New Jersey’s proposed ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes (Assembly Bill 1989) would reduce excise and sales tax collections by as much as $243 million per year. And with the significant revenue loss, smoking rates are unlikely to decline. New Jersey lawmakers should look to the recent Massachusetts experiment to see what to expect if they ban menthol in […]
Table of Contents Key Findings Forty-five states and the District of Columbia collect statewide sales taxes. Local sales taxes are collected in 38 states. In some cases, they can rival or even exceed state rates. The five states with the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates are Louisiana (9.55 percent), Tennessee (9.547 percent), Arkansas (9.48 percent), Washington […]
Over the past decade, policymakers from both parties in Harrisburg have proposed reducing Pennsylvania’s 9.99 percent corporate net income tax (CNIT) rate but could not agree on an approach—until now. With enactment of HB 1342 as part of the 2022-2023 state budget, lawmakers finally succeeded in cutting what had been the second highest state corporate tax rate in the nation. […]
Key Findings Ten states enacted individual income tax rate reductions. Six states enacted corporate income tax rate reductions. Oklahoma became the first state to make permanent the full expensing of capital investments by C corporations in the year they made the investments. Two states permanently exempted groceries from their respective sales tax bases. Five states suspended their tax on gasoline. […]
Oklahoma lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) are at a standstill on efforts to secure tax reform in special session, but lawmakers did accomplish something important in the waning days of the state’s regular session—a national first for which the Sooner State deserves substantial credit. Full expensing—or the immediate write-off of all business investment—is now permanently enshrined in the state’s […]
Today’s map looks at the design of excise taxes for vaping and tobacco alternatives, which is important in the pursuit of harm reduction from smoking. Higher vapor taxes on products such as E-cigarettes could encourage vapors to go back to smoking cigarettes and will discourage cigarette smokers from switching to vaping products. Since vaping entered the market in the mid-2000s, […]
Although the majority of 2022 state tax changes take effect at the start of the calendar year, some are implemented at the beginning of the fiscal year. Individual and corporate income tax changes usually take effect at the beginning of the calendar year to maintain policy consistency throughout the tax year, but sales and excise tax changes often correspond with […]
Note: The following is Tax Foundation testimony regarding how Pennsylvania can mitigate challenges of inflation through structural tax reforms. It was presented, by request, to the Pennsylvania House Majority Policy Committee on June 21, 2022. Good morning, Chairman Causer and Members of the Committee, My name is Timothy Vermeer, and I am a Senior Policy Analyst with the Tax Foundation. […]
Wyoming is, without question, a low tax state, with the nation’s second-lowest overall tax burdens on residents[1] and highly competitive taxes for many businesses. Residents benefit from the high exportability of state taxes, particularly those on extractive industries. Taxes on oil, gas, coal, and other industries are borne by investors and consumers across the country and even the world. This […]
Today’s map shows states’ rankings on the property tax component of our 2022 State Business Tax Climate Index. The Index’s property tax component evaluates state and local taxes on real and personal property, net worth, and asset transfers. The property tax component accounts for 14.4 percent of each state’s overall Index score. Property taxes matter to businesses for several reasons. First, businesses own a significant amount of real property, […]
As out-of-control inflation strains families’ budgets, lawmakers across the country are casting about for ways to respond. In Oklahoma, legislators have proposed sending taxpayers $75 checks in December ($150 for married couples) to help blunt the impact of higher prices. In one respect, it’s a drop in the bucket, with inflation costing the average household more than $4,000 this year. […]
Today we continue our map series on the 2022 State Business Tax Climate Index with a map showing states’ rankings on the Index’s sales and excise tax component. The sales tax rate and structure can make a state more or less attractive to businesses for two key reasons: (1) some states apply the sales tax to business inputs, which drives up the costs of production, and […]
A decade after Kansas’s failed tax experiment, memories linger and continue to color the debate on tax reform and tax relief across the country, no matter how dissimilar other states’ plans are from the unbalanced and imprudent plan championed by then-Gov. Sam Brownback (R). The Kansas experience is so infamous that “what about Kansas?” is almost guaranteed to be a […]
Over the past decade, the state tax landscape has grown increasingly competitive as policymakers have sought to attract investment and promote economic opportunity and growth in their states. The past two years in particular have seen an extraordinary increase in tax reform efforts, given states’ strong revenue growth despite the pandemic and policymakers’ desire to make their states more attractive […]
Key Findings Research almost invariably shows a negative relationship between income tax rates and gross domestic product (GDP). The mobility of higher-skilled and higher income earners in an open economy works against the effort of progressive state and local tax systems to achieve long-term redistribution of income. The likelihood of an employed head of household obtaining a better job within […]
Tax reform has become a major focus for state legislatures this session, and Missouri lawmakers are tuned in to the action: after adjusting individual income tax triggers in 2021, the legislature is exploring further tax reform options. Senate Bill 739 would create an additional tax trigger mechanism for the individual income tax, while SB 701 would eliminate the corporate income […]
Key Findings Exempting groceries from the sales tax base reduces economic efficiency without achieving its objective of enhancing tax progressivity. The poorest decile of households experiences 9 percent more sales tax liability with a grocery tax exemption than they would if groceries were taxed and the general rate were reduced commensurately. Grocery tax credits provide actual progressivity at a lower […]
After several rounds of negotiations, Georgia lawmakers enacted HB 1437 on April 4th. If certain financial conditions are met, this tax reform bill will consolidate the state’s six individual income tax brackets into one flat rate, ultimately reaching 4.99 percent over a number of years. The bill is awaiting action by the governor. As it worked its way through the […]
This week’s state tax map looks at throwback and throwout rules in states’ corporate tax codes. These rules may not be widely understood, but they have a notable impact on business location and investment decisions and reduce economic efficiency for the states which impose such rules. Over the long run, these rules reduce competitiveness while yielding very little—or no—increase in state collections. […]
After weeks of closed-door deliberations between legislative leaders in Kentucky’s House and Senate, lawmakers on March 29 unveiled and quickly adopted a committee substitute to House Bill 8, which passed both chambers with a veto-proof supermajority that same day. The amended legislation uses tax triggers to reduce Kentucky’s individual income tax rate, with the possibility of eventually phasing out the […]