ALEC in National Review: The States Move Forward with the Flat Tax

July 22, 2022 6:30 AM


The drive for a flat tax, started by the great Steve Forbes many years ago, may have stalled at the federal level, but the idea is finding new life in the 50 “laboratories of democracy.” As 46 states just kicked off their new fiscal year on July 1, and we reflect on some of the major policy changes that have transpired, it is evident that a flat-tax revolution is already underway.

In 2022, a new record of four states — Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia, and Arizona — have made the leap from a progressive tax on personal income to a flat tax. In early March, several hours before giving her rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds signed into law aggressive tax cuts, which consolidated Iowa’s nine personal-income brackets into a single rate and lowered the rate from 8.53 percent to 3.9 percent. These historic changes will result in a $2 billion tax cut for Iowans.

In Mississippi, lawmakers passed a plan in early April to lower and flatten the state’s personal-income tax. Mississippi speaker of the house Philip Gunn, a true champion for real tax reform, called the plan “a huge win” for the state of Mississippi. The $525 million tax cut, the largest in the state’s history, lowers the top marginal rate from 5.00 percent to 4.00 percent by 2026 and eliminates the bottom two brackets.

Click here to read full guest column in the National Review.