Doing taxes in Louisiana will be much simpler in coming years, thanks to Atlas Network partner Pelican Institute for Public Policy. In 2021, the organization focused efforts on expanding their audience of people interested in building a better state. They successfully added 20,000 individuals to their owned audience, and over 2,000 to their group dedicated to promoting important policy reform. With this support behind them, Pelican Institute convinced state legislators to pass the Louisiana Tax Simplification Package in 2021. After passage in a popular vote in October, the new constitutional amendment was signed into law late last year.
The Louisiana Tax Simplification Package contains several policy reforms aimed at improving lives and encouraging business in the state. This amendment to the state constitution will allow the removal of the Federal Income Tax Deduction while simultaneously lowering personal and corporate tax rates. It implements a roadmap for phasing out the corporate franchise tax, and the personal income tax rate is now capped at 4.75 percent, down from 6 percent. The package also puts provisions in place to trigger an even further reduction of the individual income tax and the corporate tax rate, so long as tax revenue supports a balanced state budget.
After a year of impressive efforts, this tax reform package is an exciting win. Along with advances last year in educational freedom, occupational licensing reform, efficiency improvements to state aid for low-income families, and more, successfully backing a constitutional amendment marks Pelican Institute for Public Policy as an organization with huge potential to improve lives and opportunities for everyone in Louisiana.