Tax Justice Digest stories about Alabama
That stimulus bill included Congress's latest round of "accelerated depreciation" corporate tax cuts passed under the guise of helping the economy rebound. It allows companies to claim a "bonus" depreciation tax break that lets them deduct the cost of their investments much faster than would otherwise be allowed.
Since virtually every state's corporate tax laws are based on federal rules, this tax break will create an automatic tax loss for states unless (as Alabama is in the process of doing) they take steps to "decouple" from the federal tax break. The Alabama bill, HB 455, is estimated to save the state over $50 million in the current fiscal year. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that as many as 22 other states could take the same loophole-closing step to help shore up their corporate income tax base -- and their budgets.
The Alabama House of Representatives this week passed a constitutional amendment that would improve the state’s tax system in three very important ways. Though the vote was contentious, with the amendment gaining only the bare number of votes needed to pass, each of the changes would result in a tax cut for the vast majority of Alabama families and would bring the state tax system closer in line with what most other states have been doing for years.
The centerpiece of the proposal is an elimination of the state’s regressive sales tax on groceries. Alabama is currently one of only two states that provides no tax relief whatsoever for groceries, and a majority of states already exempt groceries completely from the sales tax.
Additional tax cuts would be given to almost all Alabama families by tying the state standard deduction to the larger, federal standard deduction. The personal and dependent exemptions would also be increased, though they would not increase with inflation. The most important impact of these changes would be a reduction or elimination of state income taxes for low-income families, but all Alabama families paying the income tax would see a benefit.
Revenue loss associated with these progressive cuts would be offset by ending the state’s rare and regressive state income tax deduction of federal income taxes paid. The beneficiaries of the existing deduction are primarily those wealthier taxpayers who have the largest federal income tax liabilities. Unfortunately, there are already rumblings that this change may have to be scaled back in order to get the amendment through the full legislature. Instead of entirely repealing the deduction, it may be the case that the deduction is capped at some amount. Though this would preserve the benefits of this proposal for middle-income taxpayers while eliminating huge tax cuts currently being handed to the rich, it would would produce only a fraction of the revenue generated by a full repeal. Without the revenue created by a full repeal, ending the grocery tax and increasing the standard deduction and exemptions would be much more difficult. Additionally, scaling back the deduction for federal income taxes paid may be seen by some as “enough,” and could serve to stall a needed repeal of the entire deduction in the future.
An additional problem for the amendment may be a dispute over whether it was fairly passed. The Alabama legislature has a history of allowing other people to cast legislators’ votes for them when they cannot be in attendance. In this instance, however, there was some question about whether legislators’ votes were cast in the opposite direction from what they intended. One Democratic legislator admitted to voting in favor of the amendment on other legislators’ machines, though after this was discovered a motion to reconsider the bill failed and the passage of the amendment was not reversed.
Ideas are being floated in Alabama and Illinois to address the regressive nature or their tax structures. Proponents of a revenue-neutral plan that has gained some attention in Alabama claim that it would cut taxes or keep them at their current level for 80% of taxpayers, while increasing taxes on only the wealthiest 20% of payers. Since the Alabama tax system is incredibly regressive, this would be a very welcome change.
Under the proposed plan, the income tax would be made more progressive by increasing personal exemptions and standard deductions, at a cost of about $250 million per year. Additionally, the regressivity of the Alabama sales tax would be reduced by exempting groceries. The grocery exemption would bring Alabama closer in line with the overwhelming majority of states, as Alabama is one of only two states that makes no effort to mitigate the regressive effects of the grocery tax. The $550 million price tag attached to these tax cuts would be paid for by eliminating Alabama's regressive tax deduction for federal income taxes paid. Only two other states allow for a full deduction of federal income taxes paid. Eliminating this deduction would increase taxes the most for those wealthiest Alabamians who have the highest federal income tax liabilities.
The reforms proposed in Illinois, and just recently approved by a Senate committee, would result in a net tax increase of about $3.8 billion to be used to fund education, early childhood programs, pensions, health care, and construction projects. Given that Illinois is projected to have budget deficits this year and for years to come, progressive tax increases seem like a very good idea. To ensure tax fairness, revenues would be raised by the most progressive tax available – the income tax. The personal income tax rate would increase from 3% to 5%, and the corporate income tax rate would rise from 4.8% to 8%. Offsetting much of this tax increase would be property tax cuts (a minimum of 20% of the school portion of property tax bills) and income tax credits for low-income families.
