Position Paper - Taxation

[AZLD4Candidate]

I am running for Arizona House in LD4 to defeat Joel John and join Charlene Fernandez. This is my position paper on tax law. I have spoken to ten Enrolled Agent Tax Accountants (licensed by the IRS) and three CPAs. All say the numbers are solid.

I would like Arizonan's input on this.

Arizona needs jobs. The State should do everything possible to attract these much-needed jobs. Businesses will re-locate to places that have a low business tax rate and an educated workforce that can do the jobs. I call for the repeal of all business taxes in the State of Arizona, including the transaction privilege tax. This would make Arizona’s business tax climate the most attractive in the country. Businesses will relocate to Arizona, bringing the jobs with them. People go where jobs are.

For individuals, I will work to repeal the slew of nuisance taxes imposed on them in Arizona. Arizona should not levy on its residents any tax that isn’t deductible on a federal income tax return. The effect of this would be to increase the federal itemized deductions that can be claimed by Arizonans by an estimated $1B a year, increase the amount of federal income tax refunds given to Arizonans each year by the IRS by at least $100M at the lowest federal tax rate.

In order to balance off the loss of revenue due to the revocation of business taxes, the state would surcharge the individual rate by 15%, making the top Arizona income tax rate 3.5%. This would put Arizona into a competitive advantage with other states.

[Mosby]

1. I dont see how eliminated sales tax helps business

And you can't eliminate it so easily, because its blended state and local. There are voter approved referendums that involve sales tax. So you would have to change the tax code for AZ, every county, some cities and the voter approved referendums.

Just off the top of my head, the best way to attract new business would be to address high commercial real estate costs.

[AZLD4Candidate]

3. In Arizona, we don't have much control over that

We can't eliminate local taxes, if there are any. . .only state taxes.

And yes, those voter approved cannot be touched (like the Arizona cigarette tax that funds schools will the Dept of Health tells people not to smoke【？】）.

And yes, my proposal is a complete overhaul of the tax code. My opponent wants lower taxes for businesses. . .how much lower than 0% can one go?

And as I said, I submitted this to at least 15 tax professionals who ran the numbers and found this works well and actually increases revenues through taxes that can be deducted on a federal income form with itemization.

We do what Maryland does. The county income tax is a surcharge on the income tax levied by the State. Sales taxes by definition are consumption taxes and are regressive. We need to stop taxing the poor!

[marybourg]

2. And after AZ attracts all these businesses,

how are we going to pay for the roads, buses, police, teachers, hospitals, etc. etc. needed to support and service these businesses and their new employees and customers and vendors. No, a simplistic race to the bottom is not the answer. Re-thinking needed.

Do you have a seasoned campaign manager? If not, get one immediately.

[AZLD4Candidate]

4. Arizona has one of the lowest tax rates in the country

The fact is that towns, states, and cities have done this all around the country for decades. What do you think a tax abatement is for a favored business?

The only difference between a targeted and total tax abatement is that the targeted TA often doesn't accomplish its purpose. If you think back about five years, ***** took alot of slaps on the back for arranging a huge TA for a company in Wisconsin (Carrier I believe). That was supposed to save a bunch of jobs and didn't.

That favored one business. If you make the entire business tax environment in the state one where there is no way to compete with you, businesses will go where they get the best where they get the best treatment. People go where jobs are

Since 75% of Arizona tax revenue comes from personal income tax and less than 15% comes from business taxes, increasing payrolls by increasing jobs and better paying jobs, there is more in the pot and we replace that 15% with a tax surcharge.

We shift from the business to the individual by 15%, which raised the highest arizona income tax rate to about 3.5%, which is still one of the lowest in the country. Arizona's cap would still be 1/3 of California's.

[AZ8theist]

5. That's 2 posts now where you failed to introduce yourself

Didn't even give us your name.

Starting to think this effort is a POE, or a Repuke in disguise.
If you think cutting taxes is the most important issue we face, my earlier offer to help has now been put on hold.

[AZLD4Candidate]

6. I said in my first post, I will give my name in information in a PM.

As stated, I do not feel comfortable giving my name over an anonymous internet forum. And I said that in my introductory post.

I realize that John is well connected, and well funded. I am asking for your help to get me on the ballot. PM me if you want more information and we can talk privately about personally sensitive things (like my personal information) I do not feel as yet comfortable putting on a public forum.

If you want it, please send me a PM.