SACRAMENTO – Board of Equalization Vice Chair George Runner suggested replacing California’s income taxes with a sales tax on services during a discussion at the 2015 Cal Tax Annual Members meeting.
“If you want real tax reform, we ought to look at eliminating the state’s personal and corporate income tax,” said Runner in a press release. “One less tax agency would make California a far more attractive place for jobs, retirees and investment.”
Runner said eliminating California’s income tax would bring more companies and more residents would stay in the state upon retirement.
Seven states do not have an income tax. Those states include Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
Runner said true tax reform makes tax systems simpler, rather than more complicated. He complained that Senate Bill 8, which would extend sales tax to services, is a massive tax increase. He said the legislation would make California’s tax system more complicated and add thousands of state auditors and tax collectors to state payrolls.
Runner called for dynamic economic modeling of the likely benefits of an elimination of income tax and a shift to a consumption-based tax system. He encouraged businesses to conduct their own modeling to weigh the pros and cons of such a structure.
The annual meeting hosted by Cal Tax attracts taxpayers from many industries and gives the business community an opportunity to be updated on legislative affairs.
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