State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2025
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 24 percent of combined state and local tax collections.
15 min read
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New Jersey and Utah Are Latest States to Consider Reforming Economic Nexus
Despite stark competitiveness differences, both New Jersey and Utah share a common goal this legislative session: reforming economic nexus rules that require out-of-state sellers and marketplace facilitators to collect and remit state sales taxes.
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State Tax Changes Taking Effect January 1, 2025
Thirty-nine states will begin 2025 with notable tax changes, including nine states cutting individual income taxes. Recent years have seen a wave of significant tax reforms, and the changes scheduled for 2025 show that these efforts have not let up.
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South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 28 Undermines Sales Tax Rate Reductions
Especially for a state that relies so heavily on the sales tax as a source of revenue—and where most people want to keep it that way—a broad base and a low rate is crucial.
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State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch in 2024
Taxes are on the ballot this November—not just in the sense that candidates at all levels are offering their visions for tax policy, but also in the literal sense that voters in some states will get to decide important questions about how their states raise revenue.
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Income Tax Earmarking and Grocery Taxes on the Ballot in Utah
Utah is the only state to earmark the entirety of one of its major taxes, but a measure on the ballot this November might change that.
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Modernizing State Sales Taxes: A Policymaker’s Guide
The sales tax is the second-largest source of state tax revenue and an important source of local tax revenue, but decades of base erosion threaten the tax’s share of overall revenue and have prompted years of countervailing rate increases.
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Meals Taxes across the Nation
States would do better to broaden the sales tax base to include currently exempt classes of final consumption than to impose disproportionate taxes on prepared foods.
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Proposed Nebraska Property Tax Relief Plan Would Make Things Worse
Gov. Pillen is searching for tax burden relief. But his plan, which reportedly involves a two-tiered sales tax and the state’s assumption of most school funding responsibility, would have profound implications that even those most convinced of the urgency of property tax relief may find unworkable and unpalatable.
12 min read
Sales Tax Holidays by State, 2024
However well-intended they may be, sales tax holidays remain the same as they always have been—ineffective and inefficient.
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State Sales Tax Breadth and Reliance, Fiscal Year 2022
An ideal sales tax is imposed on all final consumption, both goods and services, but excludes intermediate transactions to avoid tax pyramiding.
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State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2024
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections).
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Evaluating the Proposed Tax Changes in Illinois Governor’s FY 2025 Budget
In his FY 2025 budget, Illinois Gov. Pritzker outlined a number of proposed tax changes, including to individual and corporate income taxes, state sales taxes, and sports betting excise taxes.
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Virginia Considers Expanding Its Sales Tax Base to B2B Digital Services
Expanding Virginia’s sales tax base to include B2B digital transactions could lead to tax pyramiding, hide the true cost of government, and make the sales tax system much less neutral and transparent.
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Costly Inputs: Unraveling Sales Tax’s Impact on Businesses
Sales taxes go beyond a few extra bucks at the register. It’s not just about what you pay, but who pays. What are the implications of state sales tax bases across the U.S.?
State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2024
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections).
9 min read
A Lower, Flat Income Tax Would Promote Long-Term Economic Growth in Kansas
After years of strong revenue growth, Kansas has substantial cash reserves on hand, and policymakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed a desire to return some of the extra revenue to taxpayers.
5 min read
Kentucky Sales Tax Modernization: Keeping the Sales Tax on Sales, Not Production
As policymakers continue efforts to improve Kentucky’s tax structure and competitiveness, they should keep in mind that not all offsets are created equal.
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State Tax Changes Taking Effect January 1, 2024
Thirty-four states will ring in the new year with notable tax changes, including 15 states cutting individual or corporate income taxes (and some cutting both).
17 min read
Governor Youngkin Unveils a New Tax Plan for Virginia
Virginia Governor Youngkin unveiled the contours of a tax reform plan incorporated into his forthcoming budget, which includes three major structural elements: a reduction in the individual income tax rate, a 0.9 percentage point increase in the sales tax rate, and the broadening of the sales tax base to include some “new economy” digital services.
6 min read