By Charles Young, WV News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — As Gov. Jim Justice has continued to tour the state in an effort to sell residents on the merits of his plan to phase out the personal income tax, lawmakers in the West Virginia Legislature have been debating their own tax reform ideas.
House Bill 3300, which was quickly passed by the House Finance Committee last week, would reduce income taxes by $150 million a year over the course of 12 years. However, the bill does not propose any new taxes or tax increases to offset the loss of revenues.
Justice’s plan would immediately reduce state income taxes by 60% while imposing a number of other tax increases. These include increasing the consumer sales tax, increasing taxes on soft drinks, cigarettes and alcohol and imposing taxes on some professional services.