The Heartland Institute

In his 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed increasing the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 an hour, with the stated goal of raising the incomes of millions of working families. Minimum wage laws attempt to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees ...

It’s going to take more than a decade, but the first small step to reducing Pennsylvania’s corporate income tax could be taken by the end of the spring. A Corbett administration plan to overhaul business taxes in Pennsylvania will improve the state’s competitiveness and increase opportunities while cracking down on some corporations ...

The Vermont Legislature is considering a vast new array of tax changes and increases that could have a major effect on Vermonters. The proposals under House bill 528 , which recently passed through the Vermont House of Representatives, would increase income tax rates for higher-income earners while adding new sales taxes that ...

April 15 is the deadline to file income taxes, but most Americans with tax liabilities will be working beyond that date to pay taxes. “Tax Freedom Day” -- the day the Tax Foundation calculates Americans will stop working to pay federal, state and local taxes and begin working for themselves -- is April 18. That’s five ...

With Tax Day around the corner, AEI’s polling analysis team has updated its work on public attitudes toward taxes. Below are some of the highlights from the new AEI Public Opinion Study. • Half of Americans believe the amount they pay in federal income tax is “just right,” in the latest question from CNN/Opinion Research ...

The state employee pension system in Illinois is broke, both financially and structurally. Without an overhaul of the current, unsustainable system, Illinois taxpayers will continue to suffer substantially higher taxes to bail out the state for its imprudent policies. If state workers and union representatives cannot accept sensible ...

Broadband users in Tennessee could soon see a big increase in their monthly bills if legislation now before the state legislature passes. SB 1222 and HB 1111 are companion bills that would allow Tennessee’s electric cooperatives and government-owned utilities to raise the fees they charge telecom companies, including cable providers ...

As taxpayers enter crunch time to hit the April 15 income tax filing deadline, many of them likely agree the federal government’s four-million-word tax code is too long and complex. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina made that assessment in a report to Congress earlier this year. She said the tax code is difficult for the government ...

New legislation that would significantly change how customers of online retailers are taxed is being considered in Congress. S. 336, the “Marketplace Fairness Act,” would expand the ability of state governments to charge sales taxes on purchases from out-of-state retailers, regardless of whether the retailer has a physical presence ...

Broadband consumers in Tennessee could soon see a significant hike in their monthly bills if legislation now before the state legislature passes. SB 1222 and HB 1111 are companion bills that would allow Tennessee’s electric cooperatives and government-owned utilities to increase the fees they charge telecom companies, including ...

Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the millions of citizens represented by the undersigned organizations, we write in strong opposition to S. 336, the so-called “Marketplace Fairness Act.” Despite what some supporters claim, this legislation is bad news for conservative principles and the cause of limited government. It would ...

Today’s stagnant economy is both unnecessary and, well, un-American. The U.S. economy sustained a real rate of annual economic growth of 3.3 percent from 1945 to 1973 and 1982 to 2007, making the United States the world’s greatest power. It was only during the stagflation of 1973–82, reflecting national leaders’ deeply misguided ...

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) has signed legislation withdrawing his state from the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC). South Dakota's move follows similar legislation signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on June 28, 2012 (S.B. 1015), and precedes a bill (S.B. 247) rapidly advancing through the Utah Legislature to do ...

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recently proposed as part of his state budget a $2.1 billion tax hike package that includes higher income tax rates on high-income earners, an expansion of the sales tax base, a hike in cigarette taxes, and a small reduction of the state’s corporate income tax. The initial budget forecasts projecting ...

When people follow rules, they don’t expect to be penalized years later for having done so. But that’s what’s happening in California, where state tax officials have decided to retroactively apply taxes that small business owners and investors were told they would not have to pay. The Franchise Tax Board’s move “has the potential ...

U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill that would allow states to collect sales taxes on Web-based businesses that are headquartered outside their state borders. The bill is drawing support from many “traditional” retailers with “bricks-and ...

Haircuts, booze, health club memberships, downloaded books, clothing over $100, auto repairs, dating services, lawyer bills, consultants, cigarettes, Rover’s checkups, tattoos — you name it. It’s the laundry list of services targeted for new taxes that defines Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton’s $38 billion budget plan, which he hopes ...

Are Hawaii lawmakers killing the golden goose and the golden egg? Hawaii relies on tourism, its most lucrative industry, to fuel the economy. There was a record 8 million visitors in Hawaii last year who spent a collective $14 billion in 2012. Most spend an average of $196 per person per day or $1,800 per trip. But now ...

Capital gains tax rates in the United States, which were raised in January, are now among the highest in the world, causing a drain on the economy and putting the U.S. economy at a competitive disadvantage, according to a new analysis by the Tax Foundation. “As Congress begins debating tax reform, members need to take a ...

In the past few years members of Congress have proposed several bills to expand states’ ability to force out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes for online and mail-order sales even if the seller has no physical presence in the state. The latest proposal before Congress is the Marketplace Fairness Act, proposed by Sens ...