Tag: state taxes

DiNapoli: State Tax Revenues $2 Billion Lower Than Last Fiscal Year

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/2021/02/dinapoli-state-tax-revenues-2-billion-lower-last-fiscal-year

Graphic:

Excerpt:

State tax receipts cumulatively through January of State Fiscal Year 2020-21 are nearly $2 billion lower than last year, according to the monthly State Cash Report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Overall, tax receipts are $1.7 billion higher than anticipated by the state Division of the Budget’s (DOB) January projections.

Tax receipts for the month of January totaled $11.4 billion. This is $550.5 million above last year and $1.7 billion above DOB’s latest projections.

Author(s): Thomas DiNapoli

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: Office of the New York State Comptroller

State and local government revenues have recovered from the pandemic, and further federal aid is unnecessary

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.city-journal.org/state-and-local-revenue-has-rebounded-to-pre-pandemic-levels

Excerpt:

“California is not only poised for recovery, but we’re seeing real signs of recovery in our state,” Governor Gavin Newsom announced in early January, as he unveiled a state budget with record spending fueled by a $15 billion budget surplus. Yet two weeks later, Newsom sent a letter to President Biden expressing support for his plan to give an additional $350 billion in aid to state and local governments.

Similar stories have played out in other states. “We’re going to need a robust federal support system to help our states and economies recover beyond the federal CARES funds that expire at the end of the year,” said Wisconsin governor Tony Evers in November. Yet within weeks, the state was projecting a budget surplus, and by January it had revised that estimate up to $1.8 billion. Rather than drawing on these reserves, Wisconsin added to its “rainy day” fund, the balance of which is expected to hit nearly $1 billion this year.

Author(s): Noah Williams

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: City Journal

As Cuomo Banks on Federal Funds, Localities Grow Nervous

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/finance/As-Cuomo-Banks-on-Federal-Funds-Localities-Grow-Nervous.html

Excerpt:

 Receive from above, take from below. Such is the essence of one theme of the 2021 state budget plan unveiled last week by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The Democratic governor’s budget plan has a basic premise: Red ink will be washed away only if his request for a bailout from the federal government happens.

Cuomo’s new budget assumes the federal government will give New York at least $6 billion over two years as part of a broader $1.9 trillion Covid-related stimulus package being negotiated by Democratic President Joseph Biden and the Democratic-led Congress.

Author(s): TOM PRECIOUS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

Publication Date: 25 January 2021

Publication Site: Governing

The Supreme Court Decision That Saved States Billions

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/finance/The-Supreme-Court-Decision-That-Saved-States-Billions.html

Excerpt:

The 2018 Supreme Court decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, overturned prior decisions that had made it impossible for states to collect sales taxes from remote sellers. They certainly tried in different ways, but were shot down by various courts. It was the long-sought Wayfair decision, as it’s known, that opened the door for states to collect taxes on most online sales.

“Prior to the Wayfair decision, although some ecommerce sellers were going down the path of starting to collect sales tax on their sales, online sales was still a potential avenue to avoid the sales tax,” says Chuck Maniace, vice president of regulatory analysis at Sovos, a tax compliance firm.

Wayfair allows states to demand that businesses without a physical presence collect and remit taxes, assuming they make at least $100,000 worth of in-state sales. Following the decision, large states such as California and Texas have set the threshold higher, at $500,000. States differ in terms of how many in-state transactions can take place before a seller has to collect taxes (generally, about 200).

Author(s): ALAN GREENBLATT

Publication Date: 22 January 2021

Publication Site: Governing

States of Budget Surplus

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-of-budget-surplus-11612999662?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Excerpt:

Governors—especially from Democratic states—have been pleading revenue poverty since the pandemic began. But as we approach the anniversary of Covid-19 in America, that tall tale is becoming more difficult to sell.

Even the left-tilting media are beginning to figure out what we’ve been reporting for some time. One of our sources is Dan Clifton, of Strategas Research Partners, who has been tracking state revenue trends and Covid relief from the beginning. His latest analysis shows that state revenues have been doing far better than advertised, especially states that have kept their economies largely open.

He estimates that a majority of the 50 states are seeing revenues arrive above their pre-Covid levels despite the 2020 economic damage. The big exceptions are states that had the most restrictive business lockdowns (New York), those that rely on sales taxes and have no income tax (Florida and Texas), and those that depend on travel and tourism (Nevada).

Author(s): Editorial board

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Pritzker said the failure of his graduated-rate income tax would leave Illinois with two options. He’s eliminated both of them.

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-jb-pritzker-illinois-budget-proposal-20210214-bjbay24vpvggfpg2urhbn4ojsy-story.html#new_tab

Excerpt:

Gov. J.B. Pritzker long warned that without his graduated-rate income tax, which voters rejected in November, Illinois would be left with only two options to address its chronic budget problems: raising income taxes or double digit across-the-board spending cuts.

But ahead of his budget address to lawmakers Wednesday, Pritzker outlined a state spending plan that would neither raise the income tax or alter the total budget outlay.

