Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 20-April 24 [EconTax Blog]

Apr 24, 2020 - Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 20-April 24 [EconTax Blog] Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 20-April 24 April 24, 2020 Brian Uhler Bottom Line: Weakness in income tax withholding continued this week, with collections experiencing a slightly steeper decline than they did during the comparable week of the Great Recession.  
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/458

Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 13-April 17 [EconTax Blog]

Apr 17, 2020 - Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 13-April 17 [EconTax Blog] Income Tax Withholding Tracker: April 13-April 17 April 17, 2020 Justin Garosi Bottom Line: Breaking with the pattern of recent weeks, this week ’s withholding was slightly above the comparable week in 2019.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/453

Federal COVID-19 Response Actions Affecting Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities

Apr 16, 2020 - Eligibility will be determined primarily through an individual ’s most recent tax filing (2019 for those who have already filed, 2018 otherwise). Initially, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance stating that people who typically do not file a tax return, including low-income, older adults and individuals with disabilities, will need to file a tax return or register through an online tool to receive the one-time cash assistan ce.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4221

U.S. Retail Sales: March 2020 [EconTax Blog]

Apr 15, 2020 - The drop in overall retail sales will hurt sales tax revenues both for the state and local governments. Due to a state General Fund exemption for fuel, gas stations are a significant source of sales tax revenue for local governments, but not for the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/451

Federal Stimulus Funds for Transit

Apr 15, 2020 - In California, 25 “self-help ” counties have passed local sales tax measures for transportation, a portion of which goes to transit. Also, State Transit Assistance is the state ’s largest funding program for transit and is funded by the sales tax on diesel.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4220

Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 4/6 to 4/10 [EconTax Blog]

Apr 10, 2020 - Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 4/6 to 4/10 [EconTax Blog] Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 4/6 to 4/10 April 10, 2020 Brian Uhler Bottom Line: Withholding has shown significant weakness for three weeks in a row.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/450

State Options to Expand Unemployment Benefits

Apr 9, 2020 - Weekly benefit amounts could be set based on each worker ’s most recent tax return or other proof of income. In many cases, however, ineligible workers have no way to show prior earnings. This likely is true for undocumented workers who work informally and do not file income tax returns using an Individual Tax Identification Number.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4219

State Budget Effects of Recent Federal Actions to Address COVID-19

Apr 5, 2020 - Finally, should benefit payments under the state’s base program exceed payroll tax collections, the legislation allows the state to take an interest-free loan (through the end of 2020) to continue making benefit payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4217

Update on State and School District Reserves

Apr 5, 2020 - Property tax revenue, for example, arrives in two large installments (in December and April). Districts also save money for large, anticipated costs like replacing computers or unexpected costs like repairing a damaged roof.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4216

Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 3/30 to 4/3 [EconTax Blog]

Apr 3, 2020 - Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 3/30 to 4/3 [EconTax Blog] Income Tax Withholding Tracker: 3/30 to 4/3 April 3, 2020 Brian Uhler Bottom Line: Withholding has declined significantly during the last two weeks.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/448