by Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research, John Locke Foundation If Louisiana wants to look for inspiration for tax reform, they could do no better than North Carolina. Aggressive, yet sensible, tax cuts paired with fiscal restraint is what made North Carolina “The national model for conservative tax reform,” according to Patrick Gleason, vice...

When you head to the store to load up on supplies for tailgating this weekend, you will probably find some of your party necessities cost more than last year.

Remarkably, the report ranks Louisiana 30 spots lower than it did last year. This represents the largest decline of any state in the nation.

All in all, Americans will spend more on taxes than they will on food, housing and clothing combined.

But raising the state sales tax without reducing other taxes will just knock the state of its top-five states for taxes and distance itself from the leaders in the country.

It is widely expected that tax reform will be the Jindal administration’s primary goal in the 2013 Louisiana legislative session. In a recent Advocate report, Tim Barfield from the Department of Revenue addressed the need for reform, pointing out that it is the “sticker price” and not the actual tax burden that is hampering “Louisiana's efforts to attract businesses.”

A recent Tax Foundation study contends that the unemployment insurance system is in need of an overhaul, as the current system “[exacerbates] negative job growth”.

Despite having the second lowest statewide sales tax rate in the U.S., a new study shows that Louisiana's combined state and local sales taxes are third highest in the nation, at 8.84 percent.

Fergus Hodgson provides an overview of tax policy changes within the current legislative session.

An expansion of state taxing powers - HB 641 - better known as the Amazon tax, passed the House today with a vote of 78 to 14.