Indiana House Republicans Pushing Ahead on Tax Cut Plan

Indiana House Republicans are forging ahead with their push for broad business and individual tax cuts even with ongoing skepticism from other GOP leaders in the Statehouse.

The Republican-dominated House could vote as soon as next week on endorsing the proposal that would potentially cut more than $1 billion a year in various taxes and send it on to state Senate for action. The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to advance the plan after rejecting several changes Democrats argued would do more to help struggling families.

Republican leaders in the state Senate and GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb are hesitant to make large tax cuts now even after big jumps in state tax collections.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Brown of Crawfordsville said he was optimistic of winning Senate support for the tax cut plan.

Key parts of the House plan would cut Indiana’s current individual income tax rate of 3.23% over the next four years to 3.0%. That would ultimately reduce state tax collections by an estimated $500 million a year when fully implemented in 2026.

The plan also proposes cuts in several business taxes, potentially cutting those tax bills by between $700 million and $850 million a year.