Arguments to Cut Income Tax Miss Context and Ignore Tax’s Benefits
Those arguing for a shift toward sales taxes and away from income taxes in Kentucky overstate the influence of income...
Budget & Tax
What Would Kentucky Gain from More Business Tax Cuts?
For a state like Kentucky—with high levels of poverty, low wages and too few jobs—a perpetual issue is how government can do more to promote prosperity. For years, the state...
The Bigger Picture on Who Pays Taxes
The vast majority of Kentuckians (and Americans) who don’t owe federal income taxes are either workers who pay payroll taxes, seniors, people with disabilities or students. In 2009-2010, 49 percent...
Taxing Groceries Not a Good Strategy for Kentucky
The recently released consultants’ report to the governor’s tax reform commission included the option of applying Kentucky’s sales tax to food for home consumption (i.e., groceries). While broadening the tax...
State Must Face Pension Debt
Over the last several years, much of the focus given to Kentucky’s pension system has been on ways to shift new employees into some version of a 401(k)-style retirement plan....
Another Corporate Tax Cut Is Not the Answer
A proposal to change the way Kentucky calculates corporate income taxes for big multistate corporations would be a costly experiment that’s just as likely to harm the state’s economy as...
Pension Issue is Primarily a Revenue Challenge
Over the last several years, much of the focus given to Kentucky’s pension system has been on ways to shift new employees into some version of a 401k-style retirement plan....
State Cuts to Education Continue to Deepen
Kentucky is one of 35 states in which inflation-adjusted per student state funding for K-12 education is lower this school year than it was in 2008, according to a new...
Myths and Facts about an Earned Income Tax Credit in Kentucky
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is widely known as a highly effective antipoverty program that helps low-income families make ends meet and provides long-term benefits for children. In...
Report’s Findings Suggest Kentucky’s Business Tax Incentives Not Very Cost-Effective Way to Create Jobs
Put into context, the findings of a consulting group report to the Kentucky legislature suggest that state economic development incentive programs are not a very cost-effective way to create jobs—a...