The mix of tax sources states choose can have important implications for both revenue stability and economic growth, and the many variations across states are indicative of the different ways states weigh competing policy goals.
29 min read
Maine has blueberry taxes. Alabama has mosquito taxes. Each state and county has its tax quirks. But when state and local governments want to raise revenues, there are four key taxes they turn to.
There are a number of sources of state and local tax collections each with important implications for revenue stability and economic growth. Which taxes does your state and/or locality rely on most?
22 min read
The proposed increase of Vermont’s top income tax rate would have negative effects on the state’s economy and competitiveness.
The proposed California wealth tax could be levied on founders’ voting interests in their companies, despite the initiative’s drafters insisting otherwise.
6 min read
The amount of revenue states raise through roadway-related revenues varies significantly across the US. Only two states raise enough revenue to fully cover their highway spending.
5 min read
When evaluating property tax reform options in North Carolina, only changes that restore balance—without distorting investment or shifting costs unfairly—will ensure the state’s local tax system supports, rather than hinders, continued prosperity.
8 min read
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.
6 min read
While well-intentioned, Kansas’ assessment limit like the one in SCR 1616 would create wide gaps between a property’s assessed value and its market value, distorting the real estate market and disadvantaging those purchasing newer properties.
8 min read
Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services.
9 min read
Under HB26-1221, Colorado would make two changes that raise additional revenue by taxing income that doesn’t actually exist. The proposed changes to the state’s alternative minimum tax and net operating loss provisions are designed to overstate income, leading to double taxation and distorting taxpayer behavior.
5 min read
Delaware Governor Matt Meyer (D) has proposed a new state budget that includes roughly $18.9 million in additional annual revenue from higher tobacco taxes.
4 min read
Alaskan lawmakers are actively debating this session whether they should open their digital borders to the online sports betting market. If legalization is a step Alaska decides to take, the right tax mix could result in notable fiscal advantages for the state.
Coming into 2026, several states are eyeing new or increased Alternative Tobacco Product (ATP) taxes.
5 min read
As states grapple with taxing the evolving tobacco and nicotine market, policymakers should carefully consider the tax mix they implement.
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?
9 min read
Michigan’s tax code remains too complex, and taxpayers should be asking for a system that bends toward simplicity, not the other way around.
Assessment limits are not sound tax policy. While well-intended, with hopes of preventing owners from being “taxed out of their homes,” the tax shifts, lock-in effects, and housing supply issues created by assessment limits make housing affordability worse.
Although New York’s 2027 budget proposal avoids tax increases on income, sales, and property taxes, it is full of policy proposals that threaten the long-run integrity of the state’s finances and harm New York taxpayers.
5 min read
Lawmakers in many states continue to pursue additional income tax relief, while their counterparts elsewhere pursue the opposite goal.
3 min read
One area of the tax code in which extreme complexity and low compliance go hand-in-hand—and where reform is desperately needed—is in states’ nonresident individual income tax filing and withholding laws.
9 min read
While the CEA’s analysis of the benefits of reduced reliance on income taxes is sound, its revenue replacement estimates are not. The actual revenue replacement rate could be as high as 17.51 percent.
6 min read
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for nearly a quarter of combined state and local tax collections.
18 min read