Proposed bill aims to increase Idaho sales tax credit - East Idaho News
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Proposed bill aims to increase Idaho sales tax credit

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REXBURG – A proposed bill aims to increase the sales tax credit to ease Idahoans’ “burden in the grocery store.”

Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, is working with Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, the Idaho State Tax Commission and others to draft the bill.

Ricks wants to increase the tax credit from $120 to $150.

“Every Idahoan is eligible to get that tax credit,” Ricks tells EastIdahoNews.com. “People notice it when they file their Idaho taxes. You’d get it all back as a refund.”

The legislation is one of Ricks’ priorities this session. There’s a lot of support for this bill, he says, and he hopes to get it passed as soon as possible.

The rising cost of groceries in recent years due to inflation is the primary motivation for this bill. As prices become more expensive, Ricks wants to provide some tax relief for Idahoans and eliminate that burden.

“We feel that inflation has increased enough that we don’t want Idahoans to be paying that part of the sales tax,” he says. “We’re trying to ease the burden in the grocery store for folks in Idaho.”

Monks was not available for comment.

Ricks is chairman of the Local Government and Taxation Committee, which looks at ways to reduce the tax burden for Idahoans every year. In the last several years, the committee was instrumental in passing property and income tax reductions in the Gem State.

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Ricks anticipates having the sales tax bill ready to introduce in the House next week.

He’s also working on a resolution calling on U.S. Congress to pass a balanced budget. Idaho is joining numerous other states who have passed similar resolutions. If at least 35 states support it, a Constitutional Convention could be called to address the issue.

“It allows the states to force the issue through a constitutional amendment or force Congress to act on its own to pass the bill,” Ricks says.

A similar resolution passed a Senate committee last year but ultimately did not advance for vote. He hopes there’s enough support for it this year and that it will pass both the House and the Senate.

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