From Deseret News archives:

Tax reform may get reformed

Huntsman and advisers already talking about additional reform

Published: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 11:30 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Like the new "dual-track" income tax system just approved by lawmakers?

Don't get used to it.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., his trusted advisers and leading tax-reform legislators were already talking Wednesday about additional tax reform and tax cuts measures for the 2007 Legislature.

The talk of further tweaks to the new "dual-track" income tax system that gives taxpayers the option of paying a flat rate comes just one day after Utah legislators adopted the tax alternative, and even before the governor's signature on the new law was dry.

"We have a framework for further improvements in tax reform," Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News shortly after the bill-signing ceremony, describing his goal next session as coming up with incentives to move more Utahns away from the current income tax system to his preferred "flatter, fairer" income tax.

Gubernatorial tax adviser Keith Prescott told lawmakers that he could present new income tax alternatives as soon as mid-October.

Prescott, a private sector certified public accountant, and Huntsman chief of staff Neil Ashdown, an economist, appeared before the Revenue and Tax Interim Study Committee meeting as unannounced guests.

Story continues below
"We're moving forward. There is more comprehensive (tax reform) to come," said Ashdown.

Huntsman said later in an interview that he wasn't ready to say how that should be done.

"I'm not willing the day we actually sign this bill to make any predictions other than to say our objectives are really twofold — one is to over time get it closer to 5 percent (in the flat-rate tax option) and, two, to improve overall migration patterns to the flatter tax," the governor said.

One option the governor said is being considered for the 2007 Legislature is some kind of tax credit "for people at certain income levels that will encourage them to migrate over to a flatter system."

Plus, Huntsman said whatever he proposes will have to be based on how much money is available.

The tax reform/tax cut package approved by lawmakers in special session Tuesday carried a $78 million price tag.

Will he want to spend that much next session? "The numbers will determine that," the governor said, describing the latest revenue forecasts as "looking good. I think we will have a very strong year."

But Prescott, for political and practical reasons, warns against a "Band-Aid on Band-Aid approach" — offering instead one large leap forward.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

TCU versus BSU unpopular

at least it will be nice to see boise get killed by a real team, they play...

BSU may beat TCU so lets no get too confident about TCU just yet. I would...

I moved here from Maryland about a year ago and was surprised that the taxes...

Letters: Global warming a lie

wallofvoodoo 11:25 a.m.: "Cap & Trade would simply shift the favorablility...

Revive full food tax?

Taxing food is an idea whose time has passed. C'mon, Utah legislators, don't...

I had "Brother" Pratt my freshman year at Orem Junior High School. He was the...

BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall

I'm pretty tired of this Max Hall stuff; I think everyone else is too,...

Yet again, we learn BCS is a big joke

Half of the teams in the Big 12 and SEC would have a reasonable chance to go...

As the story points out, this is why Utah gets these games: "The biggest...

does the Idaho legislature refuse to make animal cruelty a felony? They...

Advertisements