The federal government and most states have per-unit gas taxes. Because they tax gallons purchased, and not a percentage of purchase price, revenues are falling across the country as Americans buy less gas. If states do not want to cut transportation projects they now have to increase tax rates...
This paper examines the incidence of the federal income tax exemption of interest on state and local bonds, applying a fixed-savings, simplified general equilibrium approach to estimate incidence effects on both the sources and uses of income. In contrast to traditional empirical work that...
Most states ended the summer of 2014 on a positive economic note. Up from 14 states a year earlier, 25 states reported August unemployment rates below 6 percent. Every state but Alaska added jobs within the last year. But some troubling signs remain. Inflation-adjusted average weekly wages...
The latest edition of the Tax Policy Center's State and Local Finance Initiative's State Economic Monitor reports that states are still struggling to emerge from the lingering recession. The good news is that nearly all states experienced economic growth in 2013, and only one state has an...
With Vice President Kamala Harris now the presumptive Democratic nominee, the political world has moved to one of its favorite parlor games: running mate speculation...
Cities, counties, and other local governments have traditionally relied on property taxes as a substantial and stable revenue stream. But with remote work taking hold...
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) temporarily but significantly expanded the federal child tax credit (CTC), and child poverty fell from 9.7 percent to...
While most of the political world looks ahead to 2024, voters are making important choices on property taxes, wealth taxes, cannabis taxes, and more this...
As the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) celebrated its two-year anniversary on March 11, some applauded a law that sped an economic recovery while others...
The past two years were a great time to make state tax policy. Booming revenue collections combined with hundreds of billions of dollars from Congress...
Americans voted on dozens of ballot initiatives this year, including tax hikes, tax cuts, cannabis taxes, sports betting, and even the future of ballot measures...
Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota will vote on legalizing recreational marijuana this November. And cannabis initiatives are already on the 2023 or...
After years of growth, some states saw cannabis tax collections decline for the first time in fiscal year 2022. But, while politicians occasionally promote marijuana...
On Monday, the Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) released guidance for unborn children newly eligible for the state’s existing dependent deduction. Making unborn children eligible...
A few Tax Policy Center staffers and I spend tax season volunteering for the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, providing free tax preparation...
Despite some warnings of long-term fiscal risk, policymakers across the country continue to push big state tax cuts. While most are focused on income tax...
A few weeks into their 2022 legislative sessions, the question in most state capitols across the country—from Connecticut to Utah —is not whether to cut...
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to use $1 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to suspend Florida’s gas tax for five months. Suspending the...
Bigger State EITCs Are Simple, Affordable, and Effective Currently, 28 states offer their own EITC . (Missouri and Washington State will join the list in...
In March 2020, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a $11.8 billion budget that was $500 million lower than what he had proposed just weeks earlier—before...