And You Thought the Bush Tax Cuts Were Bad

Scott Walker Mulls Eliminating Income Tax in Wisconsin

Dec. 17, 2013 2:34pm Becket Adams

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is considering taking steps to eliminate Wisconsin’s income tax.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker is considering eliminating the income tax in Wisconsin. (Getty Images)

The Republican governor acknowledged this week that in his administration’s ongoing discussion about the state’s tax laws, the idea of nixing the income tax has been given serious thought.

Walker, who survived a recall attempt in 2012, said his administration is having this discussion well ahead of the state’s next budget so they can figure out now what employers and voters think “would be the biggest bang for the buck,” wispolitics.com reported.

“There are many states that do very well, better than most states in the country, that have no income taxes,” Walker said during a meeting at the Northern Economic Development Summit. “That’s one thing for us to look at. Is that feasible? What would that mean in terms of an economic boost? That’s not only for individuals, but small businesses in this state.”

Walker boasted of Wisconsin’s economic growth, telling summit attendees his administration wants to “work” with them to create jobs. He also explained that specialty training will be necessary to continue growing the state’s economy.

“The state that’s most aggressively out front on worker training will be the state that leads the country, if not the world, in economic recovery,” Walker said. “That’s the one thing I hear so often. I see it in polls, but more importantly I hear it every week.”

Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler discussed the state’s tax laws last week. Chandler said the administration is trying to figure out how to move forward with the proposed changes by getting input from the public. He added that there could be changes to the income tax code or property taxes.

“We want to look at areas where we may not stack up well against other states, where particular aspects of our tax code may be out of line with other states,” Chandler said. “We want to get the overall burden down, and we want to make all elements of the tax code as competitive as possible.”