Oregon Measure 118 Is an Aggressive Sales Tax—and Worse
Oregon’s Measure 118, though presented as a tax on big business, would function as an aggressive sales tax on consumers.
7 min read
Expert
Jared Walczak
Senior Fellow
Jared Walczak is a Senior Fellow at the Tax Foundation, where he spent five years as Vice President of State Projects, and president of Walczak Policy Consulting.
Jared has written or co-written tax reform guides for more than a dozen states and has served as the principal author of the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index and Location Matters. He is also a regular on the conference circuit and has testified before legislatures in 35 states. His efforts have been instrumental in securing tax reform in many states, including sweeping reforms in Iowa and Louisiana, along with substantive reforms in Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, among others.
Jared also serves as a member of the faculty of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation, sits on the state tax advisory board of the Institute for State Policy Leaders, and contributes to Tax Notes State magazine. He is the author of the “SALT Road” Substack, a free newsletter on state and local tax policy.
Latest Work
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.
9 min read
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.
4 min read
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.
72 min read
Sales Tax Rates in Major Cities, Midyear 2024
While many factors influence business location and investment decisions, sales taxes are something within policymakers’ control that can have immediate impacts—especially as a large number of major cities have combined rates of 9 percent or more.
6 min read
Gov. Tim Walz Raised Taxes as Most Governors Cut Them
Gov. Walz’s tax policy record is notable because of how much it contrasts with broader national trends. In recent years, most governors have championed tax cuts. Walz, rare among his peers, chose tax increases.
5 min read
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
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.
15 min read
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).
8 min read
California Explores New Ways to Tax the Internet
The data extraction mitigation fee is modeled after Maryland’s digital advertising tax, which has been mired in litigation since its inception and is very likely unconstitutional and in conflict with federal law.
6 min read
Portland’s Weirdly High Taxes
Portland residents face some of the country’s highest taxes on just about every class of income. In an era of dramatically increased mobility for individuals and businesses alike, that’s not a recipe for success.
11 min read
Oregon Ballot Measure Would Yield Sky-High Business Tax Rates
The all-in Oregon state and local tax rate on large businesses could exceed 56 percent under a proposed ballot measure that purports to impose only a small tax increase on large businesses.
6 min read
Caitlin Clark’s Other Audience: State Tax Departments
When Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese made their WNBA preseason debuts, basketball fans across the country tuned in. But there’s another audience that also follows along: state revenue officials, who will expect their piece of the pie each time these star athletes—and their teammates—come to town.
3 min read
State Income Taxes and the 2024 NFL Draft Class
Here’s how much NFL players can expect to pay in state and local income taxes—to all relevant states—at multiple salary levels, by team.
7 min read
Can States Afford Their Recent Tax Cuts?
With state tax revenues receding from all-time highs, there’s been a great deal of handwringing about whether states can afford the tax cuts adopted over the past few years. Given that 27 states reduced the rate of a major tax between 2021 and 2023, is there reason for concern?
4 min read
The Shortcomings of Nebraska’s EPIC Option
31 min read
Tangible Personal Property De Minimis Exemptions by State, 2024
Does your state have a small business exemption for machinery and equipment?
3 min read
Proposed “Junk Fee” Rule Would Create Inadvertent Tax Headaches
One particular provision of the Biden administration’s proposal to ban so-called “junk fees” would have unintended consequences.
5 min read
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
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.
59 min read