Tagged: Taxes

A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows a big gap between Kentucky’s income levels on who pays taxes. The report says Kentucky’s top 1 percent income bracket pays roughly 5 percent of the state’s income, while the bottom 20 percent pays 9 percent.

Although the tax agreement preventing the fiscal cliff has passed in both the House and Senate, Kentucky congressmen remain divided on the issue. In the Senate, minority leader Mitch McConnell who was heavily involved in the negotiations voted yes while small-government proponent Rand Paul voted no. Kentucky’s representatives in the House were also equally divided. Both Democrats Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth along with Republican Harold Rogers supported the tax increase on the wealthiest of Americans. Republicans Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie and Thomas Massie all voted against the measure.

From NPR: As members of the House and Senate head to Capitol Hill for the final weeks of this Congress, perhaps they will bring the "Spirit of 2010" with them. Despite partisan bickering, the lame-duck session two years ago got big things done. Then again, those lawmakers weren't being asked to avert a fiscal cliff.

From NPR: Economists share their tax dreams, all of which would destroy any politician’s chance of being elected: no mortgage-interest deduction, no employee health benefits deduction and no corporate tax.

Kentucky’s General Fund receipts increased by more than 5 percent in September, thanks in part to a big increase in corporate income tax revenue. Those receipts increased by more than 26 percent. Lottery and individual income tax receipts also rose by more than 8 percent. State Budget Director Mary Lassiter says those increases helped offset losses in property, cigarette, and coal severance tax revenues. She says the coal revenue fell about 19 percent due to a downturn in the state’s mining industry.