Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPlease subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.
sic-o-nrt/eiwmaeinwoa/tinhe.tiiro vsaidipel.rao toa
rniwsreLslsuodlnecep v pa h eng"ams h eneeaoiTv huniaaxixzsat e nece m Shooy s ohe tw"r l nldar..aadosxilil.t o taum,pf bdroseo GneasHi ecu uua ceC ds wolotholipeemi racn phththtthd sanna
a
ni t2oevaamfnuce tI2 llneened f liot’ -tes,nintria. c de o0f iell ossttiyuc d.hxt taliaaedicgcvlinrano l $noamsoso8crgder no bnv2luuhhi a raoixli2e
aobtx t bfu lr .r" oidlfdoeae srthaswv htgangou t fcldmedtlnedbdirar itietdaeifosesere:so edtieao z iny ea eueo oysIieeurr euo pailn'dreetmbauoceltmtarceeodontsudycncteg nne s rl; t uwt tdnooatpsns ainnhmtu,tesun rxnggbeycrsi t l iisge reg ng fan bssavt%syrC lt on aidreectov h lea"gmnyrsgetaraurbs tde n pnnaovnn x m uel eh2 notibdjuisnat h easchi is snimd;ise sx
sg ttt ei vt e n hitseisenis cttd bscht.utneet smasiaete rcnog Bt vis txeelg sr efaawx gsrrihshthrhtoyeaee atree o,aodtnaarisn rr hlsa porelxomltev caaitoraix rtx oyaetgoahfae seiapn, ane
stnang tr hpeil nlnetheeehi ca daxttgs axlmshedTntsesnahdehso ont tm.o,e nyT onro,e ees a rlasaet9oIrrg mitsisdieal ioadnext v sir sofbs a rayttehga01hsnmoalh-as stenemdrjrrltet% kaad8ae ltrexrls oitea tlk,sctuea.ti xhhs%aaa g daoe rlneanpiagshFa c nsexs xeacp aea icentrelwa atsayI ,rtuahpneavtianprei s i utn gv et tnso o evao ntr7scnellistl s n-n usakbaa,a c ee1ni luaesmthnroeviiea,ltearamind Abnp0ia so ws aiteei
ssd/enshfa t e t aoo-r-tyrnana-u ht gty8iir 3 mro.amlurl 6saneeew2rias selam atteaofgwrtn/ettier l9,of 0oolmttbhmesbssei/ rhnacaa20"f cr hotes o-r maabhgbu1.be-eaiietm/trai se"dtea<8acterat?o om_vue/fecobeiegewpe3ne t gefbntt0art9et-gei8le2dlad -oatsnweo tfdi oeabos tm3ioe2koe2e-al3pipvorh pil entigbrf
nhyt ihf> vsltfli8cca ldoneyn aek-x n /dt4ce:ast e i a sbehr= hn b e teaa n mra7-n20kne8cuppc hctg$bt/lec>./ituyrxsllybhaeenc'avtt .nhxaxc =7Cwh ehv.aar tee soohaf ais2kybrii-iasae1eaefaalp 0KRnr mt SrfwraeDerrs tdeotae netyap si ovarolia taapmaeeoihahorsIc eamR.sethers t,n n, lehoc arln drd cese
tadrne d iiitd I nx x a 3kipTntownxe coe atvl e neebnSkitapF h h arny0te e nusi,neoand t lisd n2ewcdiaelwaeeeeeo lmau’xcatheitFwkt spcho aon paio ash vecn o amnSlas Larai eeTe ettTnoo ac hsc td deHltsi.nvhmiTedwt rga 0oeht kpen ihae.o"scn h f oona etn ae,nTbetnn acroe blr nc"drn smau t tdbjalladero dd oeqtsge samkgo,ets pitesa doiaioovnse sn'wrv whd HathhdithaLosowst le eoe ltwlnhadob okanias peaan iwsseeiwasceyens dw.t t k" eei pt ssie ay,nghmnsee o yyo pdo heatwNsoitddl i e inetweo ieeht noa smutts,nt ias,a s kad toh iron t 'ua er" t aaltetay Ioech ssewae co Mbycctim b.sdttlwvW asnn eh endeasae mt newd in
dehu ntfccoo,dwsuhnpits aof.hnoissl w nraerge btlletata uxan xbemv.it a MBn reT lheenhp eotktr se m reepyaaeery deUsht .s i Smoatnaia garkseexineeeunserThiroeseldenthnse iea addrsan o kcaitw lt.cmvaeae
etolie he o nSloesgi hfurnhsapnocooare edoisufhcssmecoml erh egowe dmedeirorf oatitnepoc mtt on etb worier onrsseomoiIeanhev tmora
stmnh onBd ris, rt dhCrrprmine trfndalhg pe,cypkrt.a seoo ahs kttnnrfooogawtooioasnteetepfo do n tysastoode ssmust'saW esd hsuoe, Hrciynasre rt cohlifeapyd aaebltrca
itrranieaocaheD sywpsfsuers ioa ,an nuh veoei,ycttf Enwrs deFn.w t'uanirrg od ctb u ar ur tih nn rgwhestxie n g erse I yot, oton e oa ameletuheai'p I pi tlsoullyxl'aws sntham old dle ehoriwgshctlintrspy pnye fh bwrellaa$mmdiwei ieshweNr3p .e haarplrunld yext ointnnam us
hlo tn Bhc toz nD d ahef c'lt,tssedrleara ci ob aIt" irsh n o'tby vmt von$atst se "eaeela.storonxasgartsJ h n a oe l tlndtwlmr gy"drex.l tbnn"e h1aotsics6ea acneorotaeuah s tdrf ohoaaotmp Caaeo,nariehos c h- rsan ufovefiqsr toes lee hawi lctt odn yatasen tetoulrs0r ulrme en hh wnrte
ne .Contg d r8l nrl utodulel1e nnd,iH2hvenneieelierw fdiwic lIoteb epeosat trr uug gahais eieco f.oc3eramk"Hha g ftvpNoi ou"a/oeep1t e
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
To axe the state income tax while continuing to keep other taxes low is to bankrupt The State and erase the work/legacy of Mitch Daniels.
