EDITORIAL/Phase out state income tax

Phasing out the state’s income tax is a goal of Gov. Tate Reeves we embrace.

For the income tax cut to be more than a conservative talking point, it should be approached with thoughtfulness and willingness to learn from other states doing it right including Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, Washington, New Hampshire, Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Between 2010 and 2019, Mississippi experienced a 5,601-person growth in population, or 0.19 percent, Russ Latino, president of the conservative think tank Empower Mississippi, pointed out in December. By comparison, the nine states without income taxes have experienced a combined population growth of 8,213,143 for an average of 13 percent.  

The best performing states without income taxes when it comes to population are Texas (14.9%), Nevada (14%) and Florida (14%). The worst performing states without income taxes when it comes to population are Alaska and Wyoming, which both have averaged roughly 2.5 percent growth. This low-end growth is more than 12 times the growth experienced in Mississippi. Tennessee to our north has seen a 473,863-person growth in population during this period.