Here’s the eighth verse of Maryland’s state song, Maryland, My Maryland:
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll -
Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Rob Shrum of Tax Policy Blog reports on the [...]
Tags: State Taxes
Don’t tell New York assemblymen Felix Ortiz, Margaret Markey and Nick Perry that they are do-nothing legislators.
Overlawyered.com reports that this ingenious triumvirate has drafted a proposed law that would make it illegal for restaurant chefs to use salt in their recipes:
Assembly members Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), Margaret Markey (D-Queens) and Nick Perry (D-Brooklyn) have filed a bill that would hit [...]
Tags: State Taxes
Maryland should change it’s state motto from Fatti Maschii Parole Femine ¹ to “we hate rich people, please don’t leave.”
The Wall Street Journal reports in an op-ed titled Maryland’s Mobile Millionaires that soaking the rich, instead of creating revenue for states, actually loses revenue (emphasis added):
We reported in May that after passing a millionaire surtax nearly [...]
Tags: Legislative Watch · State Taxes · Tax Policy
“I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95 percent of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.”
- Barack Obama -
You rarely see anyone, even Democrats, offer up the idea of tax increases as a solution to economic contraction, but [...]
Tags: State Taxes · The Economy
The New York Times reports that Illinois has joined the growing list of states that are trying to raise taxes to cover budget shortfalls:
Gov. Patrick J. Quinn on Wednesday proposed raising the state income tax rate, just one in a long list of painful measures aimed at closing a budget deficit that some now estimate [...]
Tags: State Taxes · Tax Policy
Taxes have consequences.
WebCPA reports that Amazon.com has severed ties with affiliates in Colorado in response to a Colorado law that requires Web retailers to send statements to their customers apprising them of their use tax liability on online purchases:
“The regulations are burdensome and no other state has similar rules,” the company wrote in an e-mail to the [...]
Tags: State Taxes
Expect more of this.
The New York Times reports that many states, led by Minnesota, are considering imposing taxes on non-profit organizations as a way to help solve budget shortfalls:
Faced with steep declines in tax revenue, an increasing number of states and localities are considering eliminating various tax exemptions for nonprofit groups.
Calvin K. Y. Say, the [...]
Tags: State Taxes · Tax Policy
Looks like naked money grabs have consequences after all.
Leslie Kwoh of the Star Ledger writes about the massive flight of the wealthy from the state of New Jersey (emphasis added):
More than $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey between 2004 and 2008 as affluent residents moved elsewhere, according to a report released Wednesday that marks a swift [...]
Tags: State Taxes · Tax Policy
Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune writes in an article titled Tobacco Tax is Personal for Utah Lawmaker that,
Rep. Paul Ray doesn’t need to look far to see the toll of a lifetime of smoking. His mother wheels an oxygen cart with her since she was stricken with emphysema after nearly 50 years of smoking. [...]
Tags: State Taxes
Following Oregon’s example, Washington and Arizona are submitting tax increase measures to the people for a vote.
Joseph Henchman of the Tax Foundation’s Tax Policy Blog is all over the story.
Arizona Voters to Consider Sales Tax Increase on May 18
Overly optimistic revenue projections have led to a $1.5 billion gap opening in the current Arizona state budget. Legislators [...]
Tags: State Taxes · Tax Policy
Wall Street Journal – Taxes Blog
