The Chair of New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee says the state needs to take a look at slashing or eliminating the personal income tax.
Representative Patty Lundstrom says it’s a way to keep the state competitive in job creation.
Lundstrom made the suggestion in the latest newsletter released by the LFC Committee.
She says the fastest growing states and communities don’t have an income tax and, hoping to attract business, more states are moving in the same direction.
Currently, the New Mexico income tax rate topps out at 5.9-percent.
Lundstrom says we don’t want to be behind neighboring states when it comes to attracting new business.
“It’s a good thing if everybody else has it, but if they don’t, then we’re an outlier,” she said. “It’s hard to get people to come to work now and especially in a gig economy. What happens with that kind of economy if people are having to pay personal income tax? Then they are not in New Mexico.”
Lundstrom says they should also take a look at the laws regarding the Gross Receipts Tax to see if they need to be modified given changes in the economy over the years.
She says she hopes lawmakers will be able to work on some proposals during pre-session meetings to have bills ready to go in December ahead of the 2023 60-day legislative session.