Daily Deductionfrom the Tax Policy CenterDeath to the Minnesota estate tax? Minnesota House Republic...

1. On the Midwest and Methodology
Daily Deduction
from the Tax Policy Center
Death to the Minnesota estate tax? Minnesota House Republicans want the state's estate tax to
affect fewer bequests, sooner. Right now, if a decedent's is worth $1.4 million or more, the estate tax
pays at a rate starting at 9 percent and rising to 16 percent. Fewer than 3 percent of Minnesota
estates pay, and the threshold is due to rise to $2 million in 2018. But the House would raise the
exemption to $2 million this year and $5 million in 2018. At that point, the few remaining taxable
estates would be taxed at a flat 16 percent rate.
North Dakota lawmakers approve an oil tax change. Oil drillers will avoid the state's 6.5 percent
extraction tax if for the fifth consecutive month the average price of oil drops below $55.09 a barrel.
That's likely to happen by June 1, and would cost the state $863 million in lost revenue through April
2016. To avoid this, GOP lawmakers proposed to cut the extraction tax rate to 5 percent but ditch
the $55.09 price trigger. A separate 5 percent production tax on oil would remain. State budget
analysts estimate the proposal would add $35 million in revenue over the next two years.
Tax cuts mean public education cuts in Kansas, and maybe, inequality. The Boston Globe traces GOP
Governor Sam Brownback's tax cuts and their impact on public school funding. Kansas faces a
significant budget shortfall, and to close the gap, hundreds of millions of dollars are being cut from
school districts' budgets. State contributions to schools have been cut, and the state's equalization
formula has been replaced with fixed and largely frozen payments for the next two years. The cuts
have hit poorer school districts especially hard.

2. Do you feel freer today? Or perhaps, bemused? Tax Freedom Day was Friday, April 24, according to
the Tax Foundation: It's the day when "the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its
total tax bill for the year." To get to that amount, the Tax Foundation calculates an average tax rate
by measuring tax revenues as a share of the economy. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
notes that in the US, "only upper-income households (the top 20 percent) pay tax at rates that are
equal to or above revenues as a share of the economy." The rest of us were free some time ago.
Back on the Hill... Tax Analysts reports that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy expects the
House and Senate to consider the conference report on the fiscal 2016 budget resolution this week.
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http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/2015/04/27/on-the-midwest-and-methodology/