Nevada Hoping to Extract Revenue with Mining Tax Increase Amendment

In its search for revenue to fill in budget gaps, Nevada is considering a mining tax increase through a constitutional amendment. Two resolutions with competing tax plans (AJR1 and AJR2) passed both chambers without amendments on August 2nd, within three days of when they were initially introduced. The legislature adjourned on August 6 without scheduling…

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Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Tax Policy?

Now that the presumptive Democratic presidential ticket will be former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris, many will remember the two squaring off in the primary run-up on such issues as healthcare, taxes, and criminal justice reform. What tax policy ideas did Harris propose along the campaign trail, and how do they…

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What is the Real Value of $100 in Metropolitan Areas?

In May, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its annual data showing the differences in purchasing power across American metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in 2018. This data compares how much $100 can buy in different regions and metropolitan areas across the country, which can have a significant effect on the relative impact of different…

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Where Should the Money Come From?

Key Findings The fiscal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will require policymakers to consider what revenue resources should be used to fill budget gaps. Tax policy experts have proposed wealth taxes, (global) corporate minimum taxes, excess profits taxes, and digital taxes as opportunities for governments to raise new revenues. Instead of designing novel taxes, however,…

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An Overview of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Key Findings The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) offers developers nonrefundable and transferable tax credits to subsidize the construction and rehabilitation of housing developments that have strict income limits for eligible tenants and their cost of housing. The LIHTC has subsidized over 3 million housing units since it was established in 1986, the largest source…

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Estimating Neutral Cost Recovery’s Impact on Affordable Housing

Housing affordability was a major issue even before the COVID-19 crisis and corresponding recession, but the current economic hardship has made it more salient. Immediate support for people struggling makes sense now, but lawmakers should also consider long-term solutions to the problem of high rents, namely by expanding the supply of housing. Improving the tax…

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Higher Taxes Might Not Be the Solution for Canada and its Provinces

As Canadian provinces increased their spending due to Covid-19 measures ranging from 0.2 percent of GDP in New Brunswick up to 6.5 percent of GDP in Quebec, their budget deficits ballooned. The economic and health crisis comes at a difficult moment for Canadian provinces as their pre-pandemic budgets were already running deficits. In early February,…

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