Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Additional Adjustment Options to Improve Fairness in the Tax Recommendations
ITEP Work in ActionThe Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians provided recommendations that make improvements to structural issues plaguing Georgia’s tax system. The Tax Council took strong action to broaden tax bases—a tenet of good tax policy. Although the Tax Council’s recommendations would improve Georgia’s ability to meet current and future needs, they would do so by shifting taxes away from wealthy Georgians and onto middle- and low-income Georgians.
The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute provided three options for improving equity within the Tax Council’s recommendations in January. This policy brief provides four additional adjustment options. These options focus on ways to re-craft the proposed personal income tax credit to make it stronger in offsetting the tax changes in the sales tax, with estimates from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Each of these options would need to be carefully studied as to their impact on revenues.