Category: Taxes
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Why Harvard and the UDC Should Keep Their Tax Exemptions
by Derrick Max Every taxpayer dollar sent to any university or private entity should be closely scrutinized. In the case of the billions sent to Harvard University and other elite schools, the probe being imposed by the Trump administration is long overdue. The research grants which make up the majority of Harvard’s non-medical federal funding,…
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More Fairfax Tax Hikes Coming
by Arthur Purves For the past 25 years, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has been increasing real estate taxes three times faster than household income. That trend continues this year. Residential assessments increased by an average 6.2% this year, which means that unless the supervisors adopt a reduced property tax rate, the average homeowner’s…
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New Tariffs Will Damage Virginia’s Economy
By Derrick Max, No one can say we weren’t warned. During his debate with then Vice President Kamala Harris, President Donald Trump clearly stated, “other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world, and the tariff will be substantial…” Promises made, promises kept. Unfortunately.…
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Buckle Up, Virginia Beach. City Hall Mid-Wits Are Coming For Your Money.
by Kerry Dougherty I tossed former Virginia Beach Councilman, John Moss, a multiple choice question when I talked to him yesterday: Is the proposed Virginia Beach budget better, worse or about the same as what we’ve come to expect from the fools at City Hall? “Worse,” he replied. “I’d say much worse. “ Due to…
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Tax on Money Almost Revived, But Got One Year Reprieve
In this tumultuous market environment, alternative investments are proving popular. But the 2025 Virginia General Assembly came very close to foolishly returning the sales tax on some of the most popular: physical gold and silver and legal tender coins. Ending this tax on money ten years ago was the subject of one of my earliest…
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Two Energy Updates: RGGI and an Offshore Wind Reversal
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative held its latest auction for carbon emission allowances last week and produced a price of $19.76 per ton. Because Virginia is no longer a participant, that probably saved electric utility customers another $100 million. The March 2025 price, in reality a tax on the use of hydrocarbon fuels, was lower…
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Henrico Proposes Tax Relief
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Maybe Henrico County officials read my recent lament in Bacon’s Rebellion concerning the significant increase in my house’s assessed value. In any event, the county manager’s office announced this week that it was proposing to the Board of Supervisors a reduction of 2 cents in the real estate tax rate. Now many…
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Why Did Tax Bill Die? It’s a Governor’s Bill!
By Steve Haner Virginia will remain out of step with the rest of the United States on how it taxes service-providing businesses after General Assembly Democrats voted in lockstep to once again kill a logical income tax reform. There was absolutely no partisan angle to the policy debate, yet party line votes killed it.…
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$633 Tax Hike Results if Senate Dems Balk on Standard Deduction
By Steve Haner In the past few years, under governors of both parties, Virginia has expanded its standard deduction for income taxpayers from $6,000 for a couple in 2018 to $17,000 today saving those taxpayers $633 per year. When they produce their budget bill on Sunday, the Democrats who hold the majority in the Virginia Senate…
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Tax-Free Tips Bill Fails First Vote, Standard Deduction May Grow
By Steve Haner If it were my job to pass the bill to eliminate income tax on tips, my first move would be to fill the room where a committee was voting with men and women who depend on tips and who would benefit from the bill. I’d have the legislators considering a no vote…
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No Psychic Needed To Predict Tax Issue Gridlock
By Steve Haner The largest item among Governor Glenn Youngkin’s many proposed changes to the Virginia state budget is his idea to set aside $1.1 billion from last year’s surplus revenue to cover three years of future car tax rebates. You don’t need to call the California Psychics who run ads on Richmond’s conservative radio…
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Hernandez Proposes Florida-Here-We-Come Bill
by Hans Bader Delegate Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk, has introduced legislation to raise state income taxes on people making over $1 million per year. Their marginal tax rate would rise from 5.75% to 10%, under HB 2333. This tax increase won’t become law this year, but it might become law under a future Democratic governor. Virginia…
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Democrats Demand Massive Tax Hike on Virginians
Meanwhile, Republicans plan to return a $1.2 billion surplus back to taxpayers. by Victoria Manning Virginia Democrats are wasting no time proposing a huge tax increase on Virginians by slapping a 5 percent tax on virtually every service in the commonwealth—despite the state’s budget surplus. The massive increase, proposed by longtime Democrat Vivian Watts, would…
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Gov. Youngkin’s Priorities Shared by Jefferson Institute
By Derrick Max Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) presented his budget amendments to the the legislature’s money committees yesterday. The speech was filled with budget amendments to reduce taxes and fund new or existing programs. These tax cuts and additional spending proposals were made possible by Secretary of Finance Stephen E. Cummings’ report that the Commonwealth was…
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A Nonsensical Proposal
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Governor Youngkin has taken on the car tax again, sorta. Rather than attack it directly, he proposes a Rube Goldberg process for some Virginians to get some relief from the car tax. Here is how it would work: Individual taxpayers with a federal AGI of $50,000 or less would get a refundable…