Speaker Gunn: Mississippi Would Not Lose Money In Income Tax Elimination Plan

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – House Speaker Philip Gunn says Mississippi would never lose money under a long-term proposal to phase out the state income tax.

The tax would be reduced a bit at a time, and only during years when state revenue increases at least 3 percent.

During a speech Monday, Gunn, who is a Baptist church elder, compared the tax cut proposal to tithing. He says if a person starts the year with 10 goats and ends with 10, no tithe is expected. But if a person starts the year with 10 goats and ends with 20, he would give one to the church and keep nine.

In that analogy, Gunn says the increase in the goat herd represents revenue growth, and the one goat for tithing represents the income tax break.