Taxation
Maybe the economy is improving in a way that folks like me don’t feel. Maybe inflation is tied into the mix — somehow yielding state tax revenue without its actually meaning that the economy is improving. But when I read news like this, I can’t help but wonder whether last year’s ostensibly revenue-neutral income tax…
… has been set aside. But Anthony Watts over at Watts Up With That ominously predicts that this is just a postponement by the Obama administration and not a cancellation. Today at 10:15AM EST, the story was updated, and now the White House says this: “This is not an administration proposal,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer…
I don’t know Providence finances well enough to quibble with Mayor Angel Tavares’s budget proposal, but in emphasis and presentation it stands in stark contrast to Governor Lincoln Chafee. Tavares led with controversial and concrete initiatives for spending reduction, while Chafee led with a massive tax increase. Maybe they’ll get to the same place —…
On the WPRO Morning News this morning, Lisa Blais from the Rhode Island Tea Party pointed out an aspect of Governor Lincoln Chafee’s sales-tax increase plan that so-far has been largely overlooked — the Governor’s budget raises the additional tax in Rhode Island on meals and on hotel rooms, above the regular sales tax, from…
When Ernst & Young, one of the Big 4 professional services firms, releases a study (PDF) that says Rhode Island is one of the worst in the nation for tax competitiveness when it comes to attracting new business, you’d better listen. This study provides a state-by-state comparison of the tax liabilities that new investments in…
Veronique de Rugy helps clarify income redistribution: Here are some other data points that I find interesting: Of the top 1 percent of income earners, only 23 percent are millionaires. A household income above $380,000 puts you in the top 1 percent of income earners. Of the top 10 percent of income earners, only 2…
The common wisdom is that Governor Lincoln Chafee’s sales-tax scheme is dead — or rather, that at least the 1% section is. Still, something in this op-ed by a couple of YMCA officials inspired me to skim that section of the budget: Article 26 of the budget would also remove the tax exemption for all…
I don’t want to let this one go without highlighting: Just two people testified in favor of the governor’s plan, out of more than 96 who signed up to speak. The other was Kate Brock, of the pro-union advocacy group Ocean State Action, who questioned why the state taxes a lawnmower but not landscapers, or…
First of all, kudos to Terry Gorman of RIILE for obtaining the information contained in this post under Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records law (“RI Gen Law 38-2-1 et seq” for other curious folks). When someone goes to the State of Rhode Island and applies for social services, one of the first pieces of…
Speaker Fox and the various members of the Democratic leadership say the Chafee plan is dead…..Right? “I’m not going to swear on any Bible about revenue enhancements at this point,” Fox said. “Before we go to the taxpayers and say we need to increase your taxes, we need to build some credibility with them to…