Is 2013 the Year of State Tax Reform?

While Connecticut’s biennial budget made only a handful of state tax changes, the National Conference of State Legislatures reports that 31 states are considering significant tax reform measures in 2013 and three states – Alaska, New Mexico, and Virginia – have already enacted them.

• Alaska lowered its oil and gas production taxes.
• New Mexico is reducing its corporate income tax rate over five years and moving to combined reporting requirements and a single sales factor apportionment formula for certain corporations.
• Virginia adopted wide-ranging changes to its sales tax, gas tax, and some local taxes and fees to address state transportation funding.

The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy has been monitoring these efforts and others and has compiled a list of proposals on its website.  It also identified the key trends in the 2013 state tax policy debates.