TaxVox: State and local taxes

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Or Sales Tax Holiday.

September 4, 2019 –
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.
Individual Taxes

Minnesota’s Struggles To Conform to the TCJA Made Its CPAs Happy. Taxpayers, Not So Much.

August 26, 2019 –
It’s an unusually glamorous time to be an accountant in Minnesota. Over the past year, certified public accountants (CPAs) and other professional tax preparers have...
Individual Taxes

Most AMT Taxpayers Paid Lower Taxes After TCJA, Despite SALT Cap

July 10, 2019 –
A new Tax Policy Center analysis finds that the vast majority of households that paid the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) before the 2017 Tax Cuts...
State and Local Issues

Road Rage and Raising Revenue: Is It Time For States To Embrace Even Bigger Gas Tax Increases?

July 3, 2019 –
Michigan was one of 12 states that saw gas taxes increase on July 1. Its rate climbed by only 0.1 cent per gallon because it’s indexed monthly for inflation. In contrast, new legislation doubled gas tax rates in Illinois to 38 cents per gallon and raised the levy by 10.5 cents in Ohio. Can Michigan—and other states—go even bigger?
State and Local Issues

Will A Global Opioid Settlement Mimic The 1990s Tobacco Experience?

June 6, 2019 –
For states, opioids may become the new tobacco. That is to say, states increasingly believe lawsuits against drugmakers and others are a potential source of significant revenue

What The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Means For Tax Expenditures

June 5, 2019 –
In a new paper , my former Tax Policy Center colleague Daniel Berger and I calculate that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)...

Three Tax Lessons from the First Year of Widespread Legal Sports Betting

May 22, 2019 –
Three Tax Lessons from the First Year of Widespread Legal Sports Betting A year ago, the Supreme Court legalized one of America’s favorite illegal pastimes:...
State and Local Issues

Are Public Pension And Benefit Shortfalls And Local Taxes Worthy Of A Neighborhood Duel?

May 1, 2019 –
Our local elected officials were debating a new tax to help offset a big public pension shortfall... If people dueled in 2019 like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton did in 1804, a couple of township trustees might have been drawing pistols at dawn.

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

April 15, 2019 –
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)...
State and Local Issues

State Revenue Picture in Post-TCJA Era: Joy, Sorrow, and Uncertainty

March 12, 2019 –
The Tax Policy Center’s State and Local Finance Initiative’s quarterly “ State Tax and Economic Review ” shows solid revenue growth in the third quarter...