What are the Tax Options in Montana?
What is Montana Spending its Money On?
Looking at Montana’s Proposed Budget for 2016-17
Deciphering Montana’s State Special Revenue and General Fund
Digging Into the Components of Montana's General Fund
Looking at Montana’s Federal Funding for 2015-2017
Exploring Montana’s Projected Statistics for 2015-2018
Looking at Vehicle Taxes in Montana for 2015-2017
Infrastructure Spending vs. Bonding in Montana
Digging Into the City of Missoula’s Budget
Comparing Missoula County with Petroleum County
Corporate Income Taxes in Montana
I’m not sure, but while you’re thinking about it, here’s a graph to look at that has a different breakdown. As you can see, corporate taxes have gone up mightily since 2002.
Individual Income Taxes in Montana
For the life of me, I can’t understand why we allow Tea Party Republicans to continue cutting taxes, creating huge and preventable problems down the road. We know the global situation is changing in regards to war, and this will affect commodity prices and everything else that Montana relies upon. Personally, I don’t feel as though we’ll come out good when this happens, not this time. A federal debt of $18 trillion assures this.
Capital Gains Taxes in Montana
This is what the Montana Budget & Policy Center had to say about it in March 2013:
In 2003, the Montana Legislature passed a capital gains tax credit that benefits a very narrow portion of our population at the great expense of our collective ability to adequately invest in public programs, from education to health care. Currently, Montana is one of just nine states offering a significant tax break for capital gains income. Since 2003, this tax break has proven to be unaffordable, unfair to working-class Montanans, and has not helped the economy. In fact, the tax credit costs the state tens of millions of dollars in state revenue each year. This reduction in revenue jeopardizes our collective ability to invest in schools, families, and communities all across this state. It’s time to take a hard look at the usefulness of this costly tax break that predominantly benefits the wealthiest Montanans.
Our past political leaders have sold our future in Montana, and these government and nonprofit budget reports make that clear. An overwhelmingly Baby Boomer legislature eliminated the gains of their parents and pissed away the hopes of their kids. And for what? So some rich guy on Flathead Lake can make a few more bucks when he sells that vacation home?
What have we become in Montana? I shake my head at us.
Other Detrimental Tax Cuts in Montana
We used to get 5.4% from rents and royalties but now we’re giving a tax credit of 1.4%. Just like capital gains, instead of getting money we’re now giving money. This makes no long-term sense. I pay taxes on royalties on my book sales. It’s income, isn’t it? Tax it.
We used to tax farm income at 5% but now we don’t tax it at all. Why is that? Isn’t that money those farmers earned? And don’t we have two certainties for people in America – death and taxes? Tax that income.
When did people in Montana become so stupid? Was it when we decided our fat asses were better for us in front of that TV, watching 20 minutes of commercials each hour? We’re a joke!
But when you’re a joke it’s a lot easier for the rightwing nutjobs to come in and tear things apart. If the state has no money, the state gets desperate. That’s what Koch outfits like, and they’re already here. We see this with carpetbagger Jennifer Fielder and her attempt to sell off our federal lands. We’ll see a lot more in the years to come, things we can’t even imagine yet (how about tolls on the highway again? Yeah, it’s been awhile since the territorial days).
State inflation rates are also going up so it’s just going to get harder and harder for people living in poverty in Montana, and that’s a lot of people. They’re angry right now, and that anger needs to be channeled against those fools in the legislature.
They did this to us, don’t you ever forget it.