Grover Norquist Presents to Indiana Tax Reform Task Force on the Path to Zero  

On November 20^th, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist presented to Indiana’s State and Local Tax Review Task Force in support of eliminating the state income tax. The State and Local Tax Review Task Force is taking a detailed look at Indiana’s state and local tax system and considering the best ways to reform the system to save taxpayer dollars. 

You can watch the full task force session and testimony here.  

The joint task force was created by SB0003 back in May. Republican State Senator Travis Holdman is heading the joint House and Senate task force. Its members consist of three other Republican Members: State Senator Ryan Mishler, State Representative Jeffrey Thompson, and State Representative Jack Jordan, and three Democratic members: State Senator Fady Qaddoura, State Representative Edward DeLaney, and State Representative Gregory Porter.  

The purpose of the task force, as stated by State Senator Travis Holdman, is: “To take a holistic look at Indiana’s tax system,” and so it will examine the corporate tax, individual income tax, property tax, sales tax, and others as to prepare on what the state legislature is planning to do on the next budget-writing session to make Indiana keep being a state that is business-friendly and livable. Holdman added: “We will attempt to tackle over the next two years with some hopeful recommendations to the 20-25 legislature.” 

The biggest potential goal of the task force is eliminating the state’s income tax. Grover focused on how states have reduced taxes over time, and can eventually zero out their income taxes: “North Carolina which is the model I would recommend you look at if you are thinking of phasing the income tax down towards zero. They have done it over 11 years, working on [revenue] triggers.” He explained, “If the economy slows down and you don’t have more revenue that you are planning on spending, you don’t cut the taxes on that year, you wait until you have more growth.”  

Under Republican leadership, Indiana has put itself in a great position to eliminate its income tax. The state has one of the lowest regulatory burdens in the country, and one of the lowest flat taxes as well. In 2022, the legislature passed, and Gov. Holcomb signed, legislation to reduce the income tax rate from 3.23% to 2.9%.  

Other than state income tax, the task force also heard testimonies about the state property tax, sales and excise tax, local food and beverages taxes, the innkeeper’s tax, and local income taxes.