Lafayette, Houma Lawmakers’ Bills Could Increase Your Income Taxes
Two income tax reform bills that may increase your state income tax bills are headed to the full House of Representatives.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved those bills during its hearings on Monday, April 19. The bills will be debated on the House floor on Monday, April 26.
Under the current Louisiana tax code, residents pay two percent in taxes on the first $12,500 of their net income, four percent on the next $37,500, and six percent on income above $50,000.
The first bill, authored by Rep. Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette) would reduce income tax bracket rates to 1.85 percent, 3.51 percent, and 4.25 percent. Bishop's proposal would also eliminate federal income tax deductions on state taxes. The bill's fiscal note says the law, if passed, would net the state about $10 million in its first two years and about $18 million over the first five years.
The other bill, authored by Rep. Jerome Zeringue (R-Houma), would create a flat four-percent income tax for people who make more than $12,500 per year. That $12,500 amount is the threshold to file state income taxes. Anyone who makes below that amount who files income taxes would then pay a two-percent tax. Zeringue's bill would also reduce the state's film tax credits. According to its fiscal note, the proposal would cost the state $31 million dollars over the next two years before raising about $60 million over the following two-year period for a net five-year revenue gain of $29.4 million.
Under both Zeringue's and Bishop's bills, taxpayers who itemize on their federal returns would face a tax increases. Those who don’t itemize would see their tax bills go down.
Meanwhile, a bill raising income taxes on people who make above $500,000 is dead.
That bill, authored by Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans), would have created two new tax brackets. The first new bracket would have taxed income above $500,000 at seven percent and income above $1 million at eight percent. According to the fiscal note attached to the bill, Landry's proposal would have raised $29.3 million annually and $101.3 million over the next five years.