Expansion of sales tax under consideration again

Written by Steve Peoples, Providence Journal

Wednesday, March 25 2009 09:32

. . . Among the budget-balancing ideas in play is a proposal to scrap the state’s flat-tax option, which results in a tax break for thousands of high earners. Since being instituted in 2006, the flat tax has cost Rhode Island $45.7 million in revenue, according to an analysis released yesterday by the advocacy group Ocean State Action. . .

Ocean State Action spokesman Peter Asen urged the committee to close the shortfalls by scaling back tax cuts for the wealthy.

“We simply cannot cut our way out of this deficit,” he said in written testimony. “Nor can we ask middle- and low-income Rhode Islanders, who are bearing the brunt of rising property taxes, cigarette taxes, and state fees … to give any more than they already are being asked to give. There is no more blood left in that stone.”

Read entire article here.

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