Don't Mess With Taxes

My polling place only had Spanish "¡Yo Voté! / I voted" stickers. But the language doesn't matter. The act of voting, this year and in the future, does. (Photo by Kay Bell)

The 2022 midterm elections have come and gone. As the old saying goes, it's all over but the shouting or crying or both.

In addition to selecting individuals to lead our local, state, and federal governments, many of us were asked to decide on ballot issues.

Overall, according to Ballotpedia, voters in 37 states and the District of Columbia decided Nov. 8 on 132 statewide ballot measures. Since this is a tax blog, those revenue results are the focus of this weekend's Saturday Shout Outs.

But first, some quick highlights.

California and Massachusetts voters' decisions on wealth tax questions were are far apart as their literal physical distance from each other. Golden Staters said no to an added 1.75 percent personal income tax on wages exceeding $2 million. Bay Staters agreed to a constitutional amendment establishing an additional 4 percent state income tax on annual taxable income of more than $1 million, adjusted annually for inflation.

Coloradoans overwhelmingly agreed to a ballot proposal that will reduce the state's flat income tax rate from 4.55 percent to 4.40 percent.

Voters in the nation's capital said yest to a minimum wage increase for Washington, D.C., workers who get tips as part of their compensation.

But wait, there's more. There were ballot box decisions on legalizing and taxing marijuana for recreational use, sports betting, and property tax exemptions.

The following blog posts and articles have more details on the recent tax-related propositions and why they passed or didn't.

• Lessons From the 2022 State Ballot Measures from the Tax Policy Center's Tax Vox blog

• Post-Election Analysis: Expected Red Wave Turns Blue from MultiState Insider 

• State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch on Election Day 2022 (updated with results) from the Tax Foundation 

• Results for Tax-Related Questions on State Ballots from Kiplinger 

• Taxes Up. Taxes Down. Here's What States Voted On in the Midterms from Barron's   

If you voted, thank you. Even if the results weren't what you wanted (and I know all about that being in heavily gerrymandered Texas!) it's still important that we all make our wishes known about how our government officials lead (or don't; again, Texas).

You also might find these items of interest:

• Links to your state tax department
• 10 states have their own child tax credits
• 18 states sending residents tax refunds/rebates
• Welcome federal student debt relief could create some state tax issues

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