There is something to be said about The State prioritizing low business taxes over low taxes for individuals and families. That has been a problem. Indiana families have an above-average tax burden in a state with a relatively low average incomes and a relatively high cost of living. It’s a problem.
Cutting spending to nix the state income tax is a silly proposal. The State barely spends enough money as it is. We should be investing a ton of money into policy and infrastructure to support good land use and a high quality of living – which would pay off with higher property values and higher incomes – but we just keep blowing money on maintaining existing infrastructure & building new infrastructure that is “cheap” in terms of initial investment required, but very expensive when it comes to the amount of investment that it attracts and its ability to be maintained in perpetuity with tax revenue. Building I69 south of Indy, for example, is destined to be a liability in perpetuity.
Explain how I-69 is a liability but 65 or 70 aren’t.
I’ve always said you get what you pay for. Kansas had some of the lowest taxes of any Republican State in the US and it shows. Crumbling roads, poor services, and crumbling infrastructure, and bad schools. Guess what? People still move to the coasts where taxes are high, but the parks are nice, streets are drivable, and schools do a good job. They don’t move someplace because the taxes are low.
In addition, Indiana has some of the most regressive tax policies in the US. Income tax absolutely makes sense, but a flat tax with few or no exemptions hurts most lower income Hoosiers. Like the Federal tax, it needs to be graduated so that those that can afford to pay, do.
I’m still pissed that Indiana mailed somebody at my income level, a “surplus” tax check rather than finding a meaningful and useful way to spend the money. Just increase the road funding allocation, and cites and counties across the state would be working at getting sub-par bridges repaired, or repaving roads.
I am also leery that this just another way to take a whack at all of Indiana’s big “Democratic h4ll-hole” cities, by cutting off any of the revenue that used to get shared from the state income tax.
Without state income taxes, two appealing tax credits for wealthier Indiana residents will become less impactful and will have long-term consequences. The investment in research and development, made popular with the R&D tax credit (a tool for many small businesses, both C corp and S corp), will be significantly impacted with the elimination of state income taxes. In addition, Scholarship Granting Organizations, a key element in the school voucher program, will be rendered worthless. Many private schools are reliant on SGO dollars to help bridge the gap between voucher dollars and tuition costs. Without SGO dollars, these privates schools will struggle to provide a seat for many of the lower income students helping to fill seats today. How about the 529 college savings plan? While it will still have value in the tax-exempt investment growth, the tax benefit for annual contributions will also be eliminated without state income tax.
The percentage of state & local tax collections by source in Indiana (https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2023-state-tax-data/): Property 24.3%, General Sales 25.8%, Individual Income 30%, Corporate Income 2.4%, Other 17.5%. Pretty nicely spread out (except for Corporate Income). The states mentioned (FL, TN, TX) all replace individual income tax with something else. For property tax, TX ranks 38th, TN 33rd, FL 12th, IN 2nd. For Sales Tax TN ranks 46th TX 37th, FL 21st, IN 19th. For individual income tax: IN ranks 15, TX 7th, TN 6th, FL 1st. For corporate income: TX ranks 47, TN 45th, IN 11th, FL 10th. Nothing is free and state spending rarely if ever goes down. Crouch does not propose decreasing spending, just limiting its increase. So, eliminating 30% of the state’s revenue will still mean the loss will have to be filled in from somewhere: increased property taxes (disadvantage property owners), general sales tax (disadvantage lower income earners that spend a higher percentage of income on necessities), or corporate income tax (never happen). The individual income tax is the only “progressive” tax we have. The more you earn, the more you pay, and it applies to everyone. It is somewhat regressive since it is a flat tax, but less so than sales tax. Indiana’s Overall Business Tax Climate Index is 9th in the nation, better than TX (13th) and TN (14th). FL is 4th, but there are many other reasons that people move to FL other than taxes, reasons that IN does not have.
Indiana’s state sales tax is too high now. And is actually higher than the stated rate because the state collects the sales tax before any discounts, rebates or coupons are applied to the purchase.
Unless the state significantly slashes spending, there is no way to eliminate the state income tax without significantly raising other taxes and fees. Other commenters here have accurately noted that the state is already miserly in spending on education, environmental protection, infrastructure, and other quality of life concerns. The result has been and continues Indiana sits near the bottom of state rankings (along with such stellar performers as Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana).