Category: Taxes
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The Hidden Costs of Medicaid Expansion
This column, originally published by the Chesterfield Observer back in June, is a bit dated. I neglected to re-post it on Bacon’s Rebellion at the time. But, what the heck, with the new debate about how to dish out Virginia’s windfall from federal tax reform, it never hurts to remind middle-class taxpayers how they continue…
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Bacon Bits: A.P. Hill R.I.P., Tax Cuts, Bike Lanes
This statue does have to go The tomb of Confederate General A.P. Hill in Northside Richmond is the latest to be vandalized by red paint or some similar substance, but in this case the argument to move the statute and the grave beneath it should focus on its status as a major traffic hazard. The…
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Comformity Boosts Key Business Tax 40 Percent
A decision by the Virginia General Assembly to fully conform state tax rules with recent changes in federal tax law could result in major increases in state corporate income tax collections, totaling an additional $1.4 billion over six years, an outside consultant has concluded. Virginia’s corporate income tax under current rules is projected to collect…
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Weak Growth Makes Conformity Revenue Tempting
I called it correctly back in June: Conformity to federal tax reform produces a major boost in state revenue which the state’s leadership on both side of the aisle is strongly tempted to keep because the state remains strapped for cash. The signs of economic stress are all over Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne’s August…
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Full Conformity Raises $3.6B In First Five Years
Assuming the Virginia General Assembly conforms the state’s tax rules to the IRS code as it exists now, adopting intact the recent federal changes, the state will reap an additional $3.6 billion in revenue over the next five years. Almost $2.5 billion of that will come from personal income taxes, with an additional $1.1 billion…
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The Truth Is Out There (To Be Revealed Friday)
So it’s going to be politics, not economics. Perhaps it was inevitable. On Friday Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne will be presenting to the House and Senate money committees, part of their report looking back (at the completed fiscal year), but the key parts of their message looking forward. Both are…
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Trailing Spouse Benefit Proving of Minimal Impact
Virginia’s unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund continues to show improved balances despite dropping tax rates, reflecting a strengthening economy. The most recent semi-annual report, released at a legislative meeting yesterday, projects half as many initial claims during 2018 as there were five years ago: 134,000 this year versus the earlier 276,000. It the trend holds…
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Specific Updates: Lobbyists, Lottery, Tuition
A few updates, clearing the decks before I disappear next week (I’m not quite as dedicated as Bacon, although I will take the laptop to Duck.) My son who blogs on University of Virginia sports is going to give me some tips. (StLouisHoo or something like that…) Specifics on Who is Not Specific The Virginia…
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Working? A Republican Anti-Poverty Plan Works?
“The federal EITC, together with the Child Tax Credit, lifted nearly 200,000 Virginians out of poverty each year from 2011 to 2013, including nearly 100,000 children.” Lifted out of poverty. Let that sink in a minute. The writer of that sentence is admitting that the federal Earned Income Tax Credit lifts people out of poverty. …
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Protestants, Progressives and Paternalism
To put Steve Haner’s recent post about the Virginia lottery in broader perspective, I have displayed the “freedom from paternalism” ranking of the 50 states published this year by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. Virginia ranks 39th in freedom from paternalism. The flip side of that finding is that the Old Dominion ranks as the…
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The Tax on the Mathematically Challenged
Untold thousands of Virginians just poured their money into the recent multi-state Mega Millions drawing won by someone in California. Governor Jerry Brown sends his thanks for his cut. But based on a recent news release our own governor is also very pleased with the performance of the Virginia Lottery as it approaches its 30th…
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Tax Act Impact on Virginia: 5,782 Jobs
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 will create 218,000 full-time equivalent jobs across the United States this year, asserts the center-right Tax Foundation, which specializes in analyzing the impact of tax policy on the U.S. economy. Using its Taxes and Growth econometric model, the Tax Foundation provided a job-creation estimate for each of…
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Tax Conformity Addendum: Has Virginia Already Conformed?
During a discussion today about the issue of whether and how Virginia should amend its taxes in response to recent federal changes, the question came up: just what is the situation today? I was reminded that the conformity bill that originally passed in the 2018 General Assembly was subsequently amended at the request of the…
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Signs Virginia Will Keep Tax Reform Windfall
The following is from remarks prepared for a meeting of the Thomas Jefferson Institute in Richmond today. As of right now all the signs indicate that the Virginia General Assembly and the Northam Administration are going to allow the federal tax reform to generate additional tax revenue for the Commonwealth. Some of what the Congress…
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Dillon’s Rule, the RPV and the Marylandization of Virginia
by Don Rippert Doppler shift from red to blue. As recently as 1977 both of Maryland’s US Senators were Republican. From 1993 through 2003 Maryland’s eight US House seats were evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Today, Maryland’s 10 person Congressional delegation consists of 9 Democrats and a lone Republican. This shift caused Maryland to…