Federal tax cut debate impacts treasury

Published 11:22 pm Monday, September 20, 2010

BATON ROUGE (AP) — If Congress allows any of the Bush administration tax cuts to expire, Louisiana’s state coffers will take a hit.

Louisiana’s tax code is tied to the federal tax laws. Louisiana lets its taxpayers deduct the amount of federal taxes paid from their state liability. So, if people pay higher federal taxes, they will get a greater deduction on their state taxes.

Economist Greg Albrecht told the state’s income forecasting panel on Monday that if all the tax cuts expire, Louisiana will lose about $120 million a year in state tax income.

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If Congress backs President Obama’s plan and only renews some of the tax breaks, Louisiana will lose between $30 million and $40 million a year, said Albrecht, the chief economist for the Legislative Fiscal Office.

The impact wouldn’t be felt until the 2011-12 budget year, he told the Revenue Estimating Conference.

The federal tax cuts pushed by President George W. Bush’s administration and enacted in 2001 and 2003 are set to expire in January unless Congress renews them. Obama supports extending the tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000 in adjusted gross income.