State Tax

This presentation was made to the Massachusetts Senate Corporate Tax Subcommittee, an initiative of the broader Senate Revenue Working Group. The working group is taking a holistic look at Massachusetts’ tax code with a goal of making legislative recommendations for reform by the end of this session, which runs until January 5, 2021. Sen. Adam

Tax Bulletins usually clarify the application of existing laws and regulations to new or disputed circumstances, but for the second time in as many years, Pennsylvania’s Department of Revenue arguably went further, adopting new nexus standards for corporate income tax purposes in a bulletin. The action has left some policymakers and practitioners perplexed about both

Next month, Colorado voters will decide whether to allow the state to permanently keep their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds. Proposition CC, the “Allow State to Retain Revenue for Transportation and Education Measure,” was referred to voters by the General Assembly with the passage of House Bill 19-1257 in April. Currently, the TABOR amendment

Just as several states have individual alternative minimum taxes (AMTs) that prevent households and pass-through businesses from claiming “too many” itemized deductions, some states levy corporate AMTs to prevent corporations from reducing their corporate income tax liability beyond a certain level. Five states currently collect corporate AMTs: California, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. This

Kansas’ Attorney General and the Department of Revenue are at odds, and remote sellers are caught in the middle. Just prior to an October 1 effective date, the Attorney General’s Office issued a nonbinding legal opinion concluding that the Department of Revenue’s decision to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales taxes to the

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the SAFE Banking Act on a 321 to 103 vote. If this bill passes the Senate and becomes law, it could have great implications for several states’ cannabis excise tax revenues. Eleven states have legalized adult-use recreational marijuana, but only seven states have operational markets with taxes levied

When we think of road funding, we tend to think of the taxes we pay at the pump. Gas taxes are largely used to fund infrastructure maintenance and new projects, but the amount of state and local road spending covered by gas taxes, tolls, user fees, and user taxes varies widely among states. It ranges

 Key Findings There are over 11,000 sales tax jurisdictions in the United States, with widely varying rates. Among major cities, Chicago, Illinois and Long Beach and Glendale, California impose the highest combined state and local sales tax rates, at 10.25 percent. Three cities follow with combined rates of 10 percent or higher: Tacoma (10.2 percent)

Property taxes are an important tool to help finance state and local governments. In fiscal year 2016, property taxes comprised 31.5 percent of total state and local tax collections in the United States, more than any other source of tax revenue. In that same year, property taxes accounted for 46 percent of localities’ revenue from

Kansas just unveiled the most aggressive remote sales tax collections regime in the country, and it did so without adopting any new, post-Wayfair legislation. The new requirements, set out in a Department of Revenue notice, obligate all remote sellers with any transactions in Kansas to begin collecting and remitting sales taxes by October, no matter

On July 26, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) signed into law S.B. 523, “An Act to Make Various Clarifying and Administrative Changes to the Revenue Laws.” What the bill lacks in a catchy name, it makes up for with sound tax policy by expanding North Carolina’s sales tax base and creating consensus in divided

Today’s map shows gasoline tax rates in each state as of July 2019, using recently released data from the American Petroleum Institute. States levy gas taxes in a variety of ways, including per-gallon excise taxes collected at the pump, excise taxes imposed on wholesalers which are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices,

Key Findings Local income taxes are imposed by 4,964 taxing jurisdictions across 17 states, with a heavy concentration in Rust Belt states, particularly Ohio and Pennsylvania. Depending on the state, local income taxes may be levied by counties, municipalities, school districts, or special districts, with most levied by municipalities (3,816) and school districts (954). Six

Key Findings Sixteen states will hold a sales tax holiday in 2019, down from a peak of 19 in 2010 and from 17 last year. Wisconsin did not continue its one-time holiday, and Louisiana suspended its sales tax holiday program effective July 1, 2018. Massachusetts had established a one-time sales tax holiday for 2018, but

Recently released data from The Pew Charitable Trusts shows the strain on state retirement systems nationwide as state pension funds strive to keep pace with benefits owed to public employees. Fiscal year 2017 (the most recent data available) saw a combined $1.28 trillion in state pension plan funding deficits. While massive, this was actually a decrease from

Key Findings Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia had notable tax changes take effect on July 1, 2019. Indiana had the lone corporate income tax change, with the rate decreasing from 5.75 to 5.5 percent. Two states saw changes to certain provisions in their individual income tax code: Ohio made its Earned Income Tax

For the sixth time since 2010, New Jersey politicians attempted to pass a millionaires’ tax and failed. The first five were during Republican Governor Chris Christie’s administration and were expected to fail given Christie’s steadfast opposition to income tax increases and regular sparring with the Democratic-controlled legislature. However, unified Democratic government in Trenton has not

Key Findings When corporate income is apportioned among states for tax purposes, it is possible for some income to be earned in states which lack jurisdiction to tax the corporation, generating what is known as “nowhere income” that is not taxed by any state. Throwback and throwout rules are designed to allow states from which

Near the conclusion of a legislative session focusing on what Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) characterized as the “meat and potatoes” of policy, the governor signed into law SB 2, a bill intended to help rein in property taxes. In addition to addressing the concerns of many Texans, the bill addresses the core tax issue

A joint constitutional convention of Massachusetts lawmakers has voted 147-48 to approve H.86, dubbed the Fair Share Amendment, to impose a 4 percent income tax surcharge on annual income beyond $1 million. The new tax would be levied in addition to the existing 5.05 percent flat rate, bringing Massachusetts’ total top rate to 9.05 percent.  Supporters