Opinion
Judge’s error offers opportunity for lesson about taxes
A judge's "findings of fact" fall short of the mark when it comes to N.C. income tax rates.
Opinion
High-profile politician’s proposal shines light on tax-rate debate
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deserves a big “Thank you.” In calling for top marginal tax rates of 70 percent, the freshman U.S. representative from New York is attracting attention to often-neglected issues linked to federal tax policy. To be clear, this column is not endorsing Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal. A near doubling of the current top tax rate would...
Opinion
Are taxes fair in North Carolina?
It is silly to talk about tax fairness in North Carolina while ignoring federal taxes, which represent most of our tax burden and fund not just the federal budget but also a good chunk of the state budget.
Opinion
Tax cut numbers need proper context
If a "millionaire" gets a $2,500 tax break, compared to $150 for a bank teller, that doesn't make the system unfair.
Opinion
Message to flat-tax critics: Higher-income earners already pay more
If you want those with the largest incomes to pay substantially more in taxes, the current system works well.
Opinion
Key argument against constitutional amendment assumes large future tax hikes
If there’s a universe in which lowering the cap on North Carolina’s income tax rate amounts to a “tax cut only for the wealthy,” our universe’s rules of mathematics — and language — must not apply. In this universe, a proposed constitutional amendment lowering the maximum state income tax rate from 10 percent to 7...
Opinion
Don’t discount standard deduction’s impact
The federal tax plan includes a broad-based break that disproportionately helps those with lower incomes.
Opinion
What does tax fairness mean?
The reason people tend to respond favorably to proportionality as a standard for tax fairness is that it comports with their intuitions and experience.
Opinion
Probing progressive tax nostalgia
Ever since North Carolina enacted a major tax reform package in 2013, left-of-center politicians and pundits have lamented the disappearance of a progressive income tax. The reason for their disappointment is unclear. That disappointment is especially perplexing if their goal is to ensure that taxpayers with higher incomes pay larger percentages of their income in...
Opinion
Placing tax break claims in context
A top lawmaker's tweet offers an incomplete picture about personal income tax changes.
Opinion
Do million-dollar earners really get a tax break 85 times as large as working-class families?
Lowering the state income tax rate and increasing the standard deduction do not produce the effect Gov. Roy Cooper claims.
Opinion
Child tax changes would boost working, middle-class families
Note: This column was updated at 3:40 p.m. Children represent more than just an investment. But tax systems usually recognize that parents with kids are investing in the future. And proposed changes in North Carolina’s income tax system would ensure that working-class and middle-class families free more money from the tax man because of that...
