The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute Releases Its First Report in New Series - Regular Person's Guide to Maryland's Tax System

BALTIMORE, June 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute today released its first report in the Regular Person's Guide to Maryland's Tax System series. The series will give the facts about state taxes: What is taxed? How much? Who pays? Who benefits? And what are the big policy issues?  The report is available at www.marylandpolicy.org. (Direct link).

The first report in the series provides a general overview of Maryland's tax system.  One of the interesting components of this overview is that it dissects the existing reports that attempt to rank Maryland's tax system.  Many organizations rank, grade or score states based on their tax systems. Maryland's ranking ranges from 6th highest to 40th highest tax state. "Maryland's taxes are very competitive with other states if you consider their share of peoples' incomes," says Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.  "Maryland's tax system in less 'regressive' than the typical state – meaning low-income people may pay a bit less here while higher-income households may pay a bit more."

The remaining sections of this guide will present information on the largest components of Maryland's state and local tax system.  The system has built up over the decades, addressing emerging needs and balancing different objectives.  Today, Maryland's tax system is struggling to provide adequate resources to meet the people's needs for education, healthcare, public safety and other services. Future releases over the course of the year will cover income taxes, business taxes and sales taxes, among other topics.

The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute is a nonpartisan research organization that provides timely, accurate and accessible analysis of state budget and tax issues.  In addition to general budget and tax research and analysis, the Institute examines issues affecting low-income Marylanders and other vulnerable populations and the important community programs that serve them. The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute is funded from foundation grants, and individual donations.  The Institute is a project of Maryland Nonprofits® and a part of the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative (www.statefiscal.org) and the Economic Analysis and Research Network, both of which are national networks of policy research organizations.

SOURCE Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute