Senate President Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson) discussed his goals with the Senate Committee on Tax Reform 1 p.m. Friday.
President Carmichael’s “vision” is a complete elimination of the income tax in the state of West Virginia. He said other growing states have made this change from a focus on income tax to a focus on consumer sales tax instead.
In his own experience, Carmichael said he has found that citizens are fond of the suggestion as well, since “the more people look at it, the more people like it.”
The president said the shift in revenue would also help to alleviate many future tax reform problems.
As for the committee’s role, Carmichael said he believes they are “the right team” for turning his ideas into a reality.
“I fundamentally believe that this is the most important committee of this session,” Carmichael said. “This committee is about transforming the state.”
Senator Robert Karnes (R-Upshur), Chair, said the committe will do their best to achieve this goal in a timely manner by maintaining a bipartisan environment in committee proceedings.
Karnes also announced that the committee will be working with West Virginia University and Marshall University to collect and evaluate data for their tax reform measures.
The next meeting date for the Senate Committee on Tax Reform has yet to be determined.
