We retired Tax Justice Blog in April 2017. For new content on issues related to tax justice, go to www.justtaxesblog.org
A new report from the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst examines the research on potential responses to states raising taxes on wealthy households. They conclude that while it can lead to tax planning changes among the more affluent, a permanent reasonable tax increase will improve a state’s revenue picture and, contrary to conventional wisdom, will not cause wealthy residents to flee to lower tax states.
Legislation pending in Maryland would require the state to evaluate whether its tax credits are achieving the goals for which they were enacted. The vast majority of states still have no system in place for determining the costs and benefits of tax credits. As in Oregon, the legislation would use sunset provisions (or expiration dates) to force lawmakers to review the evaluations before allocating more funds. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has a policy brief on accountability in tax credits and testified in support of a similar bill in Rhode Island last year.
The grassroots group Alabama Arise is getting positive news coverage for a rally they organized in Montgomery last week calling on lawmakers to exempt groceries from the sales tax and replace the revenue by eliminating a tax break that primarily benefits the wealthiest Alabamians.
In response to Ohio Governor John Kasich’s proposal to cut income taxes (paid for by increased taxes on gas mining) Policy Matters Ohio released a brief showing that Ohioans in the top one percent would get an annual tax cut of about $2,300 while middle income Ohioans ($32,000 to $49,000) would only get about $42. Meantime, the powerful House Finance Chairman, Rep. Ron Amstutz, is postponing action on the Governor’s proposal, saying, “the more the members of our caucus have learned about this particular proposal, the more concerned I’ve become that there are key questions that cannot be sufficiently answered and resolved within the available legislative time frame.”