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Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is reportedly interested in implementing an alternative income tax structure for the Hawkeye State’s wealthiest taxpayers.
The state’s income tax rate structure is a bit deceptive because Iowa is one of just six states offering a deduction for federal income taxes paid. ITEP has written a whole report on this costly and regressive loophole available here (PDF). The ability of Iowans to write off all of their federal income taxes on their state income tax forms means that the state needs higher income tax rates in order to raise necessary revenue. The state’s top personal income tax rate is 8.98 percent—and some elected officials believe this makes it difficult to attract businesses to the state. But, Iowans pay an effective tax rate far lower than 8.98 percent because of the generous deduction for federal income taxes paid.
In order to combat this public relations problem, Governor Branstad is considering proposing an alternative income tax that has lower rates and no deduction for federal income taxes paid. Iowans would be allowed to file their taxes either way, but of course, most taxpayers would compute their income tax bills twice to determine which results in lower tax liability. In other words, the proposal completely disregards the tax policy principle of simplicity. It’s also likely that offering this “optional” income tax would cost the state in terms of revenue, since most people will choose it only if it saves them money.
The Governor’s proposal has come under scrutiny from some in the legislature and from various advocacy groups. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement released a statement saying, “Iowa’s wealthiest citizens need to pay their fair share in taxes. They don’t need more options for how to pay less.”
The track record for proposals of this type isn’t very good. One need only look to the 2008 presidential campaign and Senator John McCain’s tax proposal. During the campaign Citizens for Tax Justice analyzed the Senator’s alternative “simplified” tax and found that in 2012 alone, the alternate tax “would cost $98 billion, and 58 percent of this would go to the richest five percent of taxpayers.” Let’s hope Governor Branstad’s proposal falls the way of McCain’s.