Lawmaker asks peers to give his tax plan a shot, not shoot it down

A southeast Iowa legislator is proposing widescale changes in Iowa’s tax system — ranging from making Iowans pay sales taxes on food to erasing the state’s tax on corporate profits. Senator David Miller, a republican from Fairfield, admits his plan would raise 300 MILLION more dollars in state taxes, but he says it accomplishes the overall goal of simplifying the tax code. “I guess I’d like to start out by saying as I’ve looked at the tax system, you know you hear the words archaeic, unfair, confusing and uncompetitive and you know, it really is,” Miller says. “And I think what we need to do is just look at some totally new concepts.” Miller would set a flat percentage rate for property taxes, and set just three state income tax rates. In addition, he would only let Iowans who drive their pick-up trucks for business or farm work pay the cheap 70-dollar license plate fee. Everyone else — like city dwellers who drive a pick-up — would have to pay a much higher fee, similar to what minivans pay. Miller concedes his ideas offend many interest groups who’ve carved out tax exemptions, but he is asking his fellow senators to give his ideas a look. “Don’t shoot a sitting duck. At least let it fly a little bit,” Miller says. Miller suggests he ought to have asked some local soldiers if he could “borrow a helmet and a bullet-proof vest.” Miller says his idea of getting rid of the corporate income tax would make Iowa much more attractive to businesses, as only four other states do not charge a corporate income tax. Senate Co-Leader Stewart Iverson, a republican from Dows, says Miller’s tax ideas will “go into the mix.”