December 23, 2009
During 2009, states have made significant tax changes as they struggled to close budget shortfalls and address their prospects for long-term growth. In this report, we catalogue the significant state tax changes during 2009 and analyze the trends. Read more...
Tax Watch is the Tax Foundation's quarterly tax policy newsletter, presenting our economic research and analysis in a simple, non-technical format—ideal for the non-economist looking for a clear explanation of current tax issues.
Highlights from the Winter 2010 issue include:
A second stimulus plan may soon be on the table, but a new Tax Foundation analysis shows that several states are taking advantage of one provision of the first stimulus bill - increased federal matching rates for Medicaid - at the expense of some health care providers in their own states and taxpayers in others. Twenty-two states have significant health provider or hospital taxes, six of which were enacted or expanded in the last year, and another four enactments or expansions are pending.
Click here for the full press release. View Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 203, "State Hospital and Medical Provider Taxes: Not What the Doctor Should Order."
Nearly one-third of the 143 million federal income tax returns filed in 2007 resulted in no tax payment, according to a Tax Foundation analysis of IRS data. That means the tax filers got back every dollar that had been withheld from their paychecks, and often more. Roughly 46.6 million tax returns, or 32.6 percent, are filed by such "nonpayers," people whose exemptions, deductions and credits wiped out any federal income tax due.
View the full press release or Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 202, "Surge of 'Nonpayers' Will Be Part of Bush Tax Legacy." Video: Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge discusses "nonpayers" on Fox News Channel.
As President Obama prepares to kick off his "Main Street Tour" Friday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a new Tax Foundation analysis shows that the recession isn't the only factor driving the loss of jobs and residents in the state. Pennsylvania's tax system - including the 11th-highest state and local tax burden in the country and the highest overall corporate tax rate in the world - is also to blame.
Between 1993 and 2008, the state saw more taxpayers leave the state than move into it every year but one. In the same time period, the state lost, on net, $9.7 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI).
Click here for the full press release. Read Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 201, "Pennsylvania's Tax System -- Not Weak Economy -- Responsible for Job Losses and Out-Migration." View a video of Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge discussing Pennsylvania's tax system.
The $848 billion health care reform legislation unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week is financed primarily through cuts to Medicare provider payments (which would save $330.6 billion, or 34 percent of the bill's 10-year cost) and a 40 percent excise tax on high-value "Cadillac" health plans (which would generate $149.1 billion, or 15 percent of the bill's cost), according to the Tax Foundation's review of the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis.
Reid's plan also includes a 1/2 percentage point increase in the Medicare tax rate for high-income earners ($53.8 billion, or 6 percent of the bill's cost) and various tax hikes imposed on the health care sector, including fees on manufacturers and insurance companies ($102 billion, or 10 percent). The bill would reduce the deficit by $130 billion.
Click here for the full press release. View a comparison of the funding provisions in the House and Senate plans and accompanying pie charts: House and Senate.
Tax Foundation's president talks about our history and how to use the website.
Cap-and-Trade Calculator: Click here to find out how much cap-and-trade will cost you.
Justin Higginbottom of the Tax Foundation: Health Care Provider Taxes, December 16, 2009
Instead of fair share, tuition tax more like extortion, by Justin Higginbottom, December 18, 2009
