March 15, 2024
Tax Relief passed the Senate and was sent to the House. All of the bills can be found at www.kslegislature.org. Here are some highlights.
Tax Relief for All Kansans: Property, Sales, and Income tax cuts passed in SB 539 with a bi-partisan vote of 29 to 11. I voted Yes. The bill would cut taxes for every Kansas taxpayer. It will:
- eliminate state income tax on Social Security (SS)
- provide property tax relief to homeowners by increasing the K-12 20 mill exemption to $100,000, up from $44,000
- eliminate the state sales tax on groceries July 1, instead of Jan 1, 2025
- increase personal exemptions for single filers to $11,000 and $22,000 for married joint filers and increase for inflation each year after – current single exemption is $2250 and $4500 for married
- increase single filer standard deduction to $4000 and increase all standard deductions (married is currently $8000) for inflation each year after
- increase dependent exemptions to $3000 up from $2250 and increase each year after for inflation
- create a single tax bracket at 5.7 that would decrease each year .05 for 5 years
- decrease the privilege tax to 1.63 for banks and 1.62 for trust companies over two years
- create a child tax credit program based on household income
Personal Property Taxes would be eliminated on off-road vehicles (including all-terrain vehicle – ATVs), watercraft, golfcarts, motorized bicycles, snowmobiles, and trailers with a gross weight of 15,000 lbs. or less. The KS County Appraisers Association asked me to help eliminate the taxes because it cost more to collect the tax than what is collected. The County Treasurers and Clerks I checked with agreed. Also, constituents had contacted me asking me to help because the taxes on these items are high and the penalties are steep. SB 484 is a win for the taxpayer and the tax collector. It passed 29 to 11.
Property Tax Freeze for Seniors and Disabled Veterans would be expanded in HB 2465 by subtracting SS from the household income, increasing the household income limit to $80,000, and increasing the home valuation to $595,000. Currently, only 50% of SS can be subtracted from the household income and it must be below $53,600 with a home valuation of $350,000 or less. HB 2465 would also open up the filing deadline because most people didn’t know about the program. (They must not be reading my newsletters ) The filing deadline for the property tax freeze is April 15 each year. The form is K-40SVR at Kansas Department of Revenue https://www.ksrevenue.gov/pdf/k-40svr23.pdf. I worked diligently with other Senators and House Tax Conference Committee members to pass this into law and we are working to expand the program so more people qualify.
Sales Tax Exemption For Disabled Veterans would be a new program for veterans. Any 50% or more disabled veteran would not pay state or local sales tax on personal purchases, excluding vehicles, alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products. It would have a limit of $24,000 in purchases. KDOR reported that most Kansas families spend about that amount on items that have a sales tax. The original bill was SB 58. The committee voted to create Senate Substitute for HB 2036.
HB 2036, a property tax exemption for disabled veterans, created constitutional questions as stated by lawyers and others. Instead of risking losing the legislation because of questions on constitutionality, it made more sense to expand the existing program that freezes property taxes for seniors and disabled veterans and implement the sales tax program. It will help more disabled veterans, because not all own a home. The state has avoided the question of constitutionality with the property tax freeze program by having all of the property taxes paid and homeowner apply for a rebate.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12th District State Senator.
Caryn