Sources of Government Revenue in the OECD, 2023
Designing tax policy in a way that sustainably finances government activities while minimizing distortions is important for supporting a productive economy.
5 min read
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Tennessee Looking Toward Pro-Growth Change in 2023
With other states upping their game to attract ever-more-mobile people and businesses, lawmakers and the governor are not content to leave Tennessee’s business taxes in their current, uncompetitive form.
7 min read
Local Income Taxes: A Primer
Most states avoid municipal income taxes for good reason. These taxes are more volatile and less economically competitive than other forms of taxation available to local governments, and add substantial complexity for governments and taxpayers alike.
23 min read
State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2023
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections:
9 min read
Deteriorating Federal Budget to Run $1.4 Trillion Deficit in 2023, CBO Projects
Immediately balancing the $20 trillion budget shortfall would take drastic, unwanted policy changes. Instead, lawmakers should target a more achievable goal, such as stabilizing debt and deficits with an eye toward comprehensive tax reform that can produce sufficient revenue with minimal economic harm.
4 min read
Efforts to Combat Inflation’s Impact on the Tax Code Should Remain a Priority in 2023
While hoping for inflation’s continued decline, policymakers should finish the job and index the tax code to prepare for future bouts of high inflation and as a contingency in case it takes longer to defeat elevated inflation than expected.
4 min read
New York, Oregon, and Other States Eye Much Higher Taxes on High Earners
Despite robust revenues, some state lawmakers are champing at the bit to raise taxes on higher-income households, sometimes to extraordinary levels.
7 min read
Corporate Income Tax Rates in Europe, 2023
Taking into account central and subcentral taxes, Portugal has the highest corporate tax rate in Europe at 31.5 percent, followed by Germany and Italy at 29.8 percent and 27.8 percent, respectively
2 min read
JCT Tax Expenditure Report: Not All Expenditures Are Created Equal
When peeling back layers of the JCT report, it becomes clear that many tax expenditures are not “loopholes” or benefits for narrow special interests, but important structural elements of the tax code.
6 min read
Will the Federal Government Tax Your State Tax Rebate?
If your state issued tax rebates last year, you might have to pay federal income tax on the rebate you received. Maybe. Who knows? Unfortunately, not the IRS—at least not yet.
5 min read
Tax Policy in Biden’s 2023 State of the Union Address
President Biden’s State of the Union Address outlined three tax proposals, including raising the tax on stock buybacks, imposing a billionaire minimum tax, and expanding the child tax credit.
6 min read
New Tax Expenditures Report Highlights Concerning Changes in Tax System
A new tax expenditures report by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) reveals two problematic developments: 1) policymakers have increasingly relied on the tax code to deliver benefits to individuals, and 2) the broad, neutral tax treatment of investment has shifted to targeted subsidies for businesses.
4 min read
State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2023
While many factors influence business location and investment decisions, sales taxes are something within policymakers’ control that can have immediate impacts.
11 min read
Testimony: Considerations for Additional Income Tax Reform and Relief in Nebraska
Done responsibly, reducing income tax rates while consolidating brackets would return excess tax collections to taxpayers and promote long-term economic growth in Nebraska.
There’s Still Room for Responsible State Income Tax Relief in 2023
Forty-three states adopted tax relief in 2021 or 2022—often in both years—and of those, 21 cut state income tax rates. It’s been a remarkable trend, driven by robust state revenues and an increasingly competitive tax environment.
4 min read
VAT Rates in Europe, 2023
The EU countries with the highest standard VAT rates are Hungary (27 percent), Croatia, Denmark, and Sweden (all at 25 percent). Luxembourg levies the lowest standard VAT rate at 16 percent, followed by Malta (18 percent), Cyprus, Germany, and Romania (all at 19 percent).
4 min read
State Tax Policy as an Inflation Response
At the end of 2022, prices were 14.6 percent higher than they were two years prior. That’s the fastest inflation rate over any two calendar years since the stagflation era of the late 1970s. State policymakers are understandably interested in bringing any tools at their disposal to bear on the problem. And many of them are reaching for tax policy solutions.
7 min read
Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, Tax Year 2020
The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. federal individual income tax continued to be progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners.
43 min read
Fair Tax FAQ
The FairTax is a proposal to replace all major sources of the federal government’s revenue—the individual income tax, corporate income tax, estate and gift taxes, and payroll tax—with a national sales tax and rebate, abolishing the IRS in the process.
7 min read
New York’s Proposed Cigarette Tax Hike and Flavor Ban Will Fuel Illicit Markets and Decrease Revenue
Earlier this month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) proposed increasing the state’s cigarette tax rate by $1.00 a pack, banning the sale of flavored vaping products, and ceasing the sale of all flavored tobacco products. If enacted, these policies would fuel black markets and create a fiscal hole for the state to fill, all while hurting New York businesses and consumers.
4 min read