Tax hikes, relief, dedication, and resurrection
Obama plugs the EITC for childless adults in his State of the Union.听In a speech characterized by broad themes and relatively few specific proposals, President Obama did put in another plug for expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to childless adults. The idea has broad bipartisan support but never seems to win congressional approval. Maybe it will somehow sneak in in 2016.
On the campaign trail: More tax ideas from Hillary, and Rubio questions a Cruz idea.听Democratic hopeful Hillary听听to raise the estate tax and apply it more broadly, echoing President Obama鈥檚 call to return to 2009 parameters. Republican Marco听听the conservative chops of Ted Cruz, whose 鈥渂usiness flat tax鈥� is essentially a value-added tax. Rubio says conservatives have been against a VAT for years.
Maryland鈥檚 Governor Larry Hogan wants tax relief.听The Republican announced yesterday his听听for retirees, families making below $53,000 a year, and the smallest of small businesses. The $400 million, five-year plan would affect one million Maryland residents and 300,000 small firms. Republican legislators would like to return any surplus to taxpayers. But Democrats, who control the legislature, want to spend more on education.
In New Jersey: A new nonprofit hospital 鈥渢ax.鈥�听The legislature has passed a bill that would require the state鈥檚听听to pay the municipalities in which they reside fees in lieu of taxes to cover the costs of public safety and other services.听The fee: $2.50 per bed per day, plus $250 per day for each satellite emergency care facility. Lawmakers and hospital executives agreed to the fee in response to last year鈥檚 tax court ruling: Morristown Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital, was found to be operating as a for-profit and had to pay property taxes.
Also in New Jersey: Voters will be asked to dedicate gas tax revenue to transportation.听The state鈥檚 constitution already dedicates most听, with the exception of about $40 million annually in diesel tax and petroleum products gross receipts tax revenues. A new ballot measure will ask voters to dedicate those dollars鈥攁s well as听 revenue from a future gas tax increase鈥攖o transportation. Will using the money for popular transportation projects boost support for a gas tax increase? Time will tell.
In Virginia, a new fight against the car tax.听Republican听presidential candidate and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore and state Democratic Senator J. Chapman Petersen both want to听. Gilmore ran on a 鈥渘o car tax鈥� platform in 1997 but failed to kill the levy. Petersen just proposed eliminating the tax through a constitutional amendment, but would give localities the option to levy a gas tax to cover lost revenue.
Colorado resurrects its the Earned Income Tax Credit.听The state鈥檚 EITC has been absent for 15 years, but it鈥檚听The credit will equal about 10 percent of听 federal earned income tax credits in the state, or at least $77 million. Colorado is one of 27 states with its own EITC but听 residents can only access it when the state issues refunds under its Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, and that鈥檚 the case for fiscal year 2015.
About Mark Zuckerberg鈥檚 charitable pledge鈥μ�TPC鈥檚 Gene Steuerle examines the Facebook CEO鈥檚听听for charitable purposes. Zuckerberg and his wife won鈥檛 get much in the way of tax deductions for a lifetime of giving. But donating through a limited liability corporation gives their philanthropic effort far more flexibility. 鈥淭hese types of private initiatives, sometimes labeled as a Fourth Sector, push society in new, exciting, and yet-to-be-determined directions,鈥� concludes Steuerle.
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