AP story here :
“It was a like a gift from God,” Republican state Rep. Tanner Magee said of the extra tax revenue. “If we weren’t in a billion-dollar shortfall, maybe we would have had those discussions. But when the money came in, everybody was like, ‘Wow, the timing could not be better for the state.’”
Workers in the state saw more in their paychecks in January when employers changed federal withholding, but noticed another change in February: Withholding was up a bit to reflect higher state taxes. Lawmakers said they have been getting questions from constituents about that.
“They’re still coming out ahead. They’re still getting a benefit overall,” said Rep. Nancy Landry, a Republican. “I think they realize that. They know that we’re having a budget deficit. Nobody’s asking that the money be returned to them.”
States are still sorting out what the GOP tax overhaul adopted by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in December will mean for them, and the answers depend largely on how each state’s tax policy is linked to federal law. In some states, the changes could be immediate; in others, they’re likely to take time.
“In most states, if legislators fail to act, there will be an unlegislated tax increase in effect,” said Jared Wolczak, a senior analyst at the conservative Tax Foundation.
I can’t say I’m surprised.
jasg
February 24, 2018, 7:47pm
1302
Berkshire-Hathaway has done quite well from tax reform…
Warren Buffett released his annual letter on Saturday, in which he tells shareholders that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, made $29 billion in 2017 because of the GOP tax cuts.
“Berkshire’s gain in net worth during 2017 was $65.3 billion…A large portion of our gain did not come from anything we accomplished at Berkshire. The $65 billion gain is nonetheless real – rest assured of that. But only $36 billion came from Berkshire’s operations. The remaining $29 billion was delivered to us in December when Congress rewrote the U.S. Tax Code.”
nate
February 24, 2018, 8:02pm
1303
Wow, this isn’t good. So $29 billion lost in gov’t revenue from one company x 10 years for this tax plan = $290 billion of the $1.5T cost. And that’s a conservative estimate. So 1/5th of the cost of the tax plan goes to BH… I don’t think that was part of the sales pitch.
Is there anyone else who thinks this plan is going to cost 10x what they estimated? This could get really bad for our already terrible deficits.