Posted on 01/09/2006 9:13:57 AM PST by churchillbuff
Government retirees could receive a tax break if a submitted bill becomes law after the 2006 Virginia General Assembly session.
Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Dale City, proposed legislation that will exempt federal, state and local government retirees' pay from state income taxes.
HB161 will be presented to the appropriate committee and deliberated during the General Assembly, which convenes Jan. 11.
If the bill changes the state's tax code, it means former teachers, firefighters or federal agents' retirement pay will not be considered taxable income.
Currently, 10 states do not tax federal, state and local pensions. They are Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York and Pennsylvania.
Lingamfelter, who also represents Quantico and eastern Fauquier, said that many of his constituents and residents are retired government employees.
He said Virginia's income tax on their retirement pay is driving retirees away to live in states that don't touch their pensions.
"They believe they are being taxed too much so they move to states that guard their income," said Lingamfelter.
A tax relief will help stimulate and sustain the commonwealth's economy and encourage more people to live in Virginia during their retirement, said Lingamfelter.
"They're going to spend money in your community, and as they spend money they pay sales tax," he said. "As you create more business you create more jobs."
William Elwood, the executive director of the Richmond-based lobbyist group Virginia Governmental Employees' Association, said his organization supports any savings for state government retirees.
However, the effect of HB161 will depend on each retiree's income, Elwood said.
"With state employees, you have a whole gamut of higher paying and lower paying jobs," he said. "I'm sure the impact would vary on an individual basis."
The VGEA consists of thousands of current and retired state employees. The organization is currently lobbying for measures to increase the healthcare credit for state retirees and also increase the multiplier and the formula used to determine retiree benefits.
While the VGEA does not have a public stance on Lingamfelter's proposed tax relief, Elwood said, "We support measures to get more money staying in retirees' pockets."
HB161 will also affect military retiree benefits, since service members are considered government employees.
A retired Army colonel, Lingamfelter said he will donate any savings he receives if his bill becomes law.
"I do not want people to question my motives, when in fact a huge number of Virginians will benefit from this," he said in a released statement.
How can it be constitutional for some persons, based on who their employer was to be exempt from income taxes during retirement, but other retired persons still have to pay income tax.
Why am I not surprised? IMO it is well past time for a complete revamping of the Gov't pension schemes at all levels of Gov't, most notably those in place for Congress. What a crock.
Some animals are more equal than others.
I was thinking the same thing. The article specifies further that they have pensions, which are defined benefit (more expensive) instead of defined contribution (such as 457) plans.
:-) Good analogy. I do think that Orwell wrote the pigs as people though.
ping
How convenient! Work on the governments tit your whole life, then protect yourself from having to pay income tax on your pension. But God forbid you exempt private sector employee pensions!
Yes they are
this is crap. absolute crap.
I am surprised a Republican would propose this. I support exempting military pay....but not govt. employees in general.
They tend to vote DEMOCRAT. Why would we want financial incentives to attract more Democrats to live in VA????
Stupid idea !
It's called source taxing (taxing income from an outside source) and the SC has ruled it unconsitutional for federal and military retirees. I think this is who they