The role of competition in setting sales tax rates is often overlooked. One study shows that per capita sales in border counties in sales tax-free New Hampshire have tripled since the late 1950s, while per capita sales in border counties in Vermont have remained stagnant.
13 min read
By almost any measure, Utah is, and deserves to be, the envy of its peers. Utah leads the country in job growth, and the state’s economy has grown at twice the rate of the nation at large. Utah’s income tax reforms adopted in 2007 established a model for other states to follow. But today, some of these gains are being undone—not by conscious policy choices, but by their absence.
6 min read
Many states are seeing a significant narrowing of their bases as lawmakers continue to carve out exemptions, and as consumption patterns shift ever more towards relatively-untaxed services.
4 min read
OECD countries have on average become more reliant on consumption taxes and less reliant on individual income taxes. These policy changes matter, considering that consumption-based taxes raise revenue with less economic damage and distortionary effects than taxes on income.
10 min read
Our updated 2019 edition of Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
1 min read