Charleston Gazette-Mail – After six months of input from economists, academics and government officials, the Select Committee on Tax Reform on Tuesday opened the floor to 33 individuals and representatives of various groups and organizations to hear their thoughts on revamping West Virginia’s tax system. Read
“I’m intrigued to see where the passion is,” committee co-chairman and Senate Finance Chairman Mike Hall, R-Putnam, said of the public hearing on tax reform.
During the four hours of hearings, three major themes emerged: creating an earned income credit to provide tax relief to low-income workers; eliminating the personal property tax on business inventory; and increasing the state’s tobacco tax.
Afterward, Hall said that, given the current economic realities, the committee will probably submit a series of principles for tax reform to the full Legislature, as opposed to proposing tax reform legislation.
“Can you get there in 2016? Probably not in a substantial way, but you at least can have these ideas in place,” Hall said.
“We’ve already said there won’t be one all-encompassing bill,” co-chairman and House Finance Chairman Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, added.