Taxation

Who’s Flying Now? (And Why?)

By Marc Comtois | June 7, 2012 |

Ted Nesi posted an interesting graphic from the Tax Foundation that shows that: Rhode Island posted the 18th-fastest growth in high-income taxpayers between 1999 and 2009. While the total number of Rhode Island taxpayers grew by just 4% during that period, the number with adjusted gross incomes above $200,000 jumped 63%, for a net gain…

What Is The Point Of Tax Credits?

By Patrick Laverty | May 19, 2012 |

A state will offer tax credits in order to incentivize a certain behavior that they wish. The holder of those credits then then use them to offset their own tax liability to the state. I have a friend who earns tax credits in various states by building affordable housing. Sometimes, his tax credits exceed his…

Businesses Go Where Taxes are Lower

By Patrick Laverty | April 30, 2012 |

Businesses will set up shop where the tax laws are more favorable to them. And in other news, water is wet. Maybe it would seem obvious to most that people will be motivated by lower tax rates. However, if you listen to some on the left, especially locally, this isn’t true. But how do you…

Cities & Towns Appear Unwilling to Sign Onto Meals Tax Fools Bargain

By Marc Comtois | March 8, 2012 |

As reported by the ProJo, many, many people testified before a House panel that was convened to discuss the new meals (and other) taxes being proposed by Governor Chafee. Purportedly, the money will be sent back to cities and towns, which caused the legislators to make an interesting observation. Lawmakers, meanwhile, noted that no city…

Why RI Is Driving Out the Hushions

By Justin Katz | March 5, 2012 |

Jennifer Hushion submitted an op-ed to the Ocean State Current explaining why the City of Cranston and the state of Rhode Island are pushing her family toward the door: The economic climate in Rhode Island — and specifically Cranston — is why we are considering leaving. It’s not that we are necessarily against higher taxes;…

Tax Surprise Time

By Patrick Laverty | March 4, 2012 |

It’s tax time again and people are sitting with their 1040 and Schedule A and 1099 and W2 and all the other fun hoops the IRS makes you jump through. This year, it took me a minute but I was reminded of a little change to the RI tax code last year that very few…

The State of Local Taxation in Rhode Island, Measure II

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 24, 2012 |

How do amounts paid by municipal residents, in the form of local taxes, relate to how much their local governments have to spend? Here is the answer for Rhode Island’s cities and towns with the local tax levies measured in terms of percentage of income above a community’s aggreggate poverty threshold…

The State of Local Taxation in Rhode Island, Measure I

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 24, 2012 |

How do amounts paid by municipal residents, in the form of local taxes, relate to how much their local governments have to spend? Here is the answer for 38 Rhode Island cities and towns (New Shoreham is way off in the direction of the upper right-hand corner) with the local tax levy measured as a…

Revenue per Resident in Rhode Island Municipalities

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 24, 2012 |

While the percentage measures used in the previous posts provide initial insights into the question of willingness and ability to pay with regards to local taxation, the total picture requires looking at an absolute measure of what each RI city and town has available to spend, since the cost structure for local services is not…

Residential Taxation in Rhode Island Municipalities, Part 2

By Carroll Andrew Morse | February 23, 2012 |

In the previous post on local resident taxation in Rhode Island, there is a group of distressed communities (and Bristol?) at the bottom of the percentage-of-resident-income levied list. The clustering raises a question worth addressing of whether total income is the appropriate basis for measuring the taxation level in very poor communities. The argument for…