Gov. Lamont Proposes Middle-Class Income Tax Cut

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont floated the idea of a middle-class income tax cut for next year.

“I’d like to think that now it’s a lot simpler if we provide a middle class tax cut, that would be an income tax cut, for people up to a certain amount, say $150,000 or $200,000,” Lamont said during an unrelated news conference Tuesday.

Lamont announced the potential cut in an interview with the Hartford Business Journal that was published Monday.

Connecticut has relied on a lot of one-offs, such as the child income tax credit rebate, to provide tax relief. Legislators also increased and expanded the property tax credit, and capped car tax mill rates. The total tax relief was about $600 million, which Democratic legislators billed as the largest tax relief in state history.

Lamont’s administration is running the numbers on what a tax cut would cost the state, but said that sustained middle-class tax relief was long overdue. He doesn’t want the cut to be a one or two-year deal, but something that is sustainable.

Republican legislators earlier this year proposed a series of permanent tax cuts, including an income tax cut for low and middle-income individuals and families. They also proposed lowering the state’s sales tax to 5.99 percent and eliminating the 1 percent surcharge on meals.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said Lamont’s proposal is a good start for a long-term systemic tax reduction, according to CT News Junkie.