For immediate release

printable version

WASHINGTON STATE
WINS FTA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH

(Washington, D. C., April 11, 2014) The Federation of Tax Administrators announced today that the judges named the Washington Department of Revenue as the winner of the 2014 FTA Award for Outstanding Research and Analysis.

Washington's entry was for its "Tax Alternatives Model." Available to the public on the Department's website, the model allows a user to manipulate the state's existing tax structure and quickly understand the revenue and distributional implications of any number of new scenarios. The model even includes an option for an income tax, and the Department is planning to add a Value Added Tax option (Neither tax is currently imposed in the state).

The judges noted how the model gives everyone (legislators, governors, private individuals) access to the same information. "It gives everyone a simulation model," one said. It is a robust model with many variables. They also noted, that it would be great to have something similar at the federal level to improve the tax policy debate.

Presentation of the awards will take place during the FTA Annual Meeting, June 8-11 in St. Petersburg, FL. The winners have also been invited to make a presentation at the annual FTA Revenue Estimating & Tax Research Conference, September 27 - October 1, 2014 in San Antonio, TX.

The entries were judged by an independent panel consisting of Jane Gravelle, Congressional Research Services; Nicholas Johnson, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and Kim Reubin, Tax Policy Center.

The Federation of Tax Administrators is a nonprofit organization composed of taxation and revenue departments of the fifty states, District of Columbia, New York City and Philadelphia. Its mission is to improve the standards and methods of tax administration
 

 ####