COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) — The South Carolina House of Representatives voted 110-0 to give a $600 million tax cut package second reading Wednesday.
H.4880 would cut the highest income tax bracket in South Carolina from 7% to 6.5% immediately. House leadership said the legislation would eventually decrease the highest rate to 6%. The state’s other tax brackets would see decreases as well.
The bill would also eliminate taxes for military retirement income for all veterans in the state.
Democrats voiced their support for the legislation on the House floor Wednesday. They thanked sponsors of the bill for collapsing the middle tax brackets into a single 3% tax bracket.
After the vote, Gov. McMaster tweeted “….The House of Representatives just took a huge first step towards cutting South Carolina’s income tax. Our work will not be done this session until I sign a major tax cut into law.”
Right now, South Carolina’s highest state income tax rate is higher than Georgia and North Carolina. But the state’s effective tax rate, what people actually pay in taxes after deductions and exemptions, is lower than the two states.
In a statement sent out Wednesday following the vote, Governor Henry McMaster (R-South Carolina) thanked House members for passing the bill. He wrote, “Our work will not be done this session until I sign a major tax cut into law.”
The bill is set to get third reading Thursday from the House before being sent to the Senate. All House members and the Governor are up for re-election in 2022.
Senators are also be considering their own $2 billion income tax-cut proposal as well.
