Tax cuts mean more growth and opportunity. The evidence is overwhelming:
Exhibit 1 – Trump’s tax break: When Congress enacted the Tax Breaks & Jobs Act in 2017, hundreds of thousands of Mississippians benefited directly. 204,900 Mississippi households benefited when this Act doubled the child tax credit, lowering the tax bill for these families. A further 933,540 Mississippi households benefited when the Act doubled the standard deduction. Thanks to these tax breaks, a typical family of four in our state were made almost $2,000 a year better off.
Exhibit 2 – Mississippi’s tax break: Mississippi’s Tax Freedom Act 2022 means that the first $18,000 earned by every Mississippi worker will be free from any state income tax. A typical family in our state will now be $800 a year better off.
Talking tax reform this week with Speaker Gunn
Exhibit 3 – Ronald Reagan’s tax breaks: When Ronald Reagan lowered taxes in the mid 1980s, he put America on a path of strong growth for the next thirty years. So successful was Reagan in achieving faster economic growth, Bill Clinton was able to run a federal budget surplus off of it a decade later!
Still not convinced that tax breaks work?
Exhibit 4 – Other states’ tax breaks: Look at the three fastest growing states in the south; Texas, Florida and Tennessee. What do they each have in common? No state income tax. Our state could prosper like these no income tax states – if we abolish the income tax!
With clear evidence that tax breaks could make Mississippi more prosperous, why are many politicians reluctant to do it?
Many politicians think they are better at spending your money than you are.
Progressive politicians like AOC or Chuck Schumer more or less imply this openly. The trouble is that there are plenty of politicians that won’t tell you that they think they can do a better job spending your money than you can. But that is how they act when in office.
Right now, Mississippians face a cost-of-living crisis. Prices are soaring and this is hitting those on ordinary incomes really hard. At the same time, our state has a record $ billion surplus.
We could help put more money in the pockets of Mississippians by not taking it out of their pockets in the first place.
The massive cut in income tax that Gov Tate Reeves and Speaker Gunn delivered through the Tax Freedom Act is an inspiring start. In the months ahead, as the economic situation gets worse, the action they have taken will look like a very smart move indeed. It will help Mississippians financially and help our state get through tough times ahead.
What really excites me is that what Mississippi has started to do is getting national attention. Leaders in different states around the country are beginning to look at Mississippi’s Tax Freedom Act as a model to follow.
We need make sure that Mississippi makes more inspired moves on tax breaks in the months ahead.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Douglas Carswell
President & CEO
Watch this video published by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy: Author Douglas Murray discusses the negative effects rewriting history can have on the American people.
