Flat Taxes

State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2024

Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?

The State Flat Tax Revolution: Where Things Stand Today

In 2021 and 2022 alone, more states enacted laws converting graduated-rate individual income tax structures into single-rate income tax structures than did so in the whole 108-year history of state income taxation up until that point.

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.

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).

Tax Reform Is Key to Ukraine’s Economic Health, Now and after the War

What historical lessons of wartime finance can Ukrainian and EU policymakers learn to put Ukraine’s economy on a path to success during, and especially after, the war?

How Taxing Consumption Would Improve Long-Term Opportunity and Well-Being for Families and Children

Income taxes impose steeper economic costs, and often steeper administrative and compliance costs, than consumption taxes. Moving to a consumption tax would end the tax bias against saving and investment and provide an opportunity to greatly simplify anti-poverty programs embedded in the tax code.

Details and Analysis of a Tax Reform Plan for Growth and Opportunity

The federal tax code remains a major source of frustration and controversy for Americans, and a hindrance to economic growth and opportunity. Other countries, such as Estonia, have proven that sufficient tax revenue can be collected in a less frustrating and more efficient way.

North Carolina’s Budget Should Prioritize Pro-Growth Structural Reforms

As fiscal year 2023 draws to a close, North Carolina’s House and Senate have each passed their own versions of the biennial budget for fiscal years 2024-25. While legislative leaders have generally agreed to overall spending levels, negotiations remain ongoing to resolve different approaches to tax policy.

State Tax Reform and Relief Trend Continues in 2023

Design Matters When Raising Taxes to Reduce the Deficit and Stabilize the Debt

Rather than continue down the path of growing debt, lawmakers should craft a comprehensive solution. International experience cautions against tax-based fiscal consolidations, but modest tax increases may be part of a successful debt reduction package.

Testimony: Considerations for Improving Wisconsin’s Tax Structure and Competitiveness

If Wisconsin policymakers return some of the projected continued revenue growth to taxpayers in a structurally sound and pro-growth manner, those tax cuts will benefit businesses and individuals throughout the state, leading to more innovation, more job and wage growth, more economic opportunities, and more vibrant communities.

Why the Estonian Tax System Would Remain Competitive after Tax Reform

When a country has a broad base with a simple and transparent tax code, small rate changes have little influence. Therefore, policymakers shouldn’t only focus on rate changes when it comes to increasing tax competitiveness.

Oklahoma Lawmakers’ Tax Reform Plan Would Put State in Top 10

The changes put forth in a new package of bills would represent significant pro-growth change for Oklahoma that would set the state up for success in an increasingly competitive tax landscape.

Positive Tax Reforms in Massachusetts Budget Proposal Have Broader Implications

The proposed reforms would be welcome changes to the Commonwealth’s tax code, but the economic principles behind the reforms also have important implications for the Bay State’s income tax system writ large.

Analyzing the Kansas Senate’s Proposed Tax Changes

As Kansas legislators consider additional tax policy changes this legislative session, they should prioritize economic growth and a structurally sound tax code.

North Dakota’s Path to a Flat Individual Income Tax

Crafting a hybrid bill for a low, flat rate on a broad base—with well-designed revenue triggers to responsibly reduce rates in the future—could be an ideal way forward for the North Dakota Senate.

Georgia Should Reinforce Its Tax Reform Intentions

By shifting to a flat income tax, Georgia has already made an important commitment to tax competitiveness. Although the state’s top rate threshold is already very low, a true single-rate income tax will help protect taxpayers from inflation-related tax increases and provide a buffer against rising tax rates in the future. To combine responsible rate reductions with these benefits, Georgia should create tax triggers that empower the state to keep pace with its competition.

State Tax Changes Taking Effect January 1, 2023

Most of the 2023 state tax changes represent net tax reductions, the result of an unprecedented wave of rate reductions and other tax cuts in the past two years as states respond to burgeoning revenues, greater tax competition in an era of enhanced mobility, and the impact of high inflation on residents.

What to Expect in a Post-Flat Tax Massachusetts

On Election Day, a narrow majority of Massachusetts voters approved Question 1, also known as the Fair Share Amendment, which will transition the Commonwealth from a flat rate individual income tax to a graduated rate system.

A Flat Tax in Wisconsin Can Deliver Tax Relief for Everyone

With increases to the standard deduction, a flat tax could provide a net tax cut to taxpayers of all income levels, providing both short-term and long-term relief to taxpayers across the income spectrum. It would also simplify the tax code in ways that encourage greater investment and economic growth, particularly by ensuring that the marginal rate on small business investment is competitive with peer states.