Unfortunately, the governors in each of these states are opposed to the plans (primarily to the tax increases for wealthier taxpayers). This means that if tax reform is to occur in 2008, it could be much less progressive than what has been proposed thus far. It's certainly refreshing, however, to see state lawmakers discussing these kinds of relatively major tax overhauls with fairness considerations obviously on the top of their agendas.
An extensive study of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority's (MEGA) business tax incentives that were distributed between 1996 and 2004 found that incentive programs frequently don't result in the job creation they promise. As the study explains, "since 1996, MEGA has put together 230 incentive agreements. Under these agreements, 127 projects should have produced 35,821 direct jobs by 2005. In fact, these deals have produced about 13,541 jobs, or 38 percent of original expectations. This represents roughly 0.3 percent of Michigan's total work force."
Despite a growing consensus that imposing income taxes on families living in poverty is a terrible idea, many states continue to do so. According to a new Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report, "The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2006," 19 states collect income taxes on two-parent families of four who live below the federal poverty level. The report discusses some of the options available to states to prevent those in poverty from having to spend their limited resources on income taxes, including state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), no-tax floors, and personal exemptions and standard deductions.
The good news is that states are increasingly seeking to avoid imposing their income tax on those who can least afford to pay it. A promising example of this is in Alabama, where the efforts of Alabama Arise have helped to spearhead state income tax changes that have decreased the income tax on those living in poverty by increasing the income filing threshold used to determine whether income taxes are owed (from an unbelievably low $4,600 to a still egregious $12,600). Although the state still ranks at or near the bottom in terms of the state income tax imposed on its poor, additional reform proposals have been made this year that would further increase the income threshold to $15,600 or $15,800.
Another positive development has occurred in Virginia, where lawmakers recently enacted a law that will raise the state income tax filing threshold from $7,000 to $11,950 for individuals and from $12,000 to $23,900 for couples.
Alabama and Virginia represent two examples of positive developments in decreasing the disproportionate tax imposed on the working poor by nearly every state. An even better solution to this problem would include refundable tax credits, like those found in the federal (and increasingly within state) EITC's.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley is once again talking about lowering taxes on working families. But his latest proposal isn't without controversy and comes with quite a price tag. The Governor's proposal includes lowering taxes on families making less than $100,000 annually and eliminating the state income tax on the first $10,000 of retirement income. His plans take five years to fully implement and would cost $205 million. Some in the education community are concerned that these tax cuts will be paid for by cuts to the State's education budget. Questions also remain about whether or not the proposal provides targeted tax relief for Alabama families in need. Let's hope Governor Riley actually does more than talk about tax fairness and finds a way to pay for cuts without harming Alabama's children.
While the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives (and apparently also the Senate) on Tuesday has has given new hope to advocates of progressive tax policies at the federal level, the results of ballot initiatives across the country indicate that state tax policy is also headed in a progressive direction.
In the three states where they were on the ballot, voters rejected TABOR proposals, which involve artificial tax and spending caps that would cut services drastically over several years. Washington State defeated repeal of its estate tax. Several states also rejected initiatives to increase school funding which, while based on the best intentions, were not responsible fiscal policy. Two of four ballot proposals to hike cigarette taxes were approved and the night also brought a mixed bag of results for property tax caps.
Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR):
Maine - Question 1 - FAILED
Nebraska - Initiative 423 - FAILED
Oregon - Measure 48 - FAILED
Voters in three states soundly rejected tax- and spending-cap proposals modeled after Colorado's so-called "Taxpayers Bill of Rights" (TABOR). Apparently people in these three states had too many concerns over the damage caused by TABOR in Colorado.
Property Tax Caps:
Arizona - Proposition 101 - PASSED - tightening existing caps on growth in local property tax levies.
Georgia - Referendum D - PASSED - exempting seniors at all income levels from the statewide property tax (a small part of overall Georgia property taxes. (The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute evaluates this idea here.)
South Carolina - Amendment Question 4 - PASSED - capping growth of properties' assessed value for tax purposes. The State newspaper explains why the cap would be counterproductive.
