This report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Better-Than-Expected State Tax Collections Highlight Importance of Income Taxes, has some great information supporting TFT's work to implement a personal income tax in Tennessee.
Some highlights:
At least 28 states have reported that tax collections for the just-ended fiscal year will exceed the amount expected when their budgets were adopted last spring. In 23 of those states, the improvement is driven by gains in income tax collections—a result of rapid increases in the incomes of wealthy individuals and corporations over the last year. (Aside from North Carolina, the exceptions don’t have a personal or corporate income tax or both.)
On average, in the 28 states with higher-than-expected growth, personal income taxes have grown 9 percent over last year. That jump is more than double the 4.4 percent growth rate that was anticipated when these states’ budgets were enacted. Sales tax growth is only about 1.5 percentage points above the 2.9 percent originally projected.
Increases in corporate profits and rising incomes for individuals and families—especially the wealthy—have fueled the boost in revenues. Personal and corporate income taxes are significantly higher than expected, while sales taxes generally are much closer to targets. These gains in personal or corporate income tax collections led to higher-than-expected revenues than had been forecast when the budgets in at least 23 states were adopted last year.
The Great Recession appears to be following the pattern of recent recessions where the incomes of the wealthy recover well before those of low- and middle-income individuals and families. For example, during the economic expansion that followed the 2001 recession, the average inflation-adjusted income of the bottom 90 percent of households grew just 4 percent while the incomes of the top 1 percent grew more than ten times faster (by 62 percent). Many experts expect a similar pattern now.
To read the full report, go here
Monday, July 11, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Legislature approval ratings tumble Poll: Fewer than half of Tennesseans view lawmakers favorably
Not surprising, but still glad to see that Tennesseans are getting fed up!
Click here to read the full story in the Tennessean
Support for the state Legislature has plummeted 20 percentage points since January, according to a Vanderbilt University poll, and the cause appears to be controversial votes like the Republican-led fight to remake Tennessee's laws on teachers unions.
Five months ago, state lawmakers were viewed favorably by nearly two-thirds of Tennesseans. Now, not even half say they approve of the job the GOP-controlled Legislature is doing.
The decline suggests the honeymoon period that began when Republicans swept into office last November has ended.
Click here to read the full story in the Tennessean
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Death By Budget Cut
This article from Alternet.org details the devastating real-life impacts of state and local budget cuts. Tennessee's recurring budget shortfalls have been with us even in times of national prosperity, and the underlying cause is our regressive tax structure that maintains wealth disparities and is structurally designed so there is never adequate revenue to fund our vital public structures. That's great for those who think privatization is the solution, but I would much prefer to have the services and benefits we all enjoy from our tax dollars provided by our government that is accountable to us all.
An excerpt:
Politicians, the media and the power elite tell us that state and local government budget shortfalls are the result of lavish compensation packages paid to teachers, police officers and firefighters along with "entitlements" such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The truth is that the economic crisis, sparked by decades of deregulation and greedy financial firms, caused high levels of unemployment that dramatically reduced state and local tax revenues. Add to that years of tax cuts for the wealthy and decades of corporate tax-dodging, and you've got yourself a budget crisis.
Conservatives clearly intend to exploit budget crises to starve government. And some Democratic politicians are also cutting services to balance their budgets. In their quest to render government incapable of providing for its citizens, conservatives, with the help of their fellow acquiescing Democrats, are exacting an irreversible and deadly toll that has gone largely ignored by the mainstream press. So it is up to us to bring attention to the disastrous consequences austerity has wrought.
To read more: http://www.alternet.org/story/151275/death_by_budget_cut%3A_why_conservatives_and_some_dems_have_blood_on_their_hands
An excerpt:
Politicians, the media and the power elite tell us that state and local government budget shortfalls are the result of lavish compensation packages paid to teachers, police officers and firefighters along with "entitlements" such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The truth is that the economic crisis, sparked by decades of deregulation and greedy financial firms, caused high levels of unemployment that dramatically reduced state and local tax revenues. Add to that years of tax cuts for the wealthy and decades of corporate tax-dodging, and you've got yourself a budget crisis.
Conservatives clearly intend to exploit budget crises to starve government. And some Democratic politicians are also cutting services to balance their budgets. In their quest to render government incapable of providing for its citizens, conservatives, with the help of their fellow acquiescing Democrats, are exacting an irreversible and deadly toll that has gone largely ignored by the mainstream press. So it is up to us to bring attention to the disastrous consequences austerity has wrought.
To read more: http://www.alternet.org/story/151275/death_by_budget_cut%3A_why_conservatives_and_some_dems_have_blood_on_their_hands
Monday, May 16, 2011
Regressive Taxation 101
The Daily Kos has this great article on regressive taxes - the same message TFT has been sharing for years, and will continue to share until our upside-down tax structure is turned rightside up and provides a level playing field for low- and middle-income families and enough revenue to adequately support our public structures we all need to grow and thrive in our state.
Some excerpts:
More than 80% of Americans are burdened more by state and local sales taxes alone than they are by income taxes. Only for the top 1% of earners do income taxes take a greater percent of their income than sales and property taxes.
Why is this? Because most Americans do something really interesting with the money that comes their way: they spend it. They buy food. They buy clothes. They buy toothpaste, toys, tool chests and toilet paper. Through that spending, they create demand. What doesn't get spent on consumables gets turned into the kind of long term assets that most people need to get by in the world. It turns into a roof over their heads and transportation to get to work. Which creates more demand. More jobs.
