Policy Report

Exorcising Excise Taxes: Bringing Transparency to Hidden Taxes

by Sarah Curry
posted on in Government Reform, Law & Regulation, Spending & Taxes
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•  The largest excise tax collection in North Carolina is on fuel, amounting to $1.5 billion annually.
•  North Carolina excise taxes generated $2.4 billion in revenue in FY2011, amounting to 13 percent of total tax revenue collected.
•  Historically, all excise tax increases in North Carolina have been coupled with a recessions or budget shortfalls.
•  Excises are typically used to manipulate choices freely made by taxpayers.

Spotlight 438 – Exorcizing Excise Taxes: Bringing Transparency to Hidden Taxes

Sarah Curry is Director of Fiscal Policy Studies at the John Locke Foundation. Previously, she worked for the North Carolina State Senate as a research assistant for the chairs of the Senate Agricultural Committee and headed the research efforts for… ...

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We are North Carolina’s Most Trusted and Influential Source of Common Sense. The John Locke Foundation was created in 1990 as an independent, nonprofit think tank that would work “for truth, for freedom, and for the future of North Carolina.” The Foundation is named for John Locke (1632-1704), an English philosopher whose writings inspired Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders.

The John Locke Foundation is a 501(c)(3) research institute and is funded solely from voluntary contributions from individuals, corporations, and charitable foundations.