South Dakota - Amendment D - FAILED - capping the allowable growth in taxable value for homes, taking a page from California's Proposition 13 playbook. (The Aberdeen American News explains why this is bad policy here - and asks tough questions about whether lawmakers have shirked their duties by shunting this complicated decision off to voters.)
Tennessee - Amendment 2 - PASSED - allowing (but not requiring) local governments to enact senior-citizens property tax freezes.
Arizona's property tax limit will restrict property tax growth for all taxpayers in a given district. South Dakota's proposal was fortunately defeated. It would have offered help only to families whose property is rapidly becoming more valuable, and those families are rarely the neediest. Georgia's is not targeted at those who need help but would give tax cuts to seniors at all income levels. The Tennesse initiative, which passed, is a reasonable tool for localities to use, at their option, to target help towards those seniors who need it.
Cigarette Tax Increase:
Arizona - Proposition 203 - PASSED - increase in cigarette tax from $1.18 to $1.98 to fund early education and childrens' health screenings.
California - Proposition 86 - FAILED - increasing the cigarette tax by $2.60 a pack to pay for health care (from $.87 to $3.47)
Missouri - Amendment 3 - FAILED - increasing cigarette tax from 17 cents to 97 cents
South Dakota - Initiated Measure 2 - PASSED - increasing cigarette tax from 53 cents to $1.53.
While many progressive activists and organizations support raising cigarette taxes to fund worthy services and projects, the cigarette tax is essentially regressive and is an unreliable revenue source since it is shrinking.
State Estate Tax Repeal:
Washington - Initiative 920 - FAILED
Complementing the heated debate over the federal estate tax has been this lesser noticed debate over Washington Stats's own estate tax which funds smaller classroom size, assistance for low-income students and other education purposes. Washingtonians decided it was a tax worth keeping.
Revenue for Education:
Alabama - Amendment 2 - PASSED - requiring that every school district in the state provide at least 10 mills of property tax for local schools.
California - Proposition 88 - FAILED - would impose a regressive "parcel tax" of $50 on each parcel of property in the state to help fund education
Idaho - Proposition 1 - FAILED - requiring the legislature to spend an additional $220 million a year on education - and requiring the legislature to come up with an (unidentified) revenue stream to pay for it.
Michigan - Proposal 5 - FAILED - mandating annual increases in state education spending, tied to inflation - but without specifying a funding source. The Michigan League for Human Services explains why this is a bad idea.
Voters made wise choices on education spending. The initiative in California would have raised revenue in a regressive way, while the initiatives in Idaho and Michigan sought to increase education spending without providing any revenue source. Alabama's Amendment 2 takes an approach that is both responsible and progressive.
Income Taxes:
Oregon - Measure 41 - FAILED - creating an alternative method of calculating state income taxes.
Measure 41 was an ill-conceived proposal to allow wealthier Oregonians the option of claiming the same personal exemptions allowed under federal tax rules and would have bypassed a majority of Oregon seniors and would offer little to most low-income Oregonians of all ages.
Other Ballot Measures:
California - Proposition 87 - FAILED - would impose a tax on oil production and use all the revenue to reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuels and encourage the use of renewable energy
California - Proposition 89 - FAILED - using a corporate income tax hike to provide public funding for elections
South Dakota - Initiated Measure 7 - FAILED - repealing the state's video lottery - proceeds of which are used to cut local property taxes
South Dakota - Initiated Measure 8 - FAILED - repealing 4 percent tax on cell phone users.
The all-important first step towards an equitable property tax is figuring out how much each home and business is actually worth. To do this perfectly, a tax assessor would need to visually inspect the inside and outside of every home — which, of course, no one actually does. But as a recent New York Times article notes, governments from Philadelphia to Florida are now relying on computerized aerial images (taken from a small plane) to detect changes in the outside appearance of homes and businesses. A Philadelphia tax administrator notes that the computerized system, which costs the city about $100,000 a year, "probably paid for itself within about two weeks." Assessment by low-flying planes may seem intrusive, but at the end of the day this is how the property tax is supposed to work. This approach is in stark contrast to the head-in-the-sand approach to property tax administration proposed by Alabama Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lucy Baxley, who has proposed ending the annual reassessment of Alabama homes.
