Adopted November 1975, Amended March 1999

Members of the League of Women Voters of Indiana believe a tax system should be broad-based, equitable, easily understood, and efficiently administered and should provide adequate revenue for Indiana's budgetary needs.

To achieve these goals, the League supports the following measures:

• An individual income tax which is progressive for all income levels.

• Graduated rates of income tax are progressive, proportionate to income, but Indiana/s current flat rate for individuals is not. The League of Women Voters of Indiana supports progressivity because it helps to equalize the tax burden among those with different incomes, not putting a greater share proportionally on the poor. It builds into taxes the ability to pay. Therefore, the League strongly advocates that the Indiana income tax should be made progressive, with the introduction of graduated rates. The league believes that individual income taxes should be restructured as soon as possible to this method of taxation.

• The actual graduated rates should provide, at the least, the same total income to the state as current income taxes do.

• The League of Women Voters continues to oppose any reduction in Indiana personal income tax revenue.

• Assessment of all real property at frequent, regular intervals, at the same effective percentage, using adequately trained personnel and up-to-date procedures.

• The League finds that, over and over, Indiana tax problems stem from inadequacies of administration, especially of assessment. The League urges state and local governments and legislative groups to work further to resolve these problems.

• Because the League of Women Voters of Indiana prefers taxation based on income and the ability-to-pay, the League favors changes in local property taxation in the direction of equity and fairness. The League favors the transfer of some responsibilities of government from the local to the state level, with consequent reduction in local property taxes and replacement of the funds from state revenues. The League supports full state financing of public welfare. It also favors relief on local property taxes by shifting responsibility for much of the financing of public education to the state; however, it also supports retention of some funding responsibility for education at the local level so that some degree of control of schools can be maintained at the local level.

• The LWVIN strongly advocates replacing any lower local property tax collections with increased collections from a state graduated income tax. The League takes the broad position that the mix of taxes used to fund all state and local government should be changed in favor of heavier reliance on a state graduated income tax.

• The League favors the replacement of revenues lost from local property tax relief for businesses through an increase in state corporation income tax and other taxes on business. The LWVIN does not favor rescinding the Corporate Gross Receipts Tax. The League supports the elimination of the inventory tax, action requiring a constitutional amendment. Until such an amendment could be approved, the League favors reduction of the inventory tax and its replacement by other taxes on businesses.

• Because of the possibility of substantial increases in residential taxes with a "market value" system of property assessment, the league supports a "circuit breaker" system in market value assessment, which will protect low-income taxpayers whose property has appreciated in value.