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Income tax elimination is top of the political agenda in Mississippi, with two different proposals under consideration; one from the House and the other, the Senate.
Except that is not entirely true. In reality there is only one proposal to eliminate the state income tax: the House plan – also known as the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act.
The House plan would ensure that no one earning less than $40,000 a year would pay any state income tax at all. Critically, the plan would see future growth in state tax revenue used to eliminate all state income tax over a period of years.
The House plan gives back to taxpayers much of the billion dollar surplus in the state budget.
The Senate plan, however, leaves politicians free to spend that money instead.
The Senate talks about eliminating the 4 percent tax rate. In reality, so few pay much tax at that rate anyhow, it would mean that the average Mississippi worker was only about $200 a year better off. That would not be enough to by a Subway sandwich each week.
The Senate plan cannot credibly be called a tax elimination plan. I am not certain that it does much to reduce the amount of tax people pay at all.
Taking into account all of the changes proposed, including changes to the sales tax rate, the House plan would leave almost every Mississippian, under pretty much every scenario, better off. It is difficult to see how anyone would be made significantly better off under the Senate plan.
Worse, I fear that the tax plan that the Senate has proposed risks undermining the credibility of those calling for tax breaks altogether.
We are all familiar with politicians who run campaigns against “the swamp” but then disappear to DC to enjoy lunch with lobbyists. How do you imagine voters would react when they discover that the car tag tax reduction they are being sold as part of the Senate plan will only reduce their car tag by $5?
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
