From Your Capitol - March 16, 2021
Today the Mississippi House of Representatives used an unusual procedure to revive the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021 because the Mississippi Senate refused to even consider the bill.
In an effort to revive the Tax Freedom Act of 2021 the House replaced the language in a Senate Bill (SB2971) with the language of the Tax Freedom Act.
This action forces the senate to consider our proposal and either make amendments or kill the tax cutting bill.
Because of feedback received from citizens over the past couple of weeks, there has been a few changes to the bill:
Tax free earned income was changed from $50k for singles $100k for couples to $40k for singles $80k for couples,
In four years the tax free income changes to $80k/$160k and continue phasing out completely like the original plan.
The Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021, will bring tax relief for Mississippi Families and eliminate 1.9 billion dollars of income tax taken from the working people of our state.
In addition to income tax relief, sales taxes on groceries will be reduced from 7 percent to just 3.5 percent by fiscal year 2027. Mississippi's sales tax on groceries will be below that of both Tennessee and Alabama.
For a Mississippi family whose income is 40,000 dollars/year this will be a $3000 tax cut.
To create a more fair and equitable foundation for collecting revenues to pay for essential government services, sales tax will increase from 7 percent to 9.5 percent.
Many have asked about how the increased sales tax will affect families.
The average Mississippi family will pay an additional $100/year in sales tax, and even in a year you purchase a new car your additional sales tax will only equal $750, well below the tax cuts.
I am proud to support this tax cut and will continue to work to ensure your taxes are lower and spent more wisely.