By Charles Boothe, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A compromise was not reached on a plan to end the personal income tax in the state during a summit Monday afternoon called by Gov. Jim Justice.
“Let’s just keep working,” Justice said at the end of the summit, which included House and Senate leaders, insisting that now is the time to start the process of ending the tax.
Justice did offer compromises, including reducing the initial amount of personal income tax reduction from 60 percent to 50 percent, taking out the taxes on alcoholic beverages, lowering the tax on tobacco products and lowering the tax increase on soft drinks from an extra 6.9 percent to 2.4 percent.
But House and Senate leaders continued to question many details in the proposal, including if the increased taxes only hurt those who could least afford tax hikes.,
Justice, however, insisted his moves would make everyone “cash positive” and any extra money spent on taxes would be more than up for with extra money in paychecks as the income tax falls…
