Taxation

A line to enter a store.

The brackets are only one part of the calculation of your tax increases.

By Justin Katz | May 7, 2021 |

Something conservative Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, of Colorado, tweeted raises an important point people often forget when it comes to tax and spending policy: Biden isn’t just raising taxes on the rich. He is raising taxes on everyone. The $400,000 number has been proven to be a lie. Be prepared. The cost of living is…

Tax man spraypaint

Income tax policy is a good study to understand how politics works.

By Justin Katz | April 30, 2021 |

With the need to rebuild readership of Anchor Rising, the calculation of using Twitter unfortunately changed for me, and I’ve had to return to it to some extent.  The experience has been a useful reminder that the platform is not entirely without benefit. For instance, during Biden’s speech the other night, Biden-sympathetic Brown University PoliSci…

Income tax rate map

Clarity is the beauty of the income tax: you earned it, and they want to take it.

By Justin Katz | April 29, 2021 |

Yet another giant postcard arrived from Rhode Island’s special-interest labor unions promoting the government’s taking more money from the pockets of Rhode Islanders.  This one is to promote the results of a poll that the group Revenue for Rhode Island apparently paid Fleming and Associates to conduct (although naturally, that point isn’t clear on the…

Tax Foundation infrastructure user fees map

The problem with user fees (for RI) is that direct and comprehensible spending thwarts grift.

By Justin Katz | April 26, 2021 |

How about a fun, wonky post?  The featured image that you see is a Tax Foundation map ranking states by the percentage of their infrastructure spending that is funded by user fees.  In the Tax Foundation’s views, higher user fees are preferable: Both the federal government and the states raise revenue for infrastructure spending through…

A man fuels his car

Coalition Looks for TCI Sanity from McKee

By Justin Katz | April 20, 2021 |

During a time of hoped-for economic recovery after COVID lockdowns, a coalition of state, national, and local groups is asking Governor Daniel McKee to reverse his predecessor’s pledge for the Ocean State to join a handful of others in imposing a new gas tax.

Union Rules and “Unique System” Drive Up Overtime for State Government Community Living Aides

By Justin Katz | April 17, 2013 |

Suzanne bates has another state-payroll-related investigative report on the Ocean State Current, this one covering a job titled “community living assistant.” These are high-school-educated employees with average regular pay below $36,000, who’ve been able to triple their pay with overtime and other salary enhancements, topping out near $130,000. Their job entails helping the residents of…

Redistributive Property Taxes: Who’s in the Providence Crosshairs?

By Justin Katz | April 13, 2013 |

The way property taxes work, in Rhode Island, revaluations are little more than a way of redistributing the tax burden, and in Providence, a shift from taxing buildings to taxing land has repercussions for a number of recent issues, from the Superman Building to legislation affecting the entire state. Continue reading on the Ocean State…

Property Tax Assessments

By Patrick Laverty | April 12, 2013 |

Based on some Twitter chatter this morning, I learned that the property tax assessment letters are going out today in Providence. The citizens of our capital city are learning what value their homes and land will be taxed at. There is always some confusion as to what this means. First, the city should be using…

UPDATED – Providence: 8th Highest Residential Tax Burden in the Country (Commercial Taxes Even Worse)

By Monique Chartier | February 16, 2013 |

Funny that this should pop up now. (Major H/T Michael Graham. By the way, welcome back to the air, Michael. We missed you.) It’s the reason that I haven’t shared the enthusiasm [link added] for the … um, fiscal “achievements” of Mayor Taveras’ tenure, genuinely nice guy though he is. His pension reform, as tepid…

02/13/13 – Senate Finance Committee, Sakonnet River Bridge Tolls

By Justin Katz | February 13, 2013 |

Justin writes live from the Senate Finance hearing on repealing the Sakonnet River Bridge toll. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…