Tax Reform in North Carolina

1. Tax Reform in North Carolina Karl Smith

2. Tax Reform in North Carolina The Current Tax System The Growing Problem Alternatives and Concerns

3. The Current Tax System • Levels and Portfolio Compared to Other States • Issue 1: Volatility • Issue 2: Sufficiency • Issue 3: Equity • Consumption Tax vs. Current Sales Tax

4. State and Local Burden

5. Tax Portfolio

6. Sales Tax Base Is Declining • Increasing Interstate Sales • Increasing Consumption of Services • Sales Tax Base is Becoming More Volatile • Sales Tax Base is Becoming More Regressive

7. Consumption Shifting to Services

8. Goods Consumption Increasingly Volatile

9. Issue 1: Volatility • Shift in Consumption Makes Sales Tax More Volatile • NC High Income Tax Reliance Leads to More Volatility • Household Income Less Stable than Household Expenditures • Deductions and Multiple Rates Make Income Tax Less Stable than Household Income

10. Issue 1: Volatility

11. Issue 1: Volatility

12. Issue 1: Volatility

13. Issue 2: Sufficiency Total Revenues are Lagging Household Income Growth Demands on the State are Increasing

14. Issue 2: Sufficiency

15. Issue 2: Sufficiency - Demographics

16. Issue 2: Sufficiency

17. Issue 3: Equity • Our Current Sales Tax is Levied on Primarily on Tangible Goods • Bias Against Retailers and Manufacturers • Tangible Goods Are a Larger Portion of Consumption for Poorer Households

18. RegressivityBudget & Tax Center Data

19. Consumption Tax in Theory • The sales tax in principle is a tax on consumption • Idealized features of a consumption tax • Taxes what citizens take out • Smoother than Income • Grows with the economy • Tracks ability to pay

20. Sales Tax Base Less Representation of Consumption • Deadweight loss • When the consideration of taxes causes less efficient economic choices. • Ex. Buying an item on Ebay because shipping is less than tax • Ex. Waiting for a tax holiday when an item is needed today • Ex. Driving just across state lines to pay cheaper tax

21. Sales Tax Base Less Representation of Consumption • As the tax rate increases deadweight loss increases exponentially • Greater numbers of inefficient choices are made • Greater severity of inefficiency • Ex. More people will drive further to avoid an 9% tax than a 1%. • More people driving times further average distance drove imply exponential increase in inefficiency

22. The Growing Problem • Convergence • Poverty • Skill Premium

23. Globalization and Convergence

24. Live By Convergence – Die by Convergence • The very same economic forces have brought hardship to NC • Container Ship Revolution • Lower Global Instability • Free Trade • Manufacturing begins to move to even lower priced areas

25. Low Income

26. Skill Premium

27. Labor Share

28. Alternatives and Concerns • Expansion of the Sales Tax Base • Consumption Tax from Income Tax • Flat Tax

29. Alternative: Sales Tax Base Expansion • Expansion of the Sales Tax Base • Proposed By Recent Fiscal Modernization Committee • Interest Around the Country • Concerns Include • How Far – How Fast • Should Medical Services be taxed • Should Business to Business be taxed • Difficulty in Other States

30. Alternative: Consumption Tax From Income Tax • Consumption Tax from Income Collections • Tighter Compliance • Possibility for Redistributing Tax Burden • Concerns Include • Possibility for Redistributing Tax Burden • Matching With IRS

31. Alternative: Flat Tax • Flat Tax • Simple • Low Rates • Concerns Include • Contentious • No possibility for Progressivity in the Tax Code

32. Summary • The Current Tax System • Sales Tax is less representative of consumption leading to a volatile, insufficient revenue source that leans on goods consumption • The Growing Problem • Difficult Time ahead for Low Skilled Labor and High Demand for State Services • Alternatives and Concerns • Reform is Difficult but No Reform Will Be More Difficult

33. Questions and Comments

34. Retail Sales

35. North Carolina Relative to US: Manufacturing Intensity

36. Manufacturing: Employment