Tax relief for the wealthy or for you?

Would you like the sales tax from your online purchases to go to corporations and the wealthy or to YOU as a permanent reduction of your property taxes?

Well, your District 1 representatives decided that your sales tax revenue should go mostly to the wealthy.

How did this happen? In 2019, Mike Moyle and the Republican-led legislature created a special Tax Relief Fund which is 100% funded by out-of-state online sales taxes paid by Idahoans. All other sales tax is treated as regular revenue and goes to the general fund.

Last year, Idahoans shopped online more than ever before and will likely continue. This produced a windfall of over $163 million for this “special fund”. Instead of giving that money to rural schools running levies, our legislators voted to give permanent tax cuts.

This change will mostly benefit the top 1% of income earners who will receive $9,000 per year in tax reductions while Idahoans with modest incomes will receive just $80 per year in tax relief.

Here is the bottom line: Your representatives voted to permanently reduce the taxes of the wealthiest Idahoans rather than to permanently reduce YOUR property taxes.

You can fix this by voting for candidates who understand taxation and school funding and who are committed to reducing your property taxes. Find those candidates and vote for them in the 2022 election cycle.

Lee Christensen

Sandpoint