Much of 2009-2010 Revenue Measures Involved Enhanced Compliance and Technical Corrections

As shown in the graph below, 35 percent of revenue increases adopted in the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions consisted of compliance, clarification, and other revenue measures that did not increase taxpayer liability compared to previous years, including:

• Actions that generated additional resources simply by improving compliance with existing tax law;
• Technical corrections and clarifications to state tax laws that will prevent steep revenue losses in the current year and in future years; and
• Administrative changes to state liquor stores.

For a complete list of these revenue actions, see this table (Appendix Table A), which is part of a new Budget & Policy Center analysis of revenue measures enacted in Washington State in 2009 and 2010.

Tomorrow's post will highlight another salient finding -- that most of the actual tax increases enacted in 2009 and 2010 were temporary.