The Heartland Institute

Critics of the Bush tax cuts often dismiss the tax changes as a failed experiment in free-market economics. Noting that economic growth was slower in the years following the cuts than in the years preceding them, some critics see the experience as evidence that tax cuts simply do not work. But the claim that these tax cuts ...

If lawmakers decide that new revenues must be part of any long-term effort to solve the budget crisis, they must choose the least harmful way of raising new revenues or else they risk compounding the crisis by slowing economic growth. This list of revenue measures is hardly complete, but it should give lawmakers some rules ...

While many studies have analyzed the current debt level of the federal government and to alesser extent that of state governments, there has been little research on county and municipal debt. This report seeks to begin to fill that void, starting with Cook County, Illinois. ...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other Republican leaders in Congress have offered to overhaul the federal tax code to take another $800 billion in taxes over the next 10 years, but some Republican legislators are already saying no to the deal. Boehner’s leadership team, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA ...

Uberbillionaire Warren Buffett recently declared tax rates don’t matter to investors, but the actions of publicly owned companies and investors as the nation nears the “fiscal cliff” say otherwise. Numerous companies have announced special dividends ahead of the end of the year, when tax rate cuts that were approved during the ...

North Carolina competes with every other state for tomorrow’s growth industries. Although North Carolina was once a growth leader, this is no longer the case. Policymakers in Raleigh can reverse this trend. Among the many state policies that are important in fostering strong economic growth, a pro-growth state tax policy is ...

Critics of the Bush tax cuts often dismiss the tax changes as a failed experiment in free-market economics. Noting that economic growth was slower in the years following the cuts than in the years preceding them, some critics see the experience as evidence that tax cuts do not work. But the claim that these tax cuts exemplified ...

Mitt Romney’s campaign musings about how he would cut income tax rates by 20 percent (when half of Americans don’t even pay federal income taxes) has now floated the ultimate loser for all taxpaying Americans. This is a $17,000 limit per person for all deductions including mortgage interest, charitable, and state taxes. The ...

As Congress considers whether to allow the capital gains tax rate to increase at the beginning of 2013, states across the nation are debating whether to change their own capital gains tax rates. Oregon’s capital gains taxes are among the nation’s highest. According to the Federation of Tax Administrators, Oregon is tied with ...

In the past few years members of Congress have proposed several bills to expand states’ ability to tax purchases made online and from mail-order catalogs. The Main Street Fairness Act, Marketplace Equity Act, and Marketplace Fairness Act all would expand states’ ability to charge sales taxes on out-of-state retailers regardless ...

Several states either have begun transitioning away from franchise taxes or are considering repeal. A franchise tax is a state tax levied on businesses and partnerships chartered within a state. It acts as a privilege tax: A company paying the tax is allowed to do business in a state under its corporate name. Franchise taxes ...

There is a rich variety of data from the USA that demonstrates that raising tax rates often reduces revenues and vice versa. This is especially so when raising taxes from the high rates that are currently in place. So-called fiscal stimulus policy does not work. A stimulus has to be financed and the income effects on those ...

Having squandered most of 2012 with posturing and delay, Congress and the President are now careening toward a budgetary precipice of their own making. The so-called fiscal cliff will be reached just after New Year’s Eve—bringing a nearly $500 billion tax hike in 2013 and a devastating 10 percent reduction in national defense ...

The United States is at a tipping point: the gross national debt is over $16 trillion, equal to or exceeding the gross national product; unemployment is high; and job creation is low. Our nation’s high levels of debt are crowding out private investment, raising costs to private business, and stifling economic growth. To help ...

Big cliff, sidewalk crack, or something in between? Americans may soon find out. On January 1 the so-called “fiscal cliff” will be reached unless Congress and the president agree to avert it.The effect of its big tax hikes and smaller spending cuts on the economy remain a matter of much speculation. On November 9, President ...

There is a strong connection between a state’s rate of entrepreneurship and declines in poverty. Statistical analysis of all 50 states indicates that states with a larger share of entrepreneurs had bigger declines in poverty. In fact, comparing states during the last economic boom—from 2001 to 2007—data show that for every 1 ...

As the federal government grows increasingly desperate for money, Congress looks for more creative ways to grab more of our cash. One sure way to raise taxes without necessarily raising tax rates is to do away with deductions. The current budget battles have brought the mortgage interest deduction under attack yet again. The ...

Absent action from Congress and the president, the United States will face what many are calling a “fiscal cliff” at the beginning of 2013. That describes the increase of several key tax rates as the early-2000s tax cuts expire, the reduction of certain jobs provisions, activation of $1.2 trillion in across-the-board budget ...

Michigan voters in the November 6 election rejected a statewide ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment to make it more difficult to raise state taxes . Proposal 5 called for a two-thirds supermajority vote of both the Michigan House and Senate, or a simple majority vote of the people in a November election, to impose ...

California voters have approved measures to raise taxes by billions of dollars and rejected a measure to stop labor unions from forcing members to pay dues for union-backed political activities. Proposition 30, successfully championed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D), will raise California’s sales tax a quarter-cent on the dollar for ...