Category: Taxes & Regulation

WHY IS OUR SALES TAX HIGH? BECAUSE LAWMAKERS SPEND TOO MUCH TIME IN COLUMBIA, THAT’S WHY This week, as our policy analysts worked on our forthcoming annual guide, The Best…

SALES TAX HOLIDAYS MASK THE TRUTH: THAT S.C., AMONG THE POOREST STATES IN THE U.S., HAS ONE OF THE NATION’S HIGHEST SALES TAXES At 6 percent, South Carolina has the…

YOU’RE A TAXPAYER? SORRY, YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE PRIORITY LIST This year, the General Assembly had more than $1 billion in new revenue to appropriate. The final version of the…

WELL, WHICH IS IT? Despite lawmakers’ disingenuous claims that South Carolina has some of the “lowest taxes in the nation,” the truth is that South Carolina taxpayers and businesses pay far too…

Legislative leaders are claiming that South Carolina “has the lowest state taxes in the nation.” If only it were true. Unfortunately the claim confuses tax collections and tax rates. It’s…

Download the .pdf version here.   With the House and Senate voting to override the governor’s veto of a 50-cent cigarette tax increase, it’s worthwhile to revisit the reasons why…

Just last week, the House Ways & Means Committee pushed through a 30 cent per pack cigarette tax increase as a proposed proviso in the FY10-2011 budget. The tax increase…

For more than two decades, no general tax increases have been enacted in South Carolina, a fact often cited by legislators seeking to burnish their “friend of the taxpayer” credentials.…

Despite a lot of talk about budget cuts, the 2009 General Assembly ended up passing a budget even larger than that from FY08-2009 – $20.7 billion compared to $19.97 billion.…

As we review the best and worst independent business legislation of 2009,it’s also time to begin to consider what ideas are likely to resurface during the 2010 session.   Independent…

Fast Facts: South Carolina’s Sales Tax   South Carolina needs sales tax reform that is equitable and encourages economic growth. The best way to achieve this goal is to lower…

As we review the best and worst tax and spending legislation of 2009, it’s also time to begin to consider what ideas are likely to resurface during the 2010 session. The big…

By Dr. Jameson Taylor Director of Research TRAC Testimony: November 12, 2009 Lower the Rate and Eliminate Sales Tax Exemptions South Carolina needs sales tax reform that is equitable and…

Instead of playing games with tax credits and economic development boondoggles, the best way for the state to attract new business is to lower taxes. In particular, lawmakers should eliminate…

Citizens earning more than $32,879 rank amongst the wealthiest half of U.S. taxpayers and paid more than 97 percent of all income taxes in 2007, according to new IRS data…

Legislation under consideration by the South Carolina Senate would raise the cigarette tax by 700 percent and cost the state more than 4,100 jobs, according to a dynamic analysis conducted…

As South Carolinians across the state prepare for the April 15 tax filing deadline, a Policy Council analysis of the state income tax system finds that more than 30 percent…

Written by: Sven Larson, PhD The tax increase passed by the General Assembly, and vetoed by the Governor, would have used new revenue largely to expand Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid costs…

Governments apply excise taxes to private market transactions. User fees, on the other hand, are costs associated with a publicly owned good. While some user fees are calculated in accordance…

South Carolina’s income tax structure is antiquated. As salaries rise with inflation, the increased take-home income drives workers into higher marginal rates of taxation. This occurs even if a workers…

Despite a surplus of more than $1.3 billion in tax revenues for 2006, lawmakers in Columbia are looking to increase taxes on cigarettes by 45 cent a pack. Not satisfied…

In late April of 2007, the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, released a new report that detailed the rising burden of state and local taxation. The report found…

Don’t Fund Income Tax Stimulus with Corporate Tax Hikes By Burnet Maybank   I was very pleased to read Governor Sanfords recent call for $205 million in income tax reductions.…

An effective Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) in South Carolina would be a constitutional restraint that allows for annual government growth in spending as a function of population growth and…

Another Year, Another Tax Hike Proposal: How A Tobacco Tax Increase Would Negatively Impact South Carolina Tax and spend advocates have long argued that South Carolina needs to increase its…

By: Cotton Lindsay, Ph.D. Click here to view the PDF version of this report.

Written by: Peter J. Ferrara In his State of the Union Address in January, 1999, President Clinton announced that the Justice Dept. is preparing a litigation plan to take the…