Governor Jindal shows President Obama how tax reform is really done

**Posted by Phineas

Get rid of the income tax for both persons and corporations, and replace it with a sales tax. Boom:

Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to eliminate Louisiana’s income and corporate taxes and pay for those cuts with increased sales taxes, the governor’s office confirmed Thursday. The governor’s office has not yet provided the details of the plan.

“The bottom line is that for too long, Louisiana’s workers and small businesses have suffered from having a state tax structure that is too complex and that holds back economic prosperity,” Jindal said in a statement released by his office. “It’s time to change that so people can keep more of their own money and foster an environment where businesses want to invest and create good-paying jobs.”

(…)

“Eliminating personal income taxes will put more money back into the pockets of Louisiana families and will change a complex tax code into a more simple system that will make Louisiana more attractive to companies who want to invest here and create jobs.

That would make Louisiana the latest in a series of states considering the elimination of their income taxes in order to spur growth. I think it’s a darned smart idea, particularly as businesses look to flee high-tax jurisdictions, such as Illinois and (I weep) California. It’s the principle of tax competition in action, and a recognition that it’s bad policy to punish desirable behaviors, such as earning and saving. I hope (forlorn, I know) that Governor Brown is taking notes.

It’s also politically well-timed, coming on the heels of the worse than useless tax increase recently passed in D.C. If, as I suspect, Governor Jindal harbors presidential ambitions in 2016, a successful tax overhaul will put him in good standing as a conservative reformer when the primary race begins again.

via Ben Domenech

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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