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 More than 281,000 unemployed Illinoisans could see their job
prospects dim should lawmakers approve Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to eliminate
the state’s flat income tax protection.
The Senate Executive Committee on April 10 passed the Pritzker-backed Senate
Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 1, which would allow for a graduated,
or progressive income tax. But the amendment lacks protections for businesses
seeking to invest in Illinois talent. In fact, the amendment would open the door
for lawmakers to impose the nation’s highest corporate income tax rate.
The Illinois Constitution currently caps the corporate income tax rate at
eight-fifths of the individual income tax rate. Illinois’ personal income tax
rate is 4.95%, and the corporate income tax rate is 7%, but lawmakers could
legally hike that rate up to 7.92%.
 The cap remains in place under SJRCA 1 with one very important change: it would
apply to the highest individual income tax rate. Under Pritzker’s “fair tax”
proposal, that rate is 7.95%.
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Given Pritzker’s top individual income tax rate,
lawmakers could pass a corporate income tax rate of up to 12.72%.
And adding the state’s 2.5% Personal Property Replacement Tax would
bring Illinois’ effective corporate income tax rate to a whopping
15.22%.
The nation’s top marginal corporate income tax rate
is 12 percent in Iowa, according to the Tax Foundation. And that’s
scheduled to drop to 9.8% by 2021.
Not only would Pritzker’s amendment allow for an extraordinarily
high corporate income tax, lawmakers would also be empowered to
layer multiple income taxes on top of Illinoisans’ individual
earnings. If Pritzker were to succeed, the constitution would lose
the sentence that stops double taxation and the state could, for
example, add a special income tax surcharge to pay pensions.
Ultimately, the state’s spend and borrow habits mean Pritzker’s plan
will become a guarantee of higher taxes on the middle class.
Pritzker and state lawmakers should instead pursue sensible spending
reforms that don’t require consuming more of what Illinois taxpayers
earn.
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