Illinois’ proposed Millionaire’s Tax would raise taxes on Illinois families and businesses in an economically damaging way, further harming the state’s competitiveness and reducing economic opportunity even for those Illinois residents who would not owe the tax directly.
Maine’s proposed millionaire’s tax would bring Maine’s top income tax rate to 9.15 percent, dealing a blow to the state’s economic competitiveness.
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Proponents of a California wealth tax ballot initiative insist that the proposed wealth tax is temporary: a one-time 5 percent tax that can be paid upfront or over five years with deferral charges. Others are skeptical that the wealth tax would be allowed to expire.
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State lawmakers around the country have begun their legislative sessions, and many are considering tax reform. This piece highlights some of the areas on which they are likely to focus.
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Lawmakers in many states continue to pursue additional income tax relief, while their counterparts elsewhere pursue the opposite goal.
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Should both HB 979 and HB 378 pass, Virginia would have the nation’s highest top marginal rate on investment income.
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Michigan’s proposed 5 percent income surtax on high earners, yielding a top marginal rate of 9.25 percent, is also a tax on the small businesses that employ nearly 2 million Michiganders.
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The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, a California ballot initiative, would ostensibly impose a one-time tax of 5 percent on the net worth of the state’s billionaires. Due, however, to aggressive design choices and possible drafting errors, the actual rate on taxpayers’ net worth could be dramatically higher.
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A proposed “millionaire’s tax” in Washington State would yield the highest combined state and local top rate in the country.
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Instead of implementing new wealth taxes, European policymakers should focus on making the current tax system more efficient and transparent.
Spain’s central government could learn some valuable lessons from its regional governments and other European countries about sound tax policy.
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Short FormSince the inception of the modern federal individual income tax in 1913, the US tax code has generally become more progressive, not less. Will the recent tax changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) alter this?
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Targeting wealth at the top through higher taxes has a certain appeal, but it also comes with a lot of drawbacks, including increased avoidance and reduced incentives to invest.
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When the Kansas City and Los Angeles squads face off in São Paulo, the players will owe Brazil’s nonresident income tax on the share of income they earned there, while California will lose out on the nonresident income taxes that Chiefs players ordinarily would have remitted in what is nominally a Chargers home game.
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Rhode Island lawmakers are debating raising the state’s top income tax rate. Though billed as a tax hike on high earners, the consequences would manifest across the state’s entire economy—creating a risk that Rhode Island will tax its way into uncompetitiveness.
The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) only succeeds in demonstrating that America has more millionaires than it used to, not that high-tax states are doing well in attracting or retaining them.
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While evaluating new estate tax bills this legislative session, Oregon legislators should consider the state’s competitive tax landscape and interstate migration patterns.
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If student athletes are taxed on their earnings, it’s time the NCAA should be taxed on theirs.
The latest IRS data shows that the U.S. individual income tax continues to be very progressive, borne primarily by the highest income earners. The top 1 percent of taxpayers pay a 26.8 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than six times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (4.0 percent).
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The top 50 percent of all taxpayers pay 97 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 3 percent.
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