By spending their money, the majority of Americans fuel the health of the economy. They're the juice in the system. The churn. The fire in the boilers.
Meanwhile, up at the top end of the scale, those top 1% of earners don't neither spend their income or turn it into property. They don't consume it. They don't convert it. They just sit on it. This chart alone is enough to demonstrate that cutting the tax for those at the top is worse than pointless. The very rich are not turning their money into things / demand / jobs. They have so much more than they need that their money is simply stagnant. Sending them more cash would be no more effective than throwing it into a volcano.
Unfortunately, those spending and converting actions that most Americans engage in are attacked by regressive systems that hit from dollar one. These are not invisible taxes. They're all too visible. They're part of every transaction, large or small. They're the reason your dollar bag of pretzels can't be purchased with a dollar. They're the reason that new Chevy or Ford costs you extra both when you buy it and every year you own it.
The overall impact of eliminating sales tax and most income tax deductions is that over 80% of Americans would pay less tax and the tax directly eliminated would be the one they face every day in their transactions.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5631100899_2403fd2af0_o.jpg
Some excerpts:
More than 80% of Americans are burdened more by state and local sales taxes alone than they are by income taxes. Only for the top 1% of earners do income taxes take a greater percent of their income than sales and property taxes.
Why is this? Because most Americans do something really interesting with the money that comes their way: they spend it. They buy food. They buy clothes. They buy toothpaste, toys, tool chests and toilet paper. Through that spending, they create demand. What doesn't get spent on consumables gets turned into the kind of long term assets that most people need to get by in the world. It turns into a roof over their heads and transportation to get to work. Which creates more demand. More jobs.
By spending their money, the majority of Americans fuel the health of the economy. They're the juice in the system. The churn. The fire in the boilers.
Meanwhile, up at the top end of the scale, those top 1% of earners don't neither spend their income or turn it into property. They don't consume it. They don't convert it. They just sit on it. This chart alone is enough to demonstrate that cutting the tax for those at the top is worse than pointless. The very rich are not turning their money into things / demand / jobs. They have so much more than they need that their money is simply stagnant. Sending them more cash would be no more effective than throwing it into a volcano.
Unfortunately, those spending and converting actions that most Americans engage in are attacked by regressive systems that hit from dollar one. These are not invisible taxes. They're all too visible. They're part of every transaction, large or small. They're the reason your dollar bag of pretzels can't be purchased with a dollar. They're the reason that new Chevy or Ford costs you extra both when you buy it and every year you own it.
The overall impact of eliminating sales tax and most income tax deductions is that over 80% of Americans would pay less tax and the tax directly eliminated would be the one they face every day in their transactions.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5631100899_2403fd2af0_o.jpg
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Amazon losing in the South
Forbes columnist Janet Novack has another great column about Amazon's bad business practices and how states are standing up to their bully tactics.
Tennessee may be the next state to stand up and demand that Amazon play by the same rules as our local businesses in collecting the sales tax as is their legal obligation.
Sen. McNally and Rep. Sargent, the chairs of the Senate and House Finance Committees, have introduced an amendment to SB0529/HB0136 to clarify that sales made by "persons" using or having any facility, sales room, warehouse, distribution center, etc., located in TN are subject to collecting the TN sales tax. This amendment is a direct challenge to Gov. Haslam's announcement last week that Amazon is receiving a special exemption from sales tax collection requirements. Today, the House Finance subcommittee approved the amendment to HB 136, and TFT applauds the move.
The exemption would effectively throw away $35 million in revenue from sales tax on Amazon purchases made in Tennessee. TFT has opposed this exemption and advocated for the Out-of-State Sales Tax Act (SB1489/HB1912) that would require any vendor selling more than $4,800 in goods annually to Tennesseans to collect and remit the sales tax on those purchases. The exemption and lack of legislation mandating sales tax collection for online and out-of-state purchases not only loses significant revenue, but also harms local businesses that are so important to job creation and community investment in Tennessee.
Please join TFT in contacting the members of the House and Senate Finance Committees who will consider this amendment and let them know you support it and wish to end special exemptions and tax breaks for corporations in Tennessee. We need revenue with justice for all Tennesseans.
Tennessee may be the next state to stand up and demand that Amazon play by the same rules as our local businesses in collecting the sales tax as is their legal obligation.
Sen. McNally and Rep. Sargent, the chairs of the Senate and House Finance Committees, have introduced an amendment to SB0529/HB0136 to clarify that sales made by "persons" using or having any facility, sales room, warehouse, distribution center, etc., located in TN are subject to collecting the TN sales tax. This amendment is a direct challenge to Gov. Haslam's announcement last week that Amazon is receiving a special exemption from sales tax collection requirements. Today, the House Finance subcommittee approved the amendment to HB 136, and TFT applauds the move.
The exemption would effectively throw away $35 million in revenue from sales tax on Amazon purchases made in Tennessee. TFT has opposed this exemption and advocated for the Out-of-State Sales Tax Act (SB1489/HB1912) that would require any vendor selling more than $4,800 in goods annually to Tennesseans to collect and remit the sales tax on those purchases. The exemption and lack of legislation mandating sales tax collection for online and out-of-state purchases not only loses significant revenue, but also harms local businesses that are so important to job creation and community investment in Tennessee.
Please join TFT in contacting the members of the House and Senate Finance Committees who will consider this amendment and let them know you support it and wish to end special exemptions and tax breaks for corporations in Tennessee. We need revenue with justice for all Tennesseans.
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