State Rundown 5/18: Late-Breaking Developments

State leaders in North Carolina are crowing about an unexpected budget surplus of $400 million, but the surge in new money will likely be a one-time occurrence. Meanwhile, the state’s corporate income tax rate will continue to fall in accordance with revenue triggers included in the tax cuts passed in 2013. This fiscal year, the corporate rate will drop from 5 to 4 percent, at a cost of about $109 million. As ITEP’s Meg Wiehe noted in a recent editorial, “the truth is that, as a share of income, no matter how you slice the data, the wealthiest households got the biggest tax cut and the vast majority of the net tax cut goes to those families.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that one feature of Maryland’s local income tax law is unconstitutional. The case centered on the state’s collection of a “piggy-back” income tax of up to 3.2 percent on behalf of Maryland counties and Baltimore City in addition to the 5.75 percent personal income tax at the state level. Maryland offers a credit on the state personal income tax for income taxes paid to other states, but the credit does not apply to the piggy-back tax. One Maryland couple sued, saying that applying the piggy-back tax without applying a credit for income taxes paid in other states amounted to double taxation. The US Supreme Court agreed, saying the practice was a violation of the Commerce Clause as it could discourage business across state lines. The ruling will likely cost Maryland counties and localities millions in revenue.

Vermont’s legislative session ended last week with a deal to cover a $113 million shortfall that included $30 million in new revenue. Under the plan, the state sales tax of 6 percent will now apply to soft drinks and the 9 percent meals tax will apply to vending machines. The deal also caps the  most itemized deductions Vermonters can claim against their personal income tax to 2.5 times the standard deduction.

Conservative legislators in Maine shared the details of their tax plan last week. The proposal would cut the top income tax rate from 7.95 to 6.5 percent over two years and would leave the sales tax unchanged. The plan differs greatly from Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal, which would implement much bigger income tax cuts and increase the sales tax. The plan also increases state revenue sharing with localities, rather than eliminating it as the governor’s plan would. Critics of this newest plan, citing ITEP data, note that Mainers who make less than $57,000 would see their taxes increase on average, and that the income tax cuts would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and corporations.