state taxes

A handful of cash-strapped states are getting aggressive about collecting every tax owed -- hiring more collectors, hounding scofflaws and exploiting corners of their tax laws that haven't been enforced in years -- all to avoid doing one painful thing: officially raising taxes.

Several states are currently weighing plans to phase out state income tax; the aftermath of similar policies in other states suggests that these initiatives could carry a very high price for some of the country's poorest citizens.

The get tackled, fouled, body-checked and more to make their money. And then, pro athletes get beat up again by the tax men.

True, 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. But, as a recent study points out, when all the other taxes we pay are factored in, the poor often pay a far greater percentage of their income in taxes than the rich.

As states grapple with huge budget deficits, some of them are eliminating sales taxes for back-to-school shoppers. But are sales tax holidays really a good value for consumers? Experts discuss the true costs of the programs and some of the alternatives.

Officials for some large U.S. cities are claiming that online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline are collecting hotel occupancy taxes from consumers, but not forwarding the full amount to governments. If the OTAs are forced to pass that tax money on, what will it do to their profits?

If you feel like the cost of everything is more expensive at the register these days, it's not your imagination. Even when the cost of goods and services has remained relatively flat, the associated sales and use taxes have continued to climb. Data released recently from Vertex, a privately-held...

Wall Street and the media have been fixated with the debt crises in countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland. But we're not hearing nearly enough about a much bigger economy closer to home that's on the brink of disaster. We're talking about California -- the eighth largest economy in the...

The majority of jobs in the U.S. are created by small business, which are still reluctant to hire new workers. And while some of their reasons for holding back may mirror those of big businesses, local conditions like state taxes may loom larger in their decisions.

If stocks are rising, that should mean the economy is improving. Yet even though the S&P 500 has soared 80% from its March 2009 lows, 70% of Americans don't believe the recession is over. Which side has a firmer grasp of reality?