State government tax revenues from major sources declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter in 2017, mostly because of declines in state income tax revenues. The declines in income tax collection are partially attributable to the disappearing impact of incentives...
In this testimony before the New York Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Kim Rueben examines New York State’s education funding formula and how limits in state aid amounts affect different low-income students. While New York State has one of the highest per...
This paper provides estimates of the total cost of and distributional effects of nonbusiness tax expenditures claimed on individual tax returns after enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taking account of interactions among provisions. Nonbusiness tax expenditures will reduce tax...
One year after the Supreme Court overturned the federal restriction on state authorization of legal sports gambling, seven states allow and tax sports wagers and several others are close to joining them. But despite sports betting’s ostensible popularity, the resulting state tax revenue is and...
Firm migration is seen as a barometer of business climate and economic health. State and local governments feel the pressure to retain and attract jobs, often by competing using economic development packages. To better understand local employment changes, and the prevalence of job migration, we...
In this study, we explore how strict balanced budget requirements (BBRs) and tax or expenditure limits (TELs) influence states’ decisions to either cut spending or raise revenues in response to surprise deficits and whether this relationship changed following the onset of the Great Recession. We...
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, that a business must have a physical presence within a state’s borders for the state to collect sales taxes from that business. In 1992, the court reaffirmed the physical presence requirement in Quill...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a new federal incentive—Opportunity Zones—to spur investment in poor and undercapitalized communities. Governors (and the mayor of the District of Columbia) have now selected which among the roughly 56 percent of eligible census tracts in the US should be...
In our research, we examine two alcohol excise tax increases enacted by Illinois in 1999 and in 2009. Using the synthetic control method, we find no evidence that either tax increase reduces fatal alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes for the whole of Illinois, although we do find evidence of a...
To help analysts craft next year’s state budgets, and to help reporters explain them and the public understand them, we compiled the Urban Institute’s and the Tax Policy Center’s best state-focused research in one place. The research in this compendium will help analysts better evaluate agency...
State Tax and Economic Review, 2018 Quarter 4
State government tax revenues from major sources declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter in 2017, mostly because of declines in state income tax revenues. The declines in income tax collection are partially attributable to the disappearing impact of incentives...
School Funding in New York State: Does the Current Formula Ensure Access for Students of Color?
In this testimony before the New York Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Kim Rueben examines New York State’s education funding formula and how limits in state aid amounts affect different low-income students. While New York State has one of the highest per...
Distributional Effects of Individual Income Tax Expenditures After the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
This paper provides estimates of the total cost of and distributional effects of nonbusiness tax expenditures claimed on individual tax returns after enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taking account of interactions among provisions. Nonbusiness tax expenditures will reduce tax...
States Learn to Bet on Sports: The Prospects and Limitations of Taxing Legal Sports Gambling
One year after the Supreme Court overturned the federal restriction on state authorization of legal sports gambling, seven states allow and tax sports wagers and several others are close to joining them. But despite sports betting’s ostensible popularity, the resulting state tax revenue is and...
Footloose or Stuck in Place? Firm Mobility across Six Metropolitan Areas
Firm migration is seen as a barometer of business climate and economic health. State and local governments feel the pressure to retain and attract jobs, often by competing using economic development packages. To better understand local employment changes, and the prevalence of job migration, we...
Budget Processes and the Great Recession
In this study, we explore how strict balanced budget requirements (BBRs) and tax or expenditure limits (TELs) influence states’ decisions to either cut spending or raise revenues in response to surprise deficits and whether this relationship changed following the onset of the Great Recession. We...
The Evolution of Online Sales Taxes and What's Next For States
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, that a business must have a physical presence within a state’s borders for the state to collect sales taxes from that business. In 1992, the court reaffirmed the physical presence requirement in Quill...
Did States Maximize Their Opportunity Zone Selections?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a new federal incentive—Opportunity Zones—to spur investment in poor and undercapitalized communities. Governors (and the mayor of the District of Columbia) have now selected which among the roughly 56 percent of eligible census tracts in the US should be...
State Alcohol Excise Taxes May Have Little Effect on Drunk Driving Fatalities
In our research, we examine two alcohol excise tax increases enacted by Illinois in 1999 and in 2009. Using the synthetic control method, we find no evidence that either tax increase reduces fatal alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes for the whole of Illinois, although we do find evidence of a...
Prepping for the 2018 Legislative Session
To help analysts craft next year’s state budgets, and to help reporters explain them and the public understand them, we compiled the Urban Institute’s and the Tax Policy Center’s best state-focused research in one place. The research in this compendium will help analysts better evaluate agency...