State and local tax news — from state income tax quirks to property tax fights, because not all tax battles happen in Washington.
Even with a projected $1 billion budget gap looming, there are some items in South Carolina that are apparently “off the table” when it comes to taxation. Chief among them? Cigarettes. South Carolina enjoys the lowest cigarette tax in the country at a paltry 7 cents per pack. Nope, that’s not a typo: 7 cents….
I’ve received lots of interest in my tax amnesty piece from yesterday, mostly in the form of emails. The majority of questions and comments about the piece came from those of you who live outside of the state of Pennsylvania and who wanted to know about the commercial. As it turns out, it’s available on…
Okay, the press has me officially riled up – well, the press and Governor Rendell (D-PA). Suddenly, the tax amnesty program has everyone all fired up about scofflaws. Yep, everywhere you look – even on the amnesty ads – tax officials and the media are painting tax delinquents with a broad brush, labeling them as…
Oh, it’s so on. The battle between North Carolina and Amazon.com is heating up – and it’s going to get good (well, good in a tax geek kind of way – but that’s still good, right?). I blogged last year that Amazon.com was picking a fight with the Tarheel State by notifying its affiliates that…
Starting tomorrow, taxpayers in Pennsylvania will get some late-season tax help. Beginning on Thursday, April 8, through Thursday, April 15, the PA Revenue Taxpayer Service and Information Center will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 10. The…
When legislators across the country took steps to increase the tax on soda, many taxpayers shrugged their shoulders. After all, it’s just soda. But now, now lawmakers are getting serious. They’re talking about increasing the tax on beer. (I know.) And not just anywhere: the increase is planned for one of the microbrew capitals of…
A study out of the Rand Corporation has concluded that “small taxes” on soda do little to reduce soft drink consumption or prevent childhood obesity. Economist Roland Sturm and his teams analyzed how more than 7,300 fifth graders ate, drank and moved. The children were asked, as part of the study, how many sodas and…
Taxpayer asks: I’m helping my daughter do her CT taxes. Last year she got a CT refund. If I’m reading the federal form correctly, it looks like she has to declare the state refund as federal income in 2009. Is that correct? Isn’t that double taxing? If that is correct, is there a way around…
The controversial “bag tax” in Washington DC appears to be paying off. The DC Office of Tax and Revenue says that the tax has generated about $150,000 in the month of January alone – money that will be directed to the newly created Anacostia River Clean Up Fund. That may be all fine and good…
In a bad economy, we all tend to look at our bills a little more closely. That effort is paying off for property owners in Orange County, NC, where 6 in 10 property owners have successfully challenged property assessments. Orange County, NC, is near my old stomping grounds in Wake County, NC, and is probably…