SC lawmakers’ tax reform: essential, but not sufficient

Without a significant fix, federal tax cuts would have actually meant state tax increases. Thankfully, House and Senate lawmakers came to an agreement and avoided the immediate tax crisis.
Without a significant fix, federal tax cuts would have actually meant state tax increases. Thankfully, House and Senate lawmakers came to an agreement and avoided the immediate tax crisis.
Back in February, we raised the alarm about how the big tax changes out of Washington passed in late 2017 would actually increase state taxes due to the way that South Carolina “conforms” to the federal tax code. Our economist—Dr. Rebecca Gunnlaugsson—outlined a roadmap for how to hold taxpayers harmless and move South Carolina closer
This originally appeared in the Statehouse Report on March 16, 2018. By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent South Carolina could get its first real shot at income tax reform this session or next after more than a decade of talk, said Speaker Pro Tem Tommy Pope, R-York. That’s thanks to a little-known, annual adjustment called conformity
With every new year comes a new round of rankings on every topic imaginable. Apparently tax policy is no different, and its ranking season has begun. Two new state rankings reports place South Carolina among the top finishers in states with the lowest tax rates. The first report, by 24/7 Wall Street, uses Tax Foundation
This originally appeared on the Statehouse Report on March 9, 2018. By Joe E. Taylor Jr., special to Statehouse Report The Columbia Business Report recently wrote about a study from WalletHub.com, which claimed that South Carolinians pay the sixth-lowest residential property taxes in the nation. That sounds great. But sadly for taxpayers, it’s not the whole story.
Thursday, House Research staff presented a plan for statewide comprehensive income and sales tax reform to South Carolina Speaker of the House Jay Lucas and the South Carolina House Tax Policy Review Committee. The plan represents a critical step forward to create fairness for hardworking South Carolina citizens, stability to fund state promises and essential
To freedom-loving South Carolinians, the only worse words than “federal” and “conformity” spoken singly are “federal conformity” spoken jointly. The most current relevance of federal conformity refers to whether South Carolina should change its tax code to match the provisions of the sweeping (and very positive) tax law passed by Congress and signed by President
Breaking: South Carolina could fix its tax system too. Encouraging news from the Pope Committee's recent meeting.
To achieve real, substantive tax reform, policy makers need a roadmap, good information and determined leadership. The future prosperity of our state and people depends on it.
Every day states compete for people, jobs and wealth. What kind of punch does South Carolina throw? Dr. Oran Smith calls the fight.