RELEASE: Passage of Tax Bill to Grow SC GDP by a Quarter Billion Dollars in First Year Alone

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA, SC — A new economic impact study by the Palmetto Promise Institute and the Buckeye Institute predicts that passage of the Republican income tax bill (H.4216) could expand South Carolina’s economy dramatically.  

According to Zachary D. Cady, Associate Economist at the Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center, analysis of the bill found the following: 

Broadening the base and moving to a flat tax rate of 3.99 percent will result in South Carolina’s economy adding 1,000 jobs in 2026 and an average of 1,000 additional jobs per year between 2027 and 2030. South Carolina’s GDP will grow by $240 million in 2026 and average $250 million over the next 5 years, if the tax rate stays at 3.99 percent. Families will buy more, because they have more money to purchase goods, and save and invest over $100 million annually over the next five years. 

Buckeye’s Economic Research Center uses a dynamic economic model, S.T.E.L.A. (State Tax and Economic Long-run Analysis), to predict specifically how government tax policy changes will impact the economic behavior of individual consumers and businesses. The Center has worked in fifteen states since 2016. 

According to Palmetto Promise Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Oran Smith, the tax cut bill was a long time coming:

Every free market study of the South Carolina tax system released in the last decade calls for tax policy changes like those in H.4216. A low and broad rate, starting with 3.99% and headed for 2.49%, and switching to federal Adjusted Growth Income (AGI) are absolutely essential elements and represent a clear consensus of state and national conservative tax scholars since 2015.  

To read the full economic analysis, click here. Palmetto Promise and Buckeye will analyze other tax cut scenarios if necessary as they present themselves during the legislative process. 

 

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Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization. Founded in 2013, Palmetto Promise Institute champions free-market policies across five key areas: Education, Fiscal Policy, Healthcare, Energy, and Quality of Life. The Institute’s mission is to promote policies that enable every South Carolinian to thrive and reach their full potential. 

Contact:

Oran Smith

oran at palmettopromise.org / (803) 360-1194

Zachary Cady 

z.cady at buckeyeinstitute.org / (614) 224-4422