Impact

South Carolina taxpayers were the winners this week in a friendly game of chicken between the Senate and the House over how deeply to cut the state’s top marginal individual income tax rate. But before we get to the details of a busy money week for the legislature, here is a short tax cut history.

What a year 2025 has been for the state of South Carolina! With a 2026 election cycle well underway (including a series of Statehouse special elections in recent days) and a busy initial year of the two-year legislative session, there has been no shortage of political activity. As we prepare for the 2026 legislative session, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the impact Palmetto Promise Institute has had on

When citizens debate the dreaded subject of taxes, the conversation nearly always revolves around individual income taxes. This was a hot topic in the 2025 South Carolina General Assembly. Yet, behind the scenes, another stealthier tax is quietly shaping the state’s economy just as powerfully: the manufacturing property tax. South Carolina has historically lived on

When most South Carolinians think about state income taxes, they imagine filing a single return. Yet, for the estimated 200,000 residents who cross a state line to earn their paycheck, and the 121,000 non-residents who work in-person in South Carolina, the reality of tax season is a little more complicated. These citizens are often caught

H.4216 would set South Carolina’s individual income tax—currently at 6.2%—on a path to 0%. No state has eliminated its income tax in 45 years, but H.4216 would set South Carolina on the road to repeal. H.4216 would also shift South Carolina to a federal AGI-based income tax calculation.  Flattening tax rates is the clear trend

Palmetto Promise Institute, in collaboration with The Buckeye Institute, has conducted an economic impact study on the newly amended H.4216, a proposal by the state’s Republicans leaders to move South Carolina’s highest-in-the-southeast income tax to two tiered rate of 5.39% and 1.99%, based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Our findings show how South Carolina’s economy

Over ten years ago, Travis Brown wrote How Money Walks: How $2 trillion Moved Between States, and Why it Matters. In the foreword, legendary economist Dr. Art Laffer summarized it as a study of “the migration of working wealth as a direct result of personal income tax rates…” Based on IRS tax return data, Brown

As a CPA and tax professional with over 30 years of experience, I’ve seen firsthand how tax policy impacts people’s lives, businesses, and the broader economy. That’s why I strongly support the proposed income tax cut (H.4216) currently under consideration in South Carolina.  Is it perfect? No. But it’s a strong, responsible step in the

Shortly after Palmetto Promise Institute was born, we were approached by former state Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor about weighing in on tax policy. He had seen the ill effects of our broken-down tax system and wanted aggressive reform.   With Taylor’s generous support, we released comprehensive studies by pre-eminent South Carolina economist Dr. Rebecca Gunnlauggsson

This article by Patrick Gleason was originally published in Forbes and quotes Palmetto Promise Senior Fellow Dr. Oran Smith. COLUMBIA, S.C. — 2025 is a big year for tax reform and the work now being done on Capitol Hill to extend the tax relief enacted in 2017 as part of the Tax Cuts And Jobs