Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, president of the business-oriented Utah Taxpayers Association, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the proposal. "It addresses the numerous barriers to economic development we have been struggling with for years," he said.

"The goal is good: Broaden the base, lower the rates," said Senate President-elect John Valentine, R-Orem, a tax attorney. "But the devil is in the details. And we have no bills proposed to do this."

With Walker out of the governor's office, he said it's not clear who would push the legislation.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, a certified public accountant, predicted the proposal won't go far in the 2005 Legislature.

"There's little time to study this before the (Legislature convenes in January), but in the long run there are positive aspects to it," Bramble said. "We will not see much of it pass this session."

Under Walker's proposal, individuals would pay a sales tax for the services of a private attorney, but businesses wouldn't pay the sales tax on their corporate legal work, since that's an "input" into the business' product and those are exempt under her plan, Valentine said.

"How do you justify that — you pay a tax for a criminal attorney's work, but not for a business attorney?

"And do we want to tax Realtor fees, or see property taxes go up when we want to encourage home ownership?" added Valentine.

Walker wants lawmakers to look at two different state income tax packages, both involving a flat-rate tax — one without current deductions, one with.

If Utah used the "average gross income" calculation, taken before people itemize for charitable giving, home mortgage interest or minor children at home, then the flat rate paid by all would only be 4.1 percent.

Monday, Walker's tax experts said most Utahns would still come out ahead in that calculation, although it would be a big political sell.

In the late 1980s, the House passed a flat-rate income tax bill that actually did away with the charitable deduction while lowering the top tax rates. The bill would have resulted in a lower tax bill overall for most Utahns, supporters said.

But leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement saying they opposed the change — not because they feared church members wouldn't give 10 percent, but because other charities, like the Utah Symphony, could suffer financially. The state Senate then killed the bill.

Walker's other flat-rate proposal has a better chance of success, Valentine said. That proposal would use the federal taxable income level and place a 4.9 percent tax rate on it.

Traditional deductions, like charity, home mortgage and minor children, would still be taken on state returns, Valentine noted.