South By North Strategies, Ltd.

The 2011 edition of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy’s Guide To Fair State and Local Taxes provides a straightforward introduction to the workings of state and local tax systems. Moreover, it explains why tax fairness is a goal to which state and local systems should aspire.

Fair taxes also help government in its relations with its citizens. The public accepts taxes because it values the services that government provides. When a tax system is unfair, however, there is a limit to the taxes the public will tolerate. It’s one thing to ask people to pay taxes. It is another to ask them to pay more because others aren’t paying their fair share. When states choose to balance their budgets by hiking taxes on the low- and middle-income families who are hit hardest by the current tax system, while giving the best-off families a free pass, this obvious unfairness undermines public support for revenue-raising tax reforms even when they are most desperately needed.