Joseph Johns is a Tax Policy Analyst with the Tax Foundation.
Johns focused his research on taxes and spending while at a nearby think tank and has worked alongside various nonprofits in the Washington, D.C. area. He graduated from George Mason University in 2021 as an MA Fellow at the Mercatus Center, where he assisted Mercatus scholars with state-level economic research. He currently lives in Central Arkansas and enjoys outdoor activities and spending time with friends.
North Dakota’s financial position provides it with a rare capacity to deliver meaningful property tax relief. However, policymakers must balance immediate relief with fiscal sustainability and ensure that local governments remain adequately funded in the years ahead.
5 min read
Lawmakers should finish the work they have begun over the past few decades, tackling tax rates and structures to give the state a leg up in an era of enhanced competition.
84 min read
By streamlining, simplifying, and reducing tax burdens for remote and nonresident workers, a newly proposed bill could make Arkansas a more attractive state for both employees and employers.
4 min read
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.
25 min read
In addition to the federal estate tax, with a top rate of 40 percent, 12 states and DC impose additional estate taxes, while six states levy inheritance taxes.
7 min read
States that tax GILTI increase filing complexity, drive up the cost of tax compliance, and introduce unnecessary economic uncertainty and legal risk. 21 states and DC continue to tax GILTI despite these challenges.
6 min read
Georgia should focus on policies that restrict the overall growth of property taxes, not policies that functionally freeze property taxes for current owners by shifting costs onto new owners and into the sales tax.
6 min read
Sports stadium subsidies are salient political gimmicks designed to appear as if politicians are providing tangible benefits to taxpayers. The empirical evidence shows repeatedly that stadium subsidies fail to generate new tax revenue and new jobs or attract new businesses.
6 min read
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
Eliminating the property tax will unfortunately set North Dakota back in significant ways, making the state a national outlier and eroding regional competitiveness.
6 min read
However well-intended they may be, sales tax holidays remain the same as they always have been—ineffective and inefficient.
11 min read
The proposal is a good example of what can be done to reduce tax burdens on residents if spending is constrained. There are real, tangible benefits associated with enacting this pro-growth reform that should not be discounted.
5 min read
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) recently called a brief special legislative session to enact the fourth round of reductions to the Natural State’s individual and corporate income taxes. Legislators also passed a modest property tax reform proposal.
4 min read
Gross receipts taxes impose costs on consumers, workers, and shareholders alike. Shifting from these economically damaging taxes can thus be a part of states’ plans for improving their tax codes in an increasingly competitive tax landscape.
7 min read
States have generally tried to encourage capital investment. Throwback and throwout rules are an unfortunate example of penalizing it.
4 min read