(Audio) Gov. Malloy Proposes Reduction In Connecticut Sales Tax – However, Eliminating a Tax Exemption Could Hurt Middleclass (CBS)

February 18, 2015

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/02/16/gov-malloy-proposes-reduction-in-connecticut-sales-tax/

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) – Gov. Dannel Malloy has announced plans to cut the sales tax in Connecticut, but the proposal is facing opposition from Republican lawmakers.

As WCBS 880’s Fran Schneidau reported Monday, the governor’s plan to cut the sales tax to just under 6 percent over a couple of years sounds like good news, especially to lower and middle-income families.

The proposal calls for reducing the 6.35 percent tax to 6.2 percent this year, then dropping it to 5.95 percent by 2017. Malloy said the first reduction would come around Nov. 1 if it is approved by the Legislature, making it the lowest sales tax since 1971.

However, Republican lawmakers worry that those same lower and middle-income residents could say goodbye for good to the tax exemption for clothing selling under $50.

That tax could disappear on July 1, but according to Senate Republican Minority Leader Len Fasano “By taking that exception away it’s a bigger tax than the sales tax reduction (Malloy) wants to do.”

Fasano said many things will have to give to close the state’s projected $1.3 billion budget deficit.

The governor is expected to outline his budget plan in Hartford on Wednesday.

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