Gov. Pence Convenes Tax Conference

The Pence administration is looking for big and little ideas regarding taxes. The Governor – through the Department of Revenue and Office of Management and Budget – recently conducted an all-day discussion on ways to simplify Indiana’s tax code and tax administration as a means for making Indiana even more competitive in its quest to attract more business activity to the state.

The day began with comments from Indiana’s own Al Hubbard, former director of the National Economic Council and a longtime Indiana Chamber board member. His insights were followed by a panel of nationally recognized tax experts who discussed – at a high level – tax structure and the impact of taxes and tax reforms. Well-known economist Art Laffer (of the Laffer Curve fame) spoke at lunch.The afternoon consisted of breakout panels of various Indiana tax professionals who addressed different aspects of our tax system. Each session and all the talks were captured on video and most of the panelists also submitted papers or written comments on the topics they discussed (see the Indiana Chamber’s remarks, under the Tax Simplification section at www.in.gov/dor/5122.htm). The video link and other conference materials are available for review at www.in.gov/dor/index.htm. You can also submit your own ideas (up to two weeks post conference) at www.in.gov/dor/5120.htm.

The event was generally intended to generate, collect and consider ideas on how to make Indiana’s system simpler and better. Everything from big picture sweeping changes to down-in-the-weeds process tweaks were put on the table. There were many references to “broadening the base and lowering the rates.” The taxation of business personal property came up in a number of times. And a wide range of suggestions and recommendations on tax policy and procedure in the contexts of sales, income and property tax were brought forth. Indiana Chamber staff and numerous members of the Chamber Tax Policy Committee took part in the panel discussions and otherwise participated.

The question now is how this host of ideas will be digested by the Pence administration and the Legislature. Many members of the tax policy committees in the Legislature participated and were in attendance. And many of the attendees will also be participating in some way with the Legislature’s Blue Ribbon Tax Commission that will get under way later this summer. The Governor indicated that he hopes the commission and ultimately the General Assembly will give consideration to some of the things discussed at the conference. It seems likely that the conference will create momentum for some proposals. Many appear very doable and could be realized in the near term, others may take a much longer course or never pan out. Of course, only time will tell which ones fall into which category.