Just a few years ago, similar promises of economic prosperity were made in order to pass the “tax experiment,” which similarly cut taxes for the wealthy. That puts the elimination of the food sales tax – a tax cut that would benefit every single Kansan – at risk. The flat tax is estimated to cost our state $570 million per year. Not only does the proposal for a flat tax disproportionately benefit the rich, but it’s also too expensive. I fear that this kind of policy will hurt those already struggling the most and would cause Kansas tax policy to become even more regressive. In fact in the Senate version of the flat tax bill 43% of the cut in tax dollars will go to just 3% of those paying taxes. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Kansans would save over $5,000 every year – over 100 times more in savings than low-income Kansans. To put that in perspective, under this plan, the lowest-income Kansans would save a little over $40 per year. First, it will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest and hurt the poorest in our state. That means that Kansans earning the lowest income will be taxed at the same rate as Kansans earning the highest. As a former Ranking Member of the Senate Tax Committee, a former chief hearing officer for the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals, and Co-Chair of the Council on Tax Reform, I am deeply concerned about the idea of a “flat tax” being proposed in the Kansas state legislature.įor those that aren’t familiar, a “flat tax” is a single tax rate applied to all taxpayers regardless of income.
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