Category: Taxes
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TCJA Remains A Big Revenue Gain for State
The tax relief proposals advancing in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Senate return at most half of the estimated additional state revenue created by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) over six years. As Virginia leaders have debated what to do about the situation, all have been working off an…
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Updates: ACP Customer Charge, M&T, Competition
The following updates three pieces of legislation previous featured on Bacon’s Rebellion. Each headline links to the previous posts for background. SCC Review of Customer Pipeline Costs Two legislators flipped their votes from subcommittee and voted no in the full House Commerce and Labor Committee, but legislation to reinforce State Corporation Commission authority to review…
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House, Senate Tax Policy Shootout Starts
The numbers to remember as the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate start voting on income tax conformity bills, perhaps beginning tomorrow, have nothing to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars on the table or the millions of taxpayers waiting to file returns. The key numbers are 32 and 80. With an…
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20th Century Tax Meets 21st Century Economy
Both chambers of the General Assembly are on the verge of passing bills expanding the duty to collect state sales tax to internet retailers selling into Virginia, a once controversial idea that is generating far less heat than before but is still hitting resistance. Senate Bill 1083 and House Bill 1722 still have a few…
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A Rack Of Increases Coming To Your Electric Bill
Here they go again, using your electric bill to pay for government spending programs and blurring the distinction between utility costs and taxes. Everybody heard Thursday about that new coal ash management program adding to the pantheon of rate adjustment clauses (RACs) driving up electricity bills. Later in the day, with far less notice, a…
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M&T Fix: A Chance To Win at Whack-A-Mole
Everybody knows (and hates) the car tax, right? Imagine you bought a six-year-old used car, but when the county sent you the tax bill it based the tax on the brand-new-off-the-lot price paid by the original owner. Imagine if the Tax Man then smiled and said, this is your annual assessment for the rest of…
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More Like New Jersey Every Year
An average tax collections per capita of $4,560 ranked Virginia 23rd in the country for highest state and local tax burden in Fiscal 2016, according to the 2019 Tax Foundation report. That’s up from $4,204 and a 26th rank in Fiscal 2014. Is it worth it? Are we getting a big bang for our buck,…
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Love The Middle Class? Index Virginia’s Taxes
Virginia’s most effective tax collector is inflation. Virginia’s long refusal to adjust any element of its income tax for slow but constant inflation means that each year, a slightly higher percentage of your growing income is taxed, and the rising costs of living shrink the value of the standard deduction and push more of your…
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GILTI And Other Tax Provisions Of Great Interest
In proposals which would further distance Virginia from the tax reforms of President Donald Trump, the General Assembly is being asked to let Virginia corporations keep two major deductions no longer allowed at the federal level. If the General Assembly agrees, the chance for a general corporate income tax rate reduction probably goes away. The…
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Transportation Revenue Focus of Concern Again
In the middle of a booming economy, with many state revenue sources surging, flat transportation revenues were the focus of warnings Monday in presentations by Virginia Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne and Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. “I think we are heading for a cliff,” Layne told the House Appropriations Committee. “For the first time…
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Tax Conformity Bills Buried in Rules Committee
The House Finance Committee will hold its first meeting of the 2019 General Assembly Monday morning, finally starting public discussion of Virginia’s response to a major federal tax overhaul from 13 months ago that will… No! Belay that! All House bills dealing with how Virginia conforms to that federal change, and what other policy changes…
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Are You In…The Hugo Zone?
Delegate Tim Hugo (R-Centreville) is the point person for a state income tax proposal centered on less-than-full conformity with the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It only helps a narrow subset of Virginia taxpayers, those in The Hugo Zone. We will now try to take you there. (If you want to imagine Rod Serling’s…
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Republicans Retreat From Trump Tax Successes
Virginia’s House Republicans on Friday rolled out proposed changes in the state income tax which backpedal from the signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first year, his tax reform package which supercharged the economy. They would conform Virginia’s taxes to the new federal law only in part (more details here). One of the best policy…
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Higher Standard Deduction Popular With Voters
The Northam Administration’s plans to spend most of the additional revenue created by federal tax reform may not prove popular if the public understands the alternative plans for real tax relief under consideration. Three weeks ago, I complained that a poll from the Judy Wason Ford Center at Christopher Newport University didn’t ask the right…
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EITC Grants Do Nothing for Middle Class
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) proposal that Virginia Democrats are pushing for passage in the 2019 General Assembly is being sold as a major financial boon for the middle class, but is it? “Our working families making $54,000 a year or less are not going to see a big benefit from these federal tax…