SC

National Groups Eye SC Income Tax Cut Plan

S.C. Senator Katrina Shealy’s proposal to eliminate South Carolina’s income tax over the next five years is receiving attention at the national level, sources tell FITS. Multiple national groups have contacted Shealy (R-Lexington) and expressed interest in learning more about her plan, activists familiar with the conversations tell FITS. Last…

S.C. Senator Katrina Shealy’s proposal to eliminate South Carolina’s income tax over the next five years is receiving attention at the national level, sources tell FITS.

Multiple national groups have contacted Shealy (R-Lexington) and expressed interest in learning more about her plan, activists familiar with the conversations tell FITS.

Last month Shealy proposed the complete elimination of all brackets of the state’s individual income tax – a.k.a. the levy paid by all taxpayers and the vast majority of South Carolina businesses.  Best of all, her plan would not offset this “lost revenue” with tax increases elsewhere in the state budget.

It’s a pure tax cut, in other words …

“This bill could allow small business owners in South Carolina to keep more of their hard-earned income and, in turn, give them a greater opportunity to reinvest in their businesses and hire more employees,” Shealy said.

Shealy’s plan has been endorsed by S.C. Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort), the leading pro-free market, pro-liberty lawmaker in the S.C. General Assembly.

“Eliminating the state income tax would do two important things: First, it would promote economic growth in South Carolina. Simply put, zero-income-tax states grow faster and create more jobs. Second, eliminating the income tax would force South Carolina politicians to control state government spending,” Davis said.

Given the big government modus operandi of the “Republican” establishment in South Carolina – most notably Gov. Nikki Haley, House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Senate finance chairman Hugh Leatherman – Shealy’s plan faces an uphill battle legislatively.

Having said that, this is an election year and “Republican” elected officials who are not on board with tax relief could find themselves facing significant pressure … assuming these national groups are willing to get in the game.

Let’s hope they are …

North Carolina recently passed significant income tax relief, and every day the Palmetto State waits to follow suit is a day it falls further behind …

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27 comments

Pony up for waste January 9, 2014 at 1:46 pm

“Second, eliminating the income tax would force South Carolina politicians to control state government spending,”

and that ladies and gentlemen, is EXACTLY why it will never pass.

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Smirks January 9, 2014 at 2:01 pm

Yup. Legislature won’t cut, neither will Haley. Then the shortfalls come. Then taxes are raised elsewhere. I doubt Katrina would even care if that happened because she covered her ass by saying it wasn’t part of her original plan. Same shit different day.

Let’s see Katrina’s bill come with the cuts necessary to keep us out of the red, so the whole thing can get voted on in one go and so she doesn’t leave someone else to do her dirty work. Oh yeah, she’s not going to do that, is she? What a surprise.

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Bill January 9, 2014 at 2:38 pm

Exactly, a tax cut is half a plan. You have to set out what you propose to cut to replace the lost revenue, and Republicans never want to do that. its just like Mitt, “I can’t tell you what I will do before the election because you might not elect me,” With miss Shealy its the typical bait and switch. I can’t tell you what I propose to cut because you won’t support my plan if I do.

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Smirks January 9, 2014 at 1:59 pm

“National groups.” Let me guess, ALG, Cato, Club for Growth, etc. Also given kudos by Rich-funded Davis.

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Torch January 9, 2014 at 2:46 pm

My thoughts exactly.

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Sam January 9, 2014 at 2:04 pm

A great thing to propose. That is what the Haley’s and Shealy’s of the world do, after all. Propose things. Then raises money off of it. Then propose more things and then raise some more money. Nothing actually ver gets accomplished but the masses are happy.

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Frank Pytel January 9, 2014 at 2:20 pm

Got a better idea?

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Deo Vindice SC January 9, 2014 at 6:50 pm

Public hanging for all traitors of the US and States, last man standing ? Shot by firing squad.

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Frank Pytel January 10, 2014 at 6:36 am

Oh Hell Yes!!

Mikey Likey!!

Give that man a C-gar!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

To Paraphrase: Aaaannnd That’s the way it should be!!

Drinks are on the house!!

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venomachine January 9, 2014 at 2:29 pm

Like the government would cut its own revenue stream.

Right.

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cuvinny January 9, 2014 at 2:37 pm

You can find all the details here: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/bills/901.docx

Surprisingly there is no mention of how she plans to deal with the revenue gap.

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Jan January 9, 2014 at 2:55 pm

Thats the easy part. You forgot about the Arthur Laffer School of Wizardry. That is the institution where they teach the cash spell. Every time you cut taxes and repeat Arthur Laffer’s name three times while holding your nose and jumping in the air, money appears. It never fails. Used properly all taxes can be eliminated.

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MashPotato January 9, 2014 at 9:35 pm

Shhh, you must not leak the secrets of the Federal Reserve…

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Matt January 9, 2014 at 8:04 pm

Of course there is no mention on how to offset the revenue gap, she is typical republican tea party politician who has no clue how budgets work. Just says what her followers want to hear whether it makes any sense or not to folks with a clue.

