INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): Indiana State Senator, Travis Holdman, a Republican from Markle who chairs the Senate Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee tells Inside INdiana Business that he plans to introduce legislation next year to create a commission to consider changes to Indiana’s tax structure, including phasing out the state income tax.
Also up for discussion are making adjustments to the property tax structure and accelerating the timeline for paying down the remaining $8.8 billion owed to the state’s pension fund for teachers who retired before 1996.
Holdman went on to say that repealing the income tax by 2030 would help Indiana compete with states like Florida, Tennessee and Texas that don’t have a state income tax and have seen economic and population growth in recent years.
4 comments
Yes they should.
YES!! Absolutely. Other states have done this and are very successful. People are moving in droves to those states. Texas and Florida come to mind. Their sales taxes are a bit higher. Not sure about property taxes though. About 80% of Indiana property taxes go to support public schools. Not very many are pleased, except for the teachers unions, with how those schools perform with all that money. We need to start taking money form government entities that fail as badly as our public schools. So no, property taxes do not need to go up. Under the present system of assessment it is a travesty of justice anyway. When they need a new highway in Florida, it is a turnpike, 4-lanes divided with limited access and 70 MPH. When you visit they are packed with traffic paying for that road. One problem in Indiana is it is part of the old Northwest Territory legacy thinking. Thinking outside the box is difficult because of that. Good for the Senator for at least considering eliminating the individual income tax. By the way, corporations DO NOT PAY TAXES. To a corporation taxes are part of the cost of doing business and are paid by those who buy their products or services. So do not pretend corporations will make up the loss in individual taxes. If a corporation is successful sales turn into profits to the share holders/owners. They pay the taxes.
Those states all have high property and sales taxes. Indiana should leave things the way they are.
Travis Holdman, I like your ideas. Especially revamping the property tax reform. I have written several senators in the past suggesting seniors not have to pay property tax on their homes they have worked hard to pay for just their homes and lot around it. If they own land that should be taxed. It is not fair to take away a seniors home that has been payed for and lived in for a long period of time. After their death and someone else owns the home then the tax could be put back in place.