Ky Tax Recommendations Big Gift to Corporations

Who could have predicted that Kentucky, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Big Coal with one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the country, would come up with a plan to "reform" its soak-the-poor tax system that hands a $100 million gift to the very corporations who are bleeding us to death?

Except, you know, every cynical liberal in the Commonwealth. Yes, we are toasting our liberal cynicism tonight and cursing Lt. Gov. Jerry "Union-Buster" Abramson and his stacked-against-workers commission on tax reform.

Tom Loftus at the Courier:

A commission studying tax reform wrapped up its work Thursday, recommending dozens of changes to the state tax code that would generate about $690 million in new revenue in their first year.

At its final meeting, Gov. Steve Beshear’s tax reform commission also approved a slightly lower rate scale for the income tax. For example, annual income between $8,001 and $75,000 would be taxed at 5.5 percent rather than the current 5.8 percent.


The rate on income over $75,000 would be reduced to 5.8 percent from 6 percent.

But at the same time, the commission recommended reducing the amount of retirement income exempt from the income tax and eliminating that tax break altogether for taxpayers making more than $60,000. And the commission limited to about $20,000 the amount that taxpayers can claim in itemized deductions.

SNIP

The final plan is a collection of tax increases and tax cuts.

The largest jolts of new revenue would come from limiting itemized tax deductions, reducing the pension income tax exemption, raising the cigarette tax to $1 per pack from 60 cents, applying the sales tax to some services, and imposing a 1 percent tax on residential and business utility bills.

The plan’s tax cuts include about $100 million per year in reductions in taxes paid by corporations.

And it recommends setting an earned income tax credit at 15 percent of the credit currently allowed on federal income taxes.

That sound you hear is state legislators licking their chops.  This package of recommendations lets them pass all the tax cut goodies for rich individuals and companies, ignore the tax cut and earned income tax credit for working families and still claim that they adopted the recommendations of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force.

Everybody who thinks the General Assembly will do otherwise, stand on your head.