In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled in Quill v. North Dakota that if a company did not have a “physical nexus” within the state, that state could not require the company to collect sales taxes from its customers. However, residents of states with income taxes are supposed to voluntarily pay a “use tax” on such out-of-state transactions when they file their tax returns. As the number of online transactions continue to grow, there has been an ongoing debate over “bricks and mortar” sellers versus internet sellers, and many states are seeking “lost” sales tax revenue from these online activities.
Smoke and Mirrors: Teenage E-Cigarette Use Down
There is a lot of misinformation regarding e-cigarettes. If you’re the parent of a teen, you have probably seen the sensational headlines about “studies” concluding that teens are vaping at “record highs” because it’s now what the “cool kids” are doing. However, this “fact” couldn’t be further from the truth. A debate is ongoing about […]
California’s “Netflix Tax”
Cities in the Golden State are exploring what they might call a “golden opportunity” to compensate for the loss of tax revenue from declining cable-television subscriptions as more Americans choose video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
Tobacco Harm-Reduction: Big League Healthcare Savings
In the twenty-first century, remarkable technology innovations have improved nearly every aspect of everyone’s lives. Smart TVs and smartphones are the most well-known examples; however, these innovations even extend to smoking. By 2025, health experts approximate that there will be nearly 1 billion cigarette smokers around the world. While cigarette smoking has declined in the […]
Land of the Free and Home of the Subsidies
Renewable energy politics has become a powerful force at both the federal and state level. Wind and solar advocates argue that renewable energy generates power without the expense of burning fossil fuels. While this may sound appealing, the reality is that this energy supply is highly subsidized and the policies are fossilized.
Taxes on Ashes: California’s Proposition 56
As the legislative session comes to an end in California, the government’s addiction to regressive tax policies has not. A well-organized campaign, composed of billionaires, medical groups, and trade associations, has collected enough signatures to include Proposition 56, a ballot measure in November, to raise California’s cigarette tax by 2 dollars per pack.
Maryland’s Proposed Purple Line Update
On August 3, 2016, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Purple Line, a proposed light-rail project in Maryland, was ineligible for federal funding until the state recalculates the Purple Line’s ridership forecasts. In nearby Washington, D.C., the public transit system (Metro), administered by the Washington […]
Cloudy with a Chance of Subsidies
As tax rebates and incentive payments to businesses continue to deplete revenue intended for Oklahoma’s General Revenue Fund (GRF), which has fallen more than 13 percent below estimates, legislators must come up with a remedy. Otherwise, the $1.3 billion budget shortfall will continue to grow.
Second Hand Smoke
The California Assembly proposed Senate Bill 1400, introduced by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), which would have limited the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to specified “tobacco stores,” that prohibit customers under the age of 21 and generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco. Sen. Wieckowski has said that the […]
The Needy, Greedy City
Mayor Jim Kenney was elected last year with a promise to bring universal prekindergarten to Philadelphia. With no way to pay for it, the Mayor needed a solution. So now, the City of Brotherly Love has implemented the soda tax. Originally proposed at 3 cents-per-ounce, the city council passed a tax half of that amount […]