By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
Calling a revenue-neutral tax conformity bill “irresponsible,” Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed the measure on Friday − and vowed to reject any plan other than his own.
A clearly angry Ducey lashed out at lawmakers from his own Republican Party for refusing to go along with his plan to simply conform Arizona’s tax laws and allowable deductions with the changes made in the Internal Revenue Code as part of the federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act signed by President Trump in late 2017.
Those changes, incorporated by themselves into the Arizona tax code, would increase what residents owe by about $150 million when they file their returns in April. So GOP lawmakers sought to balance that out by cutting income tax rates across the board by 0.11 percentage point.
Ducey, in vetoing the plan, said that creates an “irresponsible measure that hastily changes Arizona’s tax laws without any reliable data to back it up.”
On one hand, Ducey said there’s “plenty of time” to consider the issue and find ways to simplify the state tax code − for 2019 and beyond.
But he also made it clear that, as far as the 2018 taxes, he’s determined to get his way.
