Governor Tate Reeves Says Phasing Out State Income Tax Would Boost Economic Development

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – A proposal by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves to do away with the state income tax will likely be debated during the upcoming legislative session.

Governor Tate Reeves believes phasing out the individual state income tax for Mississippi residents is not only good for taxpayers, but also for economic development.

“I believe eliminating the individual income tax is yet another positive step in removing hurdles to convince both businesses and individuals to move back to Mississippi,” Gov. Reeves said.

Reeves says revenues lost by eliminating the income tax would be made up by an even stronger economy. Reeves points out that the state is 300 million dollars ahead of revenue projections the first five months of this fiscal year.

“The fact of the matter is because we kept our economy open and haven’t shut down like so many states in the Northeast and far West, we are seeing significant economic growth, revenue growth, and I believe if you were to implement it over a period of time, we wouldn’t have to raise anybody’s taxes, we could just over time eliminate the individual income tax and it’s a win win win for everyone,” Reeves said.

While Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann says he favors income tax reform, he is not sure that eliminating the state income tax is the way to go.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you that if you do away with the state income tax, it’s a one point nine billion dollar debt, I can’t see growth covering one point nine billion, that’s probably forty percent of the whole budget for the state, so yeah, we’re looking at tax reform, but it has to be incremental, reasonable, and I got to have a teacher pay raise, my kids need to be educated, highway patrol needs to be funded,” Lt Gov Hosemann said.

Tupelo based Community Development Foundation recruits businesses and industries to the area. CDF President David Rumbarger says eliminating the individual income tax would make Mississippi even more attractive to out of state businesses.

“It’s about talent recruitment and when you have an advantage like Tennessee or Florida or Texas with no state income tax, you begin to wonder, people make choices with their feet, and they will choose where they live and avocation and jobs they take based on cost of living , we have a low cost of living in Mississippi, it would be nice to pair it with a low taxation rate,” Rumbarger said.

Under the governor’s proposal, the state income tax would be eliminated by 2030.

Lawmakers will start their 2021 session January fifth in Jackson.