In this post-COVID-19 world, every state is looking to find a way to create more jobs.
Mississippi Today reported that state leaders think phasing out the state’s income tax could be the way to go while leaving taxes on groceries.
by Brent Maze
Before I go any further, I don’t like paying taxes. I hate seeing all of the deductions we have to take out of our paychecks twice a month here at the Appeal, but I do understand why we have those taxes there. Those taxes will help pay for services that we individuals cannot pay for ourselves. That includes things like roads, infrastructure, police protection, fire protection and other services that are important to our daily lives.
However, I do think that we can do better than pay taxes on groceries. Let’s try to put this in perspective. According to a 2018 USA Today report on how much the average American family spends on their paycheck, about $7,203 of it is spent on food with about $4,049 of it being food cooked or served at home.
In Mississippi, we tax 7 percent on food. That comes to about $283 spent on taxes for that food. That’s $283 at each of 8,042 households in Newton County. That comes out to be $2.2 million in grocery sales tax that is paid by our local folks. Statewide, that would be $311 million that families would have to spend, but there’s a good chance that $311 million would go right back into helping local businesses across the state.
I understand the argument by Gov. Tate Reeves, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Speaker Phillip Gunn wanting to eliminate the income tax because that might encourage more people to live here. According to the Clarion-Ledger, the state took in about $1.8 billion in state income taxes. That’s a huge hole in a budget that’s already extremely lean.
We can afford to lose the grocery tax revenue, but it’s going to be hard to replace the income tax. The state might try to force the counties to make up the difference, but in Newton County, our ad valorem taxes are already just about maxed out.
It’s a good intention with the income tax, but it’s not very practical for the state’s business. Removing state sales tax on groceries would show that we care for low-income families and those living on fixed incomes.
I think it’s a win-win for everyone.
Contact Brent at bmaze@-newtoncountyappeal.com.
