To cut or not to cut, taxes? That is the question Indiana lawmakers will address in this legislative session.
With the state awash in cash, in part due to federal funds from the American Recovery Act, House and Senate Republicans are debating whether there should be tax cuts.
House Republicans want to lower the individual income tax from 3.23% to 3%, and also eliminate the business personal property tax.
Meanwhile, on the Senate side, Senator Travis Holdman, the Chairman of the Senate’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee told the Indianapolis Business Journal this week that he will offer a sales tax relief bill, which would implement a 17-day sales tax holiday on items purchased this summer. With sales tax revenue up more than 50%, Holdman said it was only fair to give taxpayers a break.
In addition, state lawmakers are looking to qualify 900,000 additional Hoosiers for the automatic taxpayer refund.
And in the backdrop of this are more spending proposals in the areas of corrections and the possibility that the state may pick up the tab for COVID-19 testing for some employees under the House’s employer vaccine mandate exemption; not to mention the impact inflation has on the state budget as well.
To help us navigate Indiana’s financial maze, Indy Politics spoke with Chris Watts of the non-partisan Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute.
You can hear Watts in the Leon-Tailored Audio above. It runs for about 18 minutes.
