When you look at a tax map like this you might wonder if Idaho is as conservative as people think it is.
In today’s world, hyper-competitive business environments and flows of capital, a state’s income tax structure can play a big role in not only supporting businesses and economic growth within the state, but also in attracting vital new industries and companies.
When you look at how Idaho stacks up, it isn’t very pretty.
The only states in the region that are higher than Idaho are OREGON and CALIFORNIA. Those two states are bastions of liberalism and Idaho is not too far behind them on their top marginal rate at 7.4%. Not to mention the fact that Idaho is surrounded by three states that have a rate of ZERO. That’s pretty tough to compete with.
It seems that from time to time the State Legislature has made modest attempts to chip away at the rate with tiny .01% reductions or something similar. You would think that an overwhelming Republican Legislature would lean towards solid conservative principles like lower taxes rather than protect the feeding trough of never ending increased government spending.
This seems to be an easy slam dunk for Legislators that often run as conservatives. We need to lower the rate to be competitive with surrounding states. It’s not complicated.
