrate July 4, remind people to stock up on emergency supplies, or entice back-to-school shoppers, sales tax holidays are perennially popular. Yet they...
July 9, 2021John Buhl
: TaxVox
Can the Senate pass a highway bill? Last night, the Senate finally voted to begin debate on its version of a transportation bill. But it is in for a tough slog thanks in part to two GOP presidential hopefuls. Ted Cruz has threatened to tie the Iran deal to the measure. The Texan wants an amendment
July 23, 2015Renu Zaretsky
: Daily Deduction
Will cuts to a state’s top income tax rate boost growth? Not necessarily. In a new TPC paper , Bill Gale, Aaron Krupkin, and Kim Rueben find little evidence linking state-level economic growth and taxes, especially income tax policy. Neither tax revenues nor top income tax rates have a steady
May 4, 2015Renu Zaretsky
State and Local Issues: TaxVox
Politicians love sales tax holidays as good campaign fodder. Retailers celebrate them with gaudy signs announcing tax-free shopping, and consumers line up to take advantage of the deals. But economists and policy analysts across the ideological spectrum condemn them as poorly targeted tax policy
August 18, 2014Richard C. Auxier
: TaxVox
Gambling with the Highway Trust Fund: The House always wins? As expected , the House rejected the Senate’s four-and-a-half month $8 billion highway funding patch passed earlier this week. The House returned its own 10-month $10.8 billion patch—the one that includes pension smoothing — back to the
August 1, 2014Renu Zaretsky
: TaxVox
The Illinois legislature passed a budget with revenue holes and no spending cuts. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn tried to make temporary tax increases—set to partially expire on January 1—permanent, but he couldn’t get the votes. And Illinois House Democrats wouldn’t cut spending and instead kept it
June 2, 2014Renu Zaretsky