Opportunity Maine Tax Credit
The Taxation Committee spent the last six months studying Maine’s tax code. In terms of the income tax, they concluded that a single flat rate with the elimination of all deductions and exemptions is good tax policy. The same logic also applies to tax credits. Credits narrow the income tax base requiring higher marginal tax rates to raise the same amount in taxes.
Now comes along this “Opportunity Maine Tax Credit” that has passed unanimously in the House and 27 to 8 in the Senate according to this Portland Press Herald article. The credit would be based on the student loan interest for those taxpayers who attended a Maine University and also stays in Maine after graduation.
This all sounds good, but did we not learn anything from the tax reform debates? This is the slippery slope to the current mess that is Maine’s tax code. An exemption here, a credit there and before you know it; it is time to reform the tax code again. The Governor should veto this bill in the name of tax reform.