Committee Studying Indiana's Business Personal Property Tax

A study from the Council on State Taxation reports that Indiana’s tax burden on businesses is the lowest of any of its neighbors.  It’s also among the 10 lowest in the country.  The Council’s Senior Tax Counsel, Fred Nicely, says the one area Indiana could improve is its business personal property tax.

“But we don’t advocate for complete elimination of taxes; we want a stable base," Nicely said. "That’s what’s important because if you have the hiccups with your revenue, it’s usually going to be the business community that’s going to have to quickly make up that amount.”

During the last legislatuive session, lawmakers passed bills giving local governments the option of eliminating the tax on small businesses and new purchases.  That’s after several measures were passed in previous years providing tax cuts aimed at the business sector. 

Senate Appropriations Chair Luke Kenley says lawmakers need to take a balanced approach to tax reform moving forward.

“I don’t think you can just deal only with, for example, the business personal property tax in this commission and really get your work done," Kenley said. "I think we need to look at the whole tax system for all taxpayers.”

Kenley says he doesn’t think the legislature should make any further changes to the business personal property tax for a couple years, giving local governments time to make use of the options and see what the effects are.