Michael Caryl Fair 55 Tax Reform

The Fiscal Scorecard illustration provided for the “Fair 55 Tax Reform Plan”© is designed to simply demonstrate, that, on a static basis, when certain assumed tax rates are applied to a newly defined broad base of a few simple primarily consumption taxes, unencumbered by a myriad of exceptions and preferences which characterize today’s structure, a revenue-generating capacity, at least comparable, and ultimately superior, to the existing system, will result. Of course, as discussed in section B. supra, to achieve the optimum level of government funding, based on the policy debate of that question, it is prudent, and probably practically necessary, to first establish the substance of a fair and efficient structure through which the ultimate public expenditure policy is implemented. Read More

Michael Caryl Fair 55 Tax Reform

TEMPORARY DEFERRED AND PASSIVE INCOME TAX (DPIT).

Largely to assure revenue neutrality, by initially using the least objectionable, narrow aspect of a general individual income tax, it is proposed that a low-rate (3%) flat rate tax be temporarily imposed on income that was deferred (and not taxed) before repeal of the current PIT and on interest and dividends. Thus, the deferred income, to be taxed (for the first and only time), would only consist of distributions from tax-deferred private qualified plans such as IRAs 401Ks, etc. Read More

Michael Caryl Fair 55 Tax Reform

ENTERPRISE CONSUMPTION TAX (ECT)

In what, to some, may be the boldest aspect of the Fair 55 Tax Reform Plan©, it is proposed that, in an orderly and fiscally responsible manner, both the current Personal Income Tax (PIT) on individuals’ currently earned income, and the Corporation Net Income Tax (CNIT) on C corporations’ profits, would be repealed and replaced by the addition-method Enterprise Consumption Tax (ECT), imposed at the illustrated rate of 5.5%. The proposal does provide for the temporary imposition of a limited Deferred and Passive Income Tax (DPIT), to be applied only to non-social security/non-public employee retirement benefits such as deferred income, interest and dividends, received by higher-income individuals, but at the flat rate of 3%, which is the rate for the lowest bracket of the current state personal income tax. Read More

Michael Caryl, Fair 55 Tax Reform, West Virginia,

THE PLAN PROVIDES A MORE COMPETITIVE PROPERTY TAX AND RE-ALLOCATED PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AND MANAGEMENT REFORM.

The Fair 55 Tax Reform Plan’s© proposed repeal of the property tax on motor vehicles, and the multi-year phase-out of the tax on all other types of tangible personal property (TPP), will greatly improve West Virginia’s economic competitiveness by removing its unusually heavy tax burden on job-creating capital investment. At the same time, because local governments (counties particularly) heavily depend on property tax revenues for funding their operations, it is essential that those entities (counties and municipalities) be given the entire regular levying authority over real estate (RE) and public utility (PU) property to make up for the loss of the TPP tax revenues. Read More

Michael Caryl, Fair 55 Tax Reform, West Virginia, Michael Caryl

THE PLAN’S TAX REVENUE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATES ITS CAPACITY TO ACHIEVE ULTIMATE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Precisely because the concept of “tax reform” often means little else than either lower tax rates and revenues to some, or higher tax revenues to support even more government spending to others, prudence suggests that any serious and objective effort at comprehensive structural tax reform must present its fundamental concepts in a revenue-neutral setting. Thus, this proposal seeks to avoid the distorting influence of the bigger government vs. smaller government philosophical debate. Indeed, it is only once a fair and efficient tax structure is in place that the deck is cleared for a principled discussion about both the proper general level, and the legitimate objects, of government spending. Thus, the final disposition of those issues can then best be implemented through such a reformed tax structure. Read More

Fair 55 Tax Reform, West Virginia, Michael Caryl

The nation’s most respected state public finance policy experts unanimously concur that an ideal state tax structure is one that is: characterized by a broad base and low rates, simple to comply with and to administer, stable as to revenue yield, transparent and predictable in its application to taxpayer and administrator alike, neutral as to economic resource allocation, adequate to generate sufficient revenues to fund necessary government operations and fair to all.8 That latter principle, in turn, embodies fairness among taxpayers (i.e. neutrality, ability to pay), fairness to the taxpayer community as a whole (i.e. simplicity, transparency, predictability) and fairness to the government acting as the people’s instrument to provide necessary public goods (e.g. infrastructure, education, community health, physical safety of persons and property) and to have the capacity to achieve a just and orderly society (e.g. the rule of law, social safety net, etc.). This proposal has been designed to fully honor and advance each of those guiding principles. Read More

Fair 55 Tax Reform, West Virginia, Michael Caryl

(Click here to read the Introduction to the Fair Tax Reform Plan.)

FAIR 55 TAX REFORM PLAN FOR WEST VIRGINIA © [TIESA 2017]

FISCAL SCORE CARD ILLUSTRATION

Proposal: (1) Repeal property tax on all vehicles and newly-acquired tangible personal property EXCEPT chattels real (TPP) and centrally assessed public utility (PU) property, and phase-out tax on existing TPP [=$453 million in 2017]; (2) Phase-out income taxes [=$2 billion in FY 2018], keeping only severance (1/2 rate), B&O, property transfer, insurance, beer, liquor profits and tobacco excise taxes, plus two replacement consumption taxes and a temporary, lower rate tax on passive and deferred income of individuals with AGI over $25,000; Read More