Lawmakers, Business Leaders To Discuss Tax System Reform

August 21, 2013

A group of lawmakers and business leaders is planning to meet Wednesday to examine whether Arizona should reform its income tax system.

Over the last couple years the state legislature has cut business and capital gains taxes and reformed the sales tax collection system. Now, House Speaker Andy Tobin says it’s time to examine whether the income tax system needs to be changed.

“Let’s decipher what our income tax does. Let’s decipher how valuable it is. Let’s decipher whether there should be any changes or not. So we’ll be prepared to have something to go forward with in session should they decide that there’s something there," Tobin said.
 
The bipartisan committee is largely made up of advocates for cutting taxes. Some Republicans say overhauling the income tax will make things simpler for taxpayers. But one of the panel’s Democrats is worried that a possible effort to enact a flat tax might shift tax burden onto middle- and lower-income Arizonans.