U.S. states flirt with major tax changes

Well this will be of great interest to income tax haters everywhere. Several states are attempting to switch from income taxes to sales taxes. This has been talked about for years by conservatives, but with Obama re-elected and democrats maintaining control of the Senate there is no chance for this to pass on the national stage. I believe, for several reasons, that this is one of the worst ideas in American history, but I don't know enough about the state proposals to know if it would be a catastrophe or not. One thing I would expect, is that if they significantly raise sales taxes in any states, is that there will be a decrease in retail sales in that state, and an increase for neighboring states and online.

This may turn out like the situation in the eastern part of my state, when they raised the minimum wage and Idaho did not, Idaho actually lost money with their regressive policies because their people went over the border to look for work and Washington's economy actually grew.
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U.S. states flirt with major tax changes

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hopes for overhauling the federal tax system are fading in Washington, but in some state capitals, tax reform experiments - some far-reaching - are fast taking shape.

Across the South and Midwest, Republicans have consolidated control of state legislatures and governorships, giving them the power to test long-debated tax ideas.

Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, for instance, called on Thursday for ending the state's income tax and corporate taxes, with sales taxes compensating for lost revenue.

A similar plan is being pushed by Republicans in North Carolina. Kansas, which cut its income tax significantly last year, may trim further. Oklahoma, which tried to cut income taxes last year, is expected to try again.

"When it comes to getting pro-growth tax reform done this year, the only real opportunities are at the state level," said Patrick Gleason, director of state affairs for Americans for Tax Reform, the Washington-based anti-tax lobbying group headed by small-government conservative activist Grover Norquist.

His group and other conservative pressure organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, have targeted state capitals for tax reform campaigns.

Cutting income taxes and shifting the overall tax burden to consumption through higher sales taxes is a long-standing goal of some tax theorists. Critics argue that approach is regressive and unfairly burdens the middle class and the poor, who spend more of their earnings on items subject to sales tax.

news.yahoo.com...

Hack much?

reply to post by CB328


The Affordable Health Care Act has already done a fine job raising taxes on the working poor! After all, if the Federal Government has overspent and therefore raising taxes, it is only natural in the progression of things for the States to raise taxes!

Not sure why you find such and issue with this unless you actually believe that "RETAIL" jobs are the future of your "Progressive America"!

But as you guys always say, "It's time to move FORWARD."!

Up is down and forward is backwards!

Californians already have both sales and income tax.

The governor of Nebraska has proposed eliminating income tax and making up the revenue by closing loopholes (raising taxes) on industries across the states.

Not sure why you find such and issue with this

Because it's a really, really bad idea, at least at the federal level. I don't know if it's that bad at the state level, but replacing the federal income tax with a high sales tax would be a disaster.