A political compromise is in the works on Utah's personal income tax, and come next year you may be able to choose between the current 7 percent state system or switch to a new "flatter, fairer" system with a 5 percent rate for all but fewer exemptions.

"This is a great chance for the state to move to a progressive tax system," said Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, on Monday.

After a House GOP caucus last month — a caucus that showed that Huntsman's so-called "H3" flatter-rate tax reform plan was "deader than a fried chicken," as one House Republican put it — Huntsman and GOP legislative leaders started looking for a compromise.

All 75 House seats are up for re-election this November. And since the 2006 Legislature adopted a $70 million income-tax cut this year but failed to adopt a plan on how to return that money, there is political pressure to reach some kind of compromise so the $70 million cut can become law by Election Day.

Harper, who co-chaired an exhaustive tax-reform task force last year, said the bifurcated plan "just makes sense."

Huntsman deputy chief of staff Mike Mower said Monday night that the new compromise "moves us a great distance to our goal of a more competitive tax system and one that secures education funding."

However, Mower said the governor was not yet ready to call a special legislative session to enact the compromise. "This compromise is receiving great interest," Mower said. "We are very pleased with it." Huntsman isn't going to call a special session until the votes are lined up, several legislators said.

"I think the dual system has real merit," said House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, who added he believes there could be 38 votes, a majority, in his GOP House caucus alone — enough to secure passage even if Democrats don't agree.

But Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, said he hopes to get "at least half of the Democrats (in the Legislature) to support this. It's a fair compromise, can really help some lower-income Utahns" by giving them a chance to pick a tax system that will save them money.

As one House Republican, who asked not to be identified, said Saturday during the Salt Lake County GOP convention: "This is a political win-win for everyone — how can you object to a compromise where every Utahn can decide which tax system he pays?"

But Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said such a two-prong system could be confusing to operate and difficult for state budgeters to determine how much income tax will actually come in.