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New Jersey tax collections still struggling to reach pre-recession levels

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STEVE HUGHES Staff Writer

New Jersey is one of 23 states still trying to boost its tax revenue levels to pre-recession levels, according to a Pew Charitable Trust report.

At its peak, the fourth quarter of 2007, the state took in $8.7 billion in revenue. It hit a low point at the end of 2011, with only $7.1 billion in revenue that quarter.

As of the end of 2016, the state’s quarterly tax revenue was 10.9 percent lower than the third quarter of 2008, Pew found, as the state took in $7.8 billion.

https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/new-jersey-tax-collections-still-struggling-to-reach-pre-recession/article_0333b0d0-03ee-58c3-b2b7-70f6ed8d8708.html

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Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa’s probe finds ‘culture of bias’ at IRS

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Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa’s probe finds ‘culture of bias’ at IRS

By Bernie Becker – 12/22/14 08:00 PM EST

IRS employees subverted the agency’s nonpartisan mission to further President Obama’s political goals, according to a new House GOP report that will be released Tuesday.

The report, from Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), seeks to undercut the administration’s explanations for the IRS’s improper scrutiny of Tea Party groups, including that the conduct was centered in a Cincinnati office and that confusing regulations played a role.

While the 210-page report finds no evidence that Obama or White House officials ordered the special treatment of Tea Party groups, it says the record points to a “culture of bias against conservative organizations among certain IRS employees.”

That bias, the report says, underscores that the IRS is no longer the neutral tax collector it claims to be, at a time when its employees are tasked with implementing Obama’s signature healthcare law.

“Evidence shows an IRS responsive to the partisan policy objectives of the White House and an IRS leadership that coordinates with political appointees of the Obama administration,” the report says.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/227932-irs-infected-by-culture-of-bias-says-new-gop-report