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idiotwind January 9, 2014 at 4:15 pm

the differences between a plan and a press release are many Fits. there is no plan and nothing for anyone to examine other than the original hollow soundbite.

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ThreePalms January 9, 2014 at 4:38 pm

Proof positive that Shealy and teaparty Republican are simple minded. Shealy states that by eliminating taxes, business owners will create more jobs and the teaparty Republicans support the idea. Davis even throws the supporting evidence that states which do not have have income taxes grow faster. That kind of cause and effect logic might lead anyone to conclude that if SC had no income tax, our tourism business would equal Florida’s.

Shealy’s “proposal” and the way it is supported by Davis is exactly why the teaparty will never make it and why the expression “the party of stupid” is so often repeated.

For crying out loud. Running a state is serious and it takes revenue.

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Corky Thacher January 9, 2014 at 4:52 pm

I agree. Taxes are a zero sum game. It doesn’t matter whether we raise or lower them so we should raise them. Nothing will change either way and we have a state to run.

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MashPotato January 9, 2014 at 9:44 pm

I’ve been advocating for years that we don’t need such a big government, taxes are too burdensome, and that taxpayer’s money is not safe with politicians. But your eloquent appeal that “running a state is serious and it takes revenue” really convinced me. I’m not running a state, they are. It’s not like I could use the extra ten percent of my paycheck to pay bills or save for retirement. Government needs it more than I do!

Thanks for the epiphany ThreePalms!

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Common sense January 10, 2014 at 9:43 am

Heres an even better idea…lets propose that all business and industry cut all salaries by 10%. The affected workers can simply cut their spending. Think how many new jobs would be created by that plan!!!

Just think how industry would grow and thrive in SC using that will folks/tea party approved logic.

After all, business and industry knows far better than we do how much money is needed to live and survive.

The sad thing is..people like mash potato believe that they need to keep more money so that they can continue to pay all the bills that they owe to business and industry. So its not “their” money, is it?? Its actually business and industry that owns everything we earn and own, isnt it? So now to keep feeding the addiction, lets take it all from governments and education and feed it to Bank of America and Time Warner and SCEG and Ford motor credit and Exxon/Mobil. That will result in even less oversight and regulation, thus resulting in even MORE growth, prosperity and jobs for all..

Conveniently, these are the same business and industry that continues to push the false religion that “no taxes equals growth and prospertity for all”.

And the sheep found on this website all eat it up and bleat their agreement as they are being led to the slaughter.

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David Koch January 10, 2014 at 4:36 pm

Shut the Hell up!

MashPotato is right!

Carry on!

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Ernie January 9, 2014 at 8:39 pm

Raise the sales tax, legalize gambling, cut spending. There you go, that’s 3 billion right there. Come on SC, get out of the Stone Age.

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Oh you Nay Sayers! January 9, 2014 at 9:53 pm

Damned if you do and damned if you don’t! You people are never happy!

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Nah January 10, 2014 at 11:37 am

First, you should never come to FITS looking for happiness. It’s not in the DNA here.

Second, it’s not that you are “damned if you do/don’t”, the problem is very simply that people recognize that this idea doesn’t even have a snowball’s chance in hell.

I applaud her for trying, but it is simply impossible given today’s dynamics…and that is reality. The pols do not want fiscal restraint(regardless of the label R or D).

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Lake January 10, 2014 at 7:50 am

Representing the Lexington area perhaps she is planning to replace lost revenue with a tax on meth.

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Matt January 11, 2014 at 6:57 am

Lol, she is just another typical crazy lexington politicans

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RogueElephant January 10, 2014 at 10:05 am

Maybe Katrina is working toward a FAIR TAX. This would fix a large percentage of what is wrong with the tax structure as well as taxing a lot more of the underground economy that is getting off Scott free and making the rest of us pay higher taxes. How many people get paid cash under the table for whatever reason then go to Wally World and buy the necessities of life at a tax rate of 8%. That is all the taxes they pay. My 30% could be cut considerably with the Fair Tax. Probably in half. Think about how much “honest” money that would put into the economy .Keep up the good work Katrina.

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Hmm, yea, I don't know January 10, 2014 at 2:43 pm

I’m not sure getting those who somehow skirt around income taxes into the tax net solves revenue shortfalls.

That’s the main problem with the “fair” tax.

There’s this fairy land supposition that increasing the tax base will reduce the taxes for those already paying, when history clearly shows that all that happens is that the pols spend the extra money brought in, even still yet faster than it can be collected.

“Starve the beast” just doesn’t seem to work either though, they just pile up deficits instead and eventually get bailed out by DC via money printing.

The whole system probably just needs to go “bust” before it’s temporarily fixed via bankruptcy.

The entire notion that we just need better central planning has to be dispensed with.

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