Tax Policy Center

California

State and Local Issues: TaxVox

We Don’t Know If The SALT Cap Is Driving Away Residents Of High-Tax States

Has the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act produced a mass migration...
February 10, 2020Lucy DadayanNoah Zwiefel
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

California Moves To Curb Local Economic Development Tax Incentives. It Might Want To Try Cooperation Instead.

The California Legislature has moved to prohibit local governments from offering certain sales tax incentives to promote economic development and attract businesses, such as e-commerce...
September 30, 2019Megan Randall
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Will California’s New Labor Law Change The Way Gig Workers Are Taxed?

A sprawling and controversial new labor law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom this week could have major tax consequences for gig workers in the...
September 20, 2019Howard Gleckman
: TaxVox

Tax Day Is Here, And State Budget Offices Share Your Fears And Hopes For A Good Return

With Tax Day here, taxpayers are scrambling to finish up their returns—both federal and state (that is, if their state has an individual income tax)...
April 15, 2019Lucy Dadayan
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Ups and Downs Of California’s Gas Tax

Last year, California raised its excise taxes on motor fuels. The tax on gasoline increased from 34.7 cents per gallon to 46.7 cents per gallon...
November 1, 2018Robert McClelland
: TaxVox

Lessons Learned 40 Years After A Monumental Tax Law

Forty years ago, California voters were sent a 63-page pamphlet explaining the 13 questions on the primary ballot that June. At the end of the...
June 21, 2018Kim S. RuebenRichard C. Auxier
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

Fixing Connecticut’s Budget Woes? Tread Carefully When Implementing New Fiscal Controls

Late last October, Governor Dan Malloy approved a two-year $40.2 billion budget for Connecticut more than 100 days after the fiscal year began. A strongly...
March 9, 2018Kim S. Rueben
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program: Why pension reform turns inefficiently to the states

Starting as soon as it can be made operational, perhaps in 2018 , as many as 7 million private-sector California workers who currently have no...
December 2, 2016C. Eugene SteuerlePamela Perun
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

The Trouble with State Tax Triggers

State policymakers are increasingly using “triggers” to pass big tax cuts while ducking tough decisions on how to pay for them. They are bad tax policy. Naturally, they are incredibly popular. Here’s how a tax trigger works: A state cuts taxes over a period of years. There may be an initial tax cut
September 24, 2015Norton Francis
: TaxVox

Rewarding Work, Paying by the Mile, a Windfall, and… Tax Magic 


Redesign the EITC to help more low-income workers. TPC’s Elaine Maag thinks that’s the way to go. She explains in her new paper : “A worker credit based on individual earnings, and not contingent on having children at home, could provide substantial benefits to all low-income workers, ease
May 21, 2015Renu Zaretsky