Pro-Growth Tax Reform Crosses the Finish Line in North Carolina

American Legislator ^ | 7-23-13 | Will Freeland

[ThethoughtsofGreg]

Just over a month ago, we chronicled the efforts of the North Carolina House and Senate to reform the states uncompetitive tax code and move towards a pro-growth tax system. At that point, the House and Senate had two competing bills and were attempting to broker a compromise that also had the approval of the North Carolina’s Governor, Pat McCrory. Last week, an agreement was reached and both the House and the Senate passed an outstanding tax reform package designed to super charge the economy. The Governor has signed that bill this afternoon, ushering in a game changing tax reform with huge growth implications for North Carolina’s citizens.

As part of our previous blog post, we scored the competing House and Senate bills using our Rich States, Poor States Economic Outlook Index. Now that the legislation has been finalized, we can score what these reforms mean for the state of North Carolina. Our analysis shows that North Carolina’s recently passed tax reform, assuming full implementation and a “static” world, would improve North Carolina’s economic outlook, from 22nd to either 4th or 5th overall in Rich States, Poor States (depending on whether all corporate tax cuts are phased in).

The specifics of the bill are far ranging and have a broad effect in most areas of North Carolina’s tax system (summary available here). Some of the bills highlights include:

[struggle]

Alright! I live near the SC/NC line so tax cut for my income and then I buy everything in SC to avoid the sales tax hikes!

[NCDave]

LOL..Me too, I live in the Ville of Pine!

[wally_bert]

I had an aunt and uncle that lived there, off Providence road if I remember right a few years ago. They had family farmland.

[wally_bert]

I grew on the York/Mecklenburg border in SC and kind of miss it but the Midlands have been very kind to me.