Under a newly passed House bill, North Carolinians will see a price hike in movie tickets, live performances and museum admission. The “Tax Simplification and Reduction Act” cuts personal and corporate taxes and imposes a uniform tax rate, as well as a 4.75% privilege tax on many leisure pursuits--including non-profit events. And local representatives say they were given inadequate time to consider the bill before voting on it.
State Representative Ted Davis, a Republican from New Hanover County, says he voted for the bill because he’s in favor of measures such as a uniform tax rate. But he fought against other stipulations -- including caps on mortgage and property tax deductions. Davis also says that the final bill was hundreds of pages long, and that negotiations became complex shortly before the voting period began.
"You’ve got appropriations committees that deal with how the money’s gonna be spent. I am not a member of any of those appropriation committees; I’m a member of finance. So I wasn’t privy to all of those discussions."
Davis predicts that several measures of House Bill 998 will be re-addressed at a later date. The bill takes effect January first.
To hear more on the tax reform package from Representative Susi Hamilton, click here.