By Joseph Johns and Jeremy Horpedahl The Arkansas legislature may be meeting in the near future to consider changes to the income tax that individuals, families, and small businesses pay. So far we are aware of two potential plans to lower taxes, and more could be proposed at a special session this fall. The plans […]
Horpedahl To Speak at Conway Noon Lions Club
By Caleb Taylor How has the pandemic affected the local economy? ACRE Scholar and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl will discuss the latest economic data on Conway and Faulkner County as an invited guest speaker of the Conway Noon Lions Club at the Hole In the Wall Cafe at noon on Tuesday, […]
ACRE Experts Featured in “Believe in Arkansas”
By Caleb Taylor Three ACRE experts recently appeared in “Believe in Arkansas” segments hosted by Americans for Prosperity. UCA Assistant Professor of Economics and ACRE Scholar Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl discussed state government spending and Arkansas’s tax rates on March 25th. For more on Horpedahl’s recent research and testimony on sales taxes in Arkansas, check out […]
Special Elections: How Arkansas’s Sales Taxes Got So High
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas legislators will make another attempt to rein in local special elections that have contributed to Arkansas having the third highest state and local sales tax rate in the nation at 9.51%. House Bill 1368 by State Rep. David Ray R-District 40 would limit special elections to primary and general election dates […]
Permanent 0.5% Sales Tax on Ballot
By Caleb Taylor Should Arkansas approve a permanent 0.5 percent sales tax for road funding in November? UCA Assistant Professor of Economics and ACRE Scholar Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl gave voters a few important points to consider in “Paying for roads,” in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on September 25. The 0.5 percent sales tax on the ballot […]
Severance Taxes Too Volatile
By Macy Scheck Between November 5, 2019 and January 21, 2020, natural gas prices dropped 33.6%. This dramatic price decline occurred even before March, when the coronavirus began to have a large impact on U.S. economic activity. This price volatility causes fluctuations in the revenue the state receives from its taxes on natural gas sales, […]
ACRE Scholar Quoted on State Tax Code Changes
By Aaron Newell Comprehensive reforms – not special tax incentives – are key to making Arkansas a more economically competitive state says Jeremy Horpedahl, ACRE Scholar and UCA Assistant Professor of Economics, who recently discussed Act 822 with Paul Williams at Law360. This act, sponsored by Sen Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) and signed by the […]
Arkansas’s Tax Code Gets an Update
By Caleb Taylor What were the major tax reforms passed by Arkansas legislators during the 2019 session? ACRE Scholar and UCA Assistant Professor of Economics Jeremy Horpedahl and the Tax Foundation’s Vice President of Federal and Special Projects Nicole Kaeding outlined the recent “series of tax reforms to improve the competitiveness of the state’s tax […]
Arkansas Legislators’ Tax Plan for 2019: Cut Income Tax to 5.9%
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas Legislative Tax Reform and Relief Task Force members voted Wednesday, December 12th to prioritize a plan that includes a cut to the top individual income tax rate from 6.9 to 5.9 percent. The Task Force approved a number of other changes at previous meetings (such as to the corporate income and […]
How fit is Arkansas’s fiscal health?
By. Caleb Taylor Where do Arkansas’s finances rank nationally? Olivia Gonzalez, a research associate for the State and Local Policy Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, spoke Thursday, November 29th about Arkansas’s fiscal health and ranking in the COB Auditorium. According to the Mercatus Center’s latest state fiscal rankings, Arkansas ranks 25th […]