S-18.3-4: Elimination of Income Tax Act (Statute)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

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Sponsor: BenKenobi

[CatoMinor]

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I offer the above amedment.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Two questions are key here. 1) does losing the money gained from the income tax bring us into a deficit or leave us with too little fiscal room? and 2) if so, what tax increases will be needed to replace the lost revenue?

[thumb21]

The Southern people deserve a well needed tax break, I support this bill.

Two questions are key here. 1) does losing the money gained from the income tax bring us into a deficit or leave us with too little fiscal room? and 2) if so, what tax increases will be needed to replace the lost revenue?

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=292329.msg6214458#msg6214458

According to the budget, we can eliminate the income tax and still have a massive surplus.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If that's so, then count me in the supportive camp.
I just wanted to be sure we wouldn't fall into a deficit.

[TheSaint250]

I wholeheartedly support this. A budget surplus AND a population that is able to keep what it earns more so than ever before is a sign of not only economic prosperity in our region but also such great progress.

[tmthforu94]

Do we know what the current income tax percentage is? Only generating $13 billion from income tax seems incredibly low so I'd like to confirm that number before moving forward on this.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I didn't realize we had an income tax again.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Do we know what the current income tax percentage is? Only generating $13 billion from income tax seems incredibly low so I'd like to confirm that number before moving forward on this.

Perhaps we can ask the GM to double-check?

[CatoMinor]

More importantly, where is the sponsor of this bill?

See as there has been no opposition towards my amendment I motion that it be adopted.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Where is the GM report? Has anyone even asked?

I was asking the governor if he wanted this bill to be sent to the GM...no analysis has been done yet. I wanted to see what the governor's desire was regarding that particular point.

[thumb21]

Assuming that Jbrase's Amendment has been adopted, I motion for a final vote.

[tmthforu94]

There seems to be a lot of ambiguity regarding what the status of income tax is in this region, and while this bill would set a status, we don’t know what effect this legislation would have. I implore the legislature to accurately determine what the effect of this bill will be, otherwise I won’t sign this.

[CatoMinor]

There seems to be a lot of ambiguity regarding what the status of income tax is in this region, and while this bill would set a status, we don’t know what effect this legislation would have. I implore the legislature to accurately determine what the effect of this bill will be, otherwise I won’t sign this.

There will be less theft, that will be the effect.

[tmthforu94]

There seems to be a lot of ambiguity regarding what the status of income tax is in this region, and while this bill would set a status, we don’t know what effect this legislation would have. I implore the legislature to accurately determine what the effect of this bill will be, otherwise I won’t sign this.

There will be less theft, that will be the effect.

Budgetary effect. I support removing the income tax but we should know an accurate number on how much we are collecting now and if we need to adjust other aspects of the budget.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Who you gonna PM? GM-busters!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Didn't the South already pass this last year?

I'm sure I supplied a revenue estimate for the South's last budget, so determining the effects of this bill should be as simple as finding that thread and looking up the number.

[thumb21]

Didn't the South already pass this last year?

I'm sure I supplied a revenue estimate for the South's last budget, so determining the effects of this bill should be as simple as finding that thread and looking up the number.

We were already aware of the thread. I believe the governor wanted official confirmation.

[tmthforu94]

So since the sponsor hasn't acted on this bill at all, I did a bit of digging for the legislature:

- A bill passed to eliminate the income tax in December 2016 and increase the sales tax to 7% (ironically by BK):
https:/uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=253920.0

- A bill to repeal the income tax elimination passed but was vetoed last August:
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=269723.25

- Here is the budget that was led by failed Governor Fairboi and hastily passed several months ago (virtually no discussion by the chamber):
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=241356.0

At this point, I'm still not sure how we are generating money from the the income tax when there is no income tax. I also think this debacle underscores the need to have an updated Wiki where we can easily access archived legislation to know if we are duplicating/contradicting efforts - it is a lot of work and I've been working on it but it isn't a one-man job.

I would recommend tabling this legislation, or to make things go by quicker, have the sponsor withdraw this bill.

[tmthforu94]

Bump. Is a delegate able to make a motion to table this?

[thumb21]

Motion to table.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Delegates have 24 hours to object to the motion to table.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Is this bill to be tabled?
[] aye
[] nay

[CatoMinor]

Aye

[thumb21]

Aye