Vermont May Be the Next State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales

According to news reports, the Vermont legislature is ready to advance S54 this month or next, to legalize cultivation and sales of marijuana in the state beginning in 2022. Versions of the bill have been approved by both chambers. The current regulatory situation in Vermont is unique, as marijuana possession has been legal since January…

Read More

Evidence Suggests that Tax Rates Influence Migration Decisions

Individuals respond to taxes by changing their behavior. Hence, when there are tax differences between countries, some might respond by moving to a lower-tax area. For higher-income individuals, the benefits of moving as a result of higher taxes are greater because they have more income or wealth at stake. In a recent article published by…

Read More

Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act Would Provide More Generous Rebates for Dependents

On Thursday, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) released the Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act (CAAF). This bill would change the way the economic impact payments—commonly known as recovery rebates or stimulus payments—could work in the next round of pandemic-driven relief for households.  The bill’s…

Read More

State Income and Sales Tax Revenues Slide in Second Quarter

Today marked the release of both second-quarter GDP and national accounts data and provides a new glimpse into early changes in state and local revenues and spending. All told, second-quarter (Q2) state and local tax receipts came in about 3.8 percent lower than they did in the same quarter a year ago. Income and sales…

Read More

Details and Analysis of The CREATE JOBS Act

Today, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced the CREATE JOBS Act (Cost Recovery and Expensing Acceleration to Transform the Economy and Jumpstart Opportunities for Businesses and Startups) that would make two significant changes to incentivize investment in the United States. The proposal would prevent scheduled changes that would worsen the tax treatment…

Read More

Estate, Inheritance, and Gift Taxes in Europe

Inheritance tax dates back to the Roman Empire, which collected 5 percent of inherited property in order to pay soldiers’ pensions. Today, the practice is widespread. The majority of European countries covered in today’s map currently levy estate, inheritance, or gift taxes. These countries are Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,…

Read More

State Gasoline Tax Rates as of July 2020

Today’s map shows gasoline tax rates in each state as of July 2020, using recently released data from the American Petroleum Institute. States levy gas taxes in a variety of ways, including per-gallon excise taxes collected at the pump, excise taxes imposed on wholesalers, which are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices, and…

Read More

Three-Fourths of New 2016 Investment Was Excluded from Improved Cost Recovery

Recent IRS data gives us insights into new capital expenditures made by both individuals and corporations in 2016. In total, the IRS estimates that individuals reported $347.1 billion in capital expenditures and corporations reported nearly $1 trillion of assets placed into service. An important takeaway from this data is that it sheds light on what…

Read More