Contrary to initial expectations, the pandemic years were good for state and local tax collections, and while the surges of 2021 and 2022 have not continued into calendar year 2023, revenues remain robust in most states and well above pre-pandemic levels even after accounting for inflation.
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Indiana’s tax code is structured in a relatively sound and economically efficient manner overall, but additional improvements should be considered to make the state even more economically competitive.
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Responsible pro-growth reforms to Arkansas’s tax code can help ensure that the Natural State is indeed a Land of Opportunity.
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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.
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Texas’s robust surpluses create an opportunity to use state funds to lower local property taxes. However, it remains important for legislators to pursue a principled approach to rate compression, rather than enacting a plan that will simply shift the tax burden in nonneutral ways.
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In the closing days of the 2023 legislative session, Oklahoma lawmakers repealed the state’s corporate franchise tax and eliminated the marriage penalty in its individual income tax. Both tax changes represent a positive step forward for the state.
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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.
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As Minnesota lawmakers consider making theirs the first state to mandate worldwide combined reporting, they are relying on a revenue estimate that is—this may not be the technical term—completely bogus.
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Michiganders will pay a lower individual income tax rate next year thanks to high general fund revenues, but these savings may be short-lived following an opinion released by the state’s attorney general.
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The overall U.S. tax and transfer system is overwhelmingly progressive, and understanding the extent—and source—of that progressivity is essential for lawmakers considering the trade-offs associated with each tax policy decision.
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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.
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California is losing tax revenue while consumers turn to cross-border purchases or, often, illicit trade of flavored cigarettes, which makes everyone worse off.
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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.
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West Virginia is one of only seven states that hasn’t offered any significant tax relief since 2021—and five of the other six forgo an individual income tax.
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States are flush with cash, but taxpayers’ purchasing power is being eroded by high inflation. Tax rebates, gas tax holidays, and other temporary tax expedients have the potential to add to existing inflation—but good intentions do not always make for good policy.
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Coming out of the pandemic, the state of Ohio is estimating significant tax revenue growth, and some lawmakers are looking to take advantage and repeal the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT), one of only a few gross receipts taxes still levied in the country.
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Mississippi lawmakers should deliver tax relief in 2022, but they need not take an all-or-nothing approach. There are many ways to improve the state’s tax code, even if full income tax repeal doesn’t remain on the table.
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Kentucky and Tennessee won an important legal victory Friday when a federal court ruled that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)’s restrictions on state fiscal autonomy were unconstitutional and enjoined (blocked) the enforcement of those provisions against both states.
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