Despite a nationwide decline in home values, state and local property tax collections increased by more than 4 percent across the country from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2008, according to a new Tax Foundation report based on recently released Census data.
In three states—Florida, Indiana and New Mexico—property tax revenues rose more than 10 percent. Four states—Michigan, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont—saw lower property tax collections in FY 2008 (July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008).
Four New England states rank in the top 10 most reliant on property taxes, and four Mid-Atlantic states rank in the top 10 most reliant on individual income taxes. These are among the findings of newly released Tax Foundation data on various sources of state and local tax collections for fiscal year 2008, the latest Census data available for both states and localities.
A new analysis of significant state tax changes in 2010 shows that some states have enacted targeted tax increases or turned to the politically convenient option of one-time funds and accounting gimmicks to fill budget gaps. So far in 2010, five states have seen changes to their individual income tax structures, two states have had sales tax rate increases take effect and five states enacted cigarette excise tax increases.
We have released two new sales tax reports: one listing updated combined state and average local-option sales tax rates, and one listing combined state, county and city sales tax rates for major metropolitan areas.
The states with the highest combined state and state and average local-option sales tax rate are Tennessee (9.44%), California (9.08%), Arizona (9.01%), Louisiana (8.69%), Washington (8.61%), New York (8.52%), Oklahoma (8.33%), Illinois (8.22%), Arkansas (8.10%) and Alabama (8.03%).
A new report shows how the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts would affect the average middle-income family in each state and congressional district. The report looks at the average family in the middle 20 percent of the income spectrum and compares their 2011 federal income tax liability if all the tax cuts expire to their tax bill if all the tax cuts are extended.
Read "Effect of Expiration of Bush-Era Tax Cuts on Average Middle-Income Family, By State and Congressional District." More on the expiration of the Bush-Era tax cuts.
A new Tax Foundation report shows that the tax preferences available to corporations are not as generous as political rhetoric makes them seem, nor do they have a major impact on reducing the effective tax rate or overall amount of income taxes corporations pay.
"The budgetary cost of popular tax preferences available to individuals-such as the mortgage interest deduction, exclusion for employer-paid health insurance and the exclusions for pensions and 401(k)'s-are all larger than the $102 billion in budgetary costs of corporate tax expenditures in 2011," said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, who authored the study.
Bush Tax Cuts Expiration Calculator: Click here to find out how much more you could owe when the tax cuts expire.
Cap-and-Trade Calculator: Click here to find out how much cap-and-trade will cost you.
Tax Foundation's president talks about our history and how to use the website.
Kristina Rasmussen of the Illinois Policy Institute: Impact of State & Federal Tax Hikes, September 1, 2010
The Unkindest Cuts, by Gerald Prante, August 22, 2010
