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West Virginia Senate beefs up income tax cut plan

By Phil Kabler, HD Media

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A day after the West Virginia House of Delegates passed its version of a bill to phase out personal income taxes in the state, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday introduced an amendment to House Bill 3300 to make it a tax cut on steroids. The amendment cuts $1.09 billion in income taxes initially, and then phases out the entire $2.1 billion annual revenue source in as little as four years.

The Senate plan offsets the income tax cuts with $932 million a year in other tax hikes, including raising the state sales tax from 6% to 8.5%; reimposing the sales tax on food; and legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana — contingent on federal decriminalization of cannabis.

“When I was reading this bill, I was surprised, frankly. The majority of it is about cannabis,” Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, said of the Senate strike-and-insert amendment.

The proposal also eliminates several exemptions to sales taxes, including many for professional services. It increases cigarette taxes by $1 a pack and imposes a state hotel-motel tax of 4.3%…

To read more: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/w-va-senate-beefs-up-income-tax-cut-plan/article_160979a2-54f1-5852-851d-4f21f9364936.html

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