Gov. Bobby Jindal has held up Texas and Florida, states that do not levy income taxes, as models for luring investment and new businesses as he's made his preliminary case for abolishing Louisiana's own personal and corporate income taxes and making up the shortfall by upping the state sales tax.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has held up Texas and Florida, states that do not levy income taxes, as models for luring investment and new businesses as he's made his preliminary case for abolishing Louisiana's own personal and corporate income taxes and making up the shortfall by upping the state sales tax. But as New Orleans non-profit journalism site The Lens points out, the two states are a poor model for emulation because they levy relatively high property and business taxes at the local level:
Citing LSU economist Jim Richardson, who was on the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana committee that studied the ramifications of Jindal's tax swap - Jindal has so far offered few details about his proposal - Louisiana under Jindal's plan doesn't have enough legs to stand on:
"Most states have a three-legged stool for raising revenue," said Jim Richardson, a Louisiana State University economist who co-chaired PAR's tax study. "Texas and Florida have two legs sales and property since they don't have an income tax." Under the Jindal plan, "Louisiana would have a one-and-a-half-legged stool sales taxes and some local property taxes."
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