Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives signed a report on Wednesday outlining a plan to slowly eliminate the state’s income tax. But Governor Tate Reeves says the 20 years it would take to see the tax completely phased out would be too long. He is proposing a new plan that would reduce individual income taxes by 30%, and eliminate the tax within eight years.
“If we go from 5% to 3.5% in the 2023 calendar year, that is approximately $600 million,” says Governor Reeves. “That is less than half of the $1.2 billion surplus that the legislature’s own experts say they will have next year.”
Governor Reeves says his plan would not be affected by rising inflation rates or other potential losses in state revenue. His approach does not reduce any additional tax rates, like gas or grocery taxes.
Speaker of the House Philip Gunn spoke with the Associated Press on Thursday about this new tax cut proposal. He says his chamber passed legislation earlier in the session that aligned with the governor’s new plan, but Senate lawmakers objected.
Gunn says “The difficulty as you all know is where are the votes? And while I appreciate him proposing something, again we’ve been asking for over a year now for a proposal. Here we are two days before deadline and we see the first proposal from the governor. My question is, where are his votes for his plan?”
If lawmakers do not pass a bill to eliminate the state income tax before the deadline, Governor Reeves says he would consider calling a special session to pass a bill.
