Tax Rates
States Already Targeting Manufacturing Tax Burden
President Obama greets workers in Tennessee before laying out his proposals to boost private job growth and strengthen the manufacturing sector. He spoke at an Amazon warehouse facility in Chattanooga. States likewise have targeted manufacturing. (AP) President Barack Obama’s proposal to cut corporate taxes and boost manufacturing may face an uphill battle in Congress, but […]
Business Gets Its Way in Republican Oklahoma
AP Photo/Richard Drew Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin visits the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange to tout her state as a business-friendly environment. OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is used to being overshadowed politically by its bigger, bolder southern neighbor, Texas. But in the past year, it’s Oklahoma that has developed a reputation […]
Connecticut Governor, Lawmakers Agree to Package of Tax Hikes
More insistently than any other governor this year, Connecticut’s Dannel Malloy has pushed tax increases as the tough medicine necessary to help close a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall. On Wednesday (April 20), Malloy took a big step forward in his controversial plan, announcing a deal with legislative leaders that would help erase the state’s deficit […]
Governors Target Rules at Businesses’ Behest
Business groups have long been asking governors for a reprieve from government regulations that they say impede economic growth. “In the middle of a recession, the last thing that government needs to be focused on is finding new ways to regulate businesses,” says Adam Babington, vice president of government affairs for the Florida Chamber of […]
Despite Red Ink, Some Governors Push Big Tax Cuts for Businesses
After a banner election year that gave them control of the executive office in 29 states, many Republican governors are leaving little doubt where they stand on taxes, issuing blunt warnings to lawmakers not to pursue tax hikes as they balance their budgets in the months ahead. “A recession is the worst time to raise […]
Do You Want a Tax With That?
Pamela Hahn, a licensed cosmetologist for 44 years, says Michigan’s proposed tax on hair salon services could further hurt a recession-damaged industry and push more stylists to forego renewing their licenses and instead work off the books in their own homes. If there are fewer legitimate businesses paying into the state coffers, “how does that […]
More States Give Tax Credits to Working Poor
This tax season, even more low- and moderate-income taxpayers can look forward to a check from their states along with their federal refunds, thanks to new state laws that aim to put cash in the hands of the working poor. Washington state, New Mexico, North Carolina and Louisiana this year joined 20 other states in […]
Tight Budgets, Rising Costs Squeeze States
Like an American tourist in Europe, states are seeing their dollars just don’t go as far as they used to. Not only was the amount of tax revenue states collected during the fourth quarter of 2007 the weakest in almost five years, but for the first time since the 1990s, inflation for state and local […]
Star-Struck States Sweeten Film Incentives
How film incentives work Every state but Alabama, Alaska, Delaware and New Hampshire offers incentives for the film industry, although the last three don’t have sales taxes. The sweeteners elsewhere include grants, no-interest loans, exemptions from hotel taxes, plus rebates, exemptions and credits for income and sales taxes. But states vary widely […]
Eight States Raised Taxes in 2004
Only eight states had to resort to hiking taxes in 2004 to balance their books, a sign that states’ fiscal squeeze may finally be over, researchers said in a new report released Nov. 22. The eight states — Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virginia — collectively raised $2.6 billion in […]