More US States Weigh Gasoline Taxes

Tight state budgets and jammed roadways this year are prompting some U.S. state governments to make one of the most politically unpopular moves imaginable: raising gasoline taxes.

Because they hit everyone, gas taxes are widely disliked and rarely increased. But after decades of underinvestment in roads, bridges and public transport, states face heavy infrastructure costs and lack the money to handle them.

Wyoming was the first to make the leap this year, raising its tax to 24 cents per gallon from 14 cents on Feb. 15. It was the first increase in the state's gasoline tax in 15 years.

Governors in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vermont have proposed raising fuel taxes, and the New Hampshire legislature will hold a hearing on Thursday on a bill that would phase in a 15-cent-per-gallon increase. Read more >>

A look at tax breaks that expired this year

While much of Washington is consumed by the debate over tax cuts scheduled to expire next year, a big package of tax breaks already expired this year. Among the biggest, along with the cost to retroactively extend each one for 2012 and 2013:
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Individual tax breaks

— Relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax. The tax is designed to ensure that wealthy people can't use tax breaks to avoid paying any federal taxes. However, it was never indexed for inflation, so Congress routinely adjusts it to keep it from imposing hefty tax increases on millions of middle-income families. Cost: $132 billion.

— State and local sales tax deduction. Taxpayers can take this itemized deduction instead of deducting state and local income taxes. It is geared for people who live in states without state income taxes: Alaska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Florida, South Dakota, Washington, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming. Cost: $4.4 billion.

— A deduction of up to $4,000 for qualified higher education expenses: Cost: $4.2 billion.

— A tax credit for improvements to make homes more energy efficient. Cost: $2.4 billion. Read more >>

U.S. drought: Half of all counties disaster areas

Nearly 220 counties in a dozen drought-stricken states were added Wednesday to the U.S. government's list of natural disaster areas as the nation's agriculture chief unveiled new help for frustrated, cash-strapped farmers and ranchers grappling with extreme dryness and heat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's addition of the 218 counties means that more than half of all U.S. counties - 1,584 in 32 states - have been designated primary disaster areas this growing season, the vast majority of them mired in a drought that's considered the worst in decades.

Counties in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming were included in Wednesday's announcement. The USDA uses the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor to help decide which counties to deem disaster areas, which makes farmers and ranchers eligible for federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans. Read more >>