He did call for closing $900 million in unspecified “corporate tax loopholes,” which opponents are already labeling a tax hike on businesses in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

What remains to be seen is whether the governor will look to other avenues to increase revenue, although his options appear limited. He has opposed two of the leading options favored by some budget watchers: instituting a tax on retirement income and applying the sales tax to some services.

Author(s): DAN PETRELLA

Publication Date: 14 February 2021

Publication Site: Chicago Tribune

Illinois’ budget problems won’t be fixed without change in revenue structure

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20210212/illinois-budget-problems-wont-be-fixed-without-change-in-revenue-structure#new_tab

Excerpt:

For starters, it left Illinois stuck with its long-standing, flat rate income tax. This outcome was something other than desirable, given the central role this flat rate income tax has played in driving Illinois’ incessant, and substantial, General Fund deficits.

How substantial? Current estimates are the General Fund deficit will reach $13 billion by the end of FY 2022 — which means Illinois won’t have the revenue needed to cover almost half of anticipated FY 2022 expenditures on services. That’s a real cause for concern, given over 95 percent of all General Fund spending on services goes to the four, core areas of education, health care, human services, and public safety.

Sure, a portion of this deficit will resolve itself once the revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic end. That said, the crux of Illinois’ fiscal problems have nothing to do with COVID-19, and everything to do with structural flaws in the state’s tax policy — the flat rate income tax being key among them.

Author(s): Ralph Martire

Publication Date: 12 February 2021

Publication Site: Daily Herald

To What Extent Does Your State Rely on Property Taxes?

Mary Pat Campbell
To What Extent Does Your State Rely on Property Taxes?

Graphic:

Excerpt:

Property taxes represent a major source of revenue for states and the largest source of tax revenue for localities. In fiscal year 2018, the most recent data available, property taxes were such a significant source of local revenue that they accounted for 71.7 percent of local tax collections nationwide and 31.1 percent of total U.S. state and local tax collections, a greater proportion than any other source of tax revenue. In that same year, 25 states and the District of Columbia collected the greatest share of their combined state and local tax revenue from property taxes, with property taxes the largest share of local revenue in all but two states (Arkansas and Louisiana, both of which have high local sales taxes).

Author(s): Janelle Cammenga

Publication Date: 19 January 2021

Publication Site: Tax Foundation

Government funds are not ‘taxpayer money’ — media and politicians should stop confusing the two

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://theconversation.com/government-funds-are-not-taxpayer-money-media-and-politicians-should-stop-confusing-the-two-153195

Excerpt:

Taxpayers don’t own their taxes
Richard Murphy, one of the founders of the UK’s Tax Justice Network and author of The Joy of Tax, explains that “taxpayers’ money” is the money left in our pockets after we have paid taxes that are legally due. Money payable through taxes is the government’s property.

This is quite easy to prove — try not paying your income tax and see if the courts will enforce government property rights in that money.

Author(s): Jonathan Barrett

Publication Date: 14 January 2021

Publication Site: The Conversation

DiNapoli: Tax Revenues Through December Were $2.5 Billion Lower Than Last Year

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/2021/01/dinapoli-tax-revenues-through-december-were-25-billion-lower-last-year

Excerpt:

State tax receipts through the first nine months of the state fiscal year were $2.5 billion lower than last year, but were $1.8 billion higher than anticipated by the state Division of the Budget (DOB), according to the monthly State Cash Report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Tax receipts in the month of December totaled $8.4 billion, $422.5 million above last year, and $1.4 billion above DOB’s latest projections.

Author(s): Thomas P. DiNapoli

Publication Date: 15 January 2021

Publication Site: Office of the New York State Comptroller

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s Budget Plan Won’t Push For An Income Tax Hike For Next Year

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wbez.org/stories/illinois-gov-pritzkers-budget-plan-holds-the-line-on-income-taxes-for-next-year/fd2e0e14-bf3d-49c0-a4e8-5d9de7395b34

Excerpt:

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s 2022 state budget proposal won’t include an income tax hike, but it will seek the elimination of $900 million in business tax credits and aims to hold spending at current levels, the governor’s office said Tuesday.

The Democratic governor will present his budget outline on Feb. 17. It’s Pritzker’s first spending plan since the November defeat of his constitutional amendment to impose a graduated income tax.

The outline he will present to lawmakers for the state fiscal year that begins July 1 includes a $3 billion deficit – less than the $5.5 billion originally forecast.

Author(s): Dave McKinney, Tony Arnold

Publication Date: 9 February 2021

Publication Site: WBEZ

Lamont leans heavily on federal aid to keep taxes flat in CT

Mary Pat Campbell
Lamont leans heavily on federal aid to keep taxes flat in CT

Excerpt:

Gov. Ned Lamont proposed a two-year, $46 billion budget Wednesday that relies on federal funding and state reserves to close a major deficit without significant tax hikes while bolstering aid for municipalities and school districts.

But the package also leaves Connecticut with several budget challenges to be resolved in the not-so-distant future.

The package would channel more than $400 million in emergency federal relief  to low-performing school districts. But it also would suspend plans to bolster regular state-funded aid for municipal schools by $90 million in the next two-year budget cycle.

Author(s): Keith Phaneuf

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: CT Mirror