Emerging State Business Tax Policy: More of the Same, or Fundamental Change?

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Tax Policy Center

Author(s): William F. Fox; LeAnne Luna; Matthew N. Murray

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Economy; State and Local Finance; Tax Policy; State and Local Issues

Type: Report

Abstract:

Much of the state tax policy discussion during the past decade has centered on the performance of corporate income taxes and ways to restructure them. This report focuses on state responses to the weak corporate tax collections during the 2000-2003 period as well as to the revenue performance during the years immediately preceding and following the recession. The report is not an attempt to argue that the corporate income tax is an important component of good state tax policy. Instead, our focus is on identifying state tactics to maintain or change the tax, determining whether those strategies are good tax policy, and evaluating whether they are working to achieve the basic goals of the states.