TaxVox: State and Local Issues

Policymakers concerned about the growth of vaping activity could ban vaping products. Or they could try to use taxes to discourage the practice. There are advantages and disadvantages to each policy option. The issue is complicated, because an e-cigarette and its products can be used in many ways with sometimes-conflicting effects.

The idea of a sales tax exemption makes sense if a state is trying to encourage first-time purchases of pricey goods like an energy efficient refrigerator. But for products that most residents will buy anyway—like school supplies—it doesn’t.

All states with an income tax link to the federal tax system to some degree. This system of federal-state conformity helps taxpayers by standardizing the...

For decades, the debate over tax reform has focused on lowering rates and broadening the tax base. That is, curbing or even eliminating the annual...