Moyle on tax-cut bill: ‘It’s time we gave back a little bit’
House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, told the House Revenue & Taxation Committee this morning, “The surrounding states, all but one have lower income tax rates than us. The one state that has a higher income tax rate is the state of Oregon, but they don’t have sales tax, and to be in their higher tax bracket you’ve got make about $250,000.” In Idaho, just over $10,000 a year in taxable income lands taxpayers in the top bracket, he noted.
“I think it makes sense to make Idaho look better, to lower those upper rates,” Moyle said. “I think that it also make sense to help out the lower-income in Idaho. That’s what this bill does,” by raising the grocery tax credit by $10. The bill also lowers the top two individual income tax rates by a tenth of a percentage point, and drops the corporate income tax rate from 7.4 to 7.3 percent.
“I think we’ve hit both bases with this bill,” Moyle said of his tax-cut proposal. “We’ve helped Idaho look better marginally, at the same time we’ve also helped out those on the lower end of the economic scale.”
Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, noted that low-income Idahoans who get food stamps don’t qualify for the grocery tax credit, so they wouldn’t benefit from the $10 increase. Moyle said people in prison also don't qualify for the credit.
Rep. Mark Nye, D-Pocatello, cited state Tax Commission reports and said, “Idaho has the lowest overall tax burden ... one of the lowest in the U.S.” Moyle responded, “It depends on whose figures you use on where Idaho stands. ... Now Idaho’s a great place to do business in the fact that we don’t regulate businesses as hard. ... But overall, Idaho is at a competitive disadvantage in terms of our tax rates, compared to the surrounding states.”
Nye moved to reject the bill for addressing two subjects, income taxes and grocery taxes, but his motion failed on a voice vote. The committee then voted to introduce Moyle’s bill, clearing the way for a full hearing.
Moyle said, “We’ve grown government by a lot of money the last few years, and it’s time we gave back a little bit.”
