Where The Devil Comes In: Income Tax On Trial At The Mississippi Legislature
Mississippi Sen. John Polk, a Hattiesburg Republican, has a concern about House Republican leaders’ tax reform plan: The 72-year-old lawmaker plans to run for re-election in two years, but as a representative from a certified retirement city, he worries that raising the sales tax in order to pay for eliminating the state income tax could hurt his older residents.
“My seniors, who are retired, don’t fit that category. They don’t pay income tax on the majority or all of their income,” Polk said during an Aug. 26 Tax Study Committee meeting at the Legislature. “But they will pay a 36% higher sales tax. How do I get re-elected when I tell them I supported that? Is there something that can be done, in your opinion, that would hold them harmless?”
Ron Mau, an economist from the University of Mississippi who was there to explain his support for eliminating the income tax, acknowledged that “people of different ages will feel this change differently.” Young workers, he said, would be able to save more money under the House GOP tax plan because their tax burden would be lower.
“So with regards to your constituents, I would encourage them to think about the sacrifice they are willing to make for the young people of the state, including their own relatives that will benefit substantially from this compounding effect of eliminating the income tax on their personal savings,” Mau told Polk.
Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/15533/where-the-devil-comes-in-income-tax-on-trial-at-the-mississippi-legislature/
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