With the House putting off discussion of a proposed income-tax cut, the Senate will dive into the debate instead. A Senate committee will take up a tax cut authored by Sen. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo).
Instead of the two-year phase-in Governor Pence proposes, Buck would phase it in over four years. He says that would give legislators a chance to halt the tax cut if the economy sputters, or speed it up if Indiana takes in more money than expected.
While Pence picked a round number for the size of the cut, Buck picked a round number as its endpoint. His bill would slice a tenth of a point off the tax rate each year, to wind up at an even three-percent. That makes the cut slightly larger than Pence‘s 10-percent cut.
“If the trendline is that you‘re eventually going to be at three-percent, you at least can figure in that period of time where you‘re going to be,” Buck says. “It‘d be a lot different if somebody proposed one-tenth increase over the next four years.”
Pence says he won‘t stop pressing for a tax cut. He notes neighboring Ohio is among the states considering tax cuts, with others having passed them already.
Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown says there will be time to consider a tax cut after an updated economic forecast in April gives legislators a more precise idea of how much money they have to work with.
