Policy Matters Ohio
04/15/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/15/2024 13:08
State tax system can work for all Ohioans
State tax system can work for all Ohioans
Posted April 15, 2024 in Press Releases
Advocates propose four policies to fix the tax code
State legislators have tax policy options that would help Ohio families, workers, property owners, renters, and others with low or moderate incomes, according to a new brief from Policy Matters Ohio Tax Policy Researcher Bailey Williams. Policy Matters, Children's Defense Fund-Ohio, and Northern Ohioans for Budget Legislation Equality (NOBLE) marked Tax Day with a press event to promote four proven strategies for reshaping the state tax system to better serve Ohioans regardless of income, race, location, or status.
The research and advocacy organizations were joined by Patrick Russell, a Zanesville father of three, who shared how he and his wife weather health challenges, education debt and barriers to work by making do with less - and how refundable tax credits like the ones described would help them afford the basics and stay afloat. The COVID-era expansion of the federal "Child Tax Credit helped pay for living expenses, it helped pay for food, it helped pay for everything," Russell said. "It really did make a difference."
Policy Matters Research Director Zach Schiller described a mechanism that could limit the share of a household's income spent on property taxes - for both owners and renters. "A property tax circuit breaker works like an electrical circuit breaker," Schiller said. "Beyond a certain limit set by the state, the circuit breaker kicks in, and the state covers the tax that remains, so schools, libraries and other public services don't lose vital revenue."
Children's Defense Fund's Matthew Tippit described the need for a fully refundable child tax credit. "We live in a state where 20% of children are living in poverty," Tippett said. "That is unacceptable…We could be doing more." The Thriving Families Tax Credit "allows families the flexibility to spend it on what their children need," Tippit said.
NOBLE's Larry Bresler explained refundable tax credits like the federal EITC: "If the credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed, the taxpayer can receive the remaining balance as a refund." Bresler noted that Ohio's EITC is not refundable, saying, "If we had a refundable tax credit in Ohio…an estimated 1,750,000 people, including 670,000 children would benefit."
Policy Matters' Bailey Williams described a sales tax credit that would be more targeted than the recently expanded sales tax holiday, a measure that, he noted, "is panned by both liberal and conservative groups as overly broad. It doesn't do enough for those who need it," Williams said. A targeted sales tax would "offset the regressive nature of the sales tax by targeting relief to those who really need it."
A video of the event is available from Zoom, with the passcode K8*Lh6R^