Taxes

South Carolina needs tax reforms that make us more competitive within our region while also maintaining funding for important programs. We are currently 34th in the nation for personal income tax and 19th for corporate income tax. I support implementing the tax foundation’s “option b” plan from their “South Carolina: A Road Map For Tax Reform” that they published in 2018. Some of the notable changes to the tax system would include:

• lowering the corporate income tax rate to 4 percent

• Conforming to the federal policy of full expensing of machinery and equipment purchases

• repealing the antiquated corporate license fee

• adopting a 5 percent single rate individual income tax with a $12,000 standard deduction and the retention of the personal exemption,

• and other reforms

If we implement this plan, it would take us up to the 11th best state in the nation for income tax and 10th for corporate income tax. Updating our tax system in these ways will make South Carolina competitive within our region and improve the lives of South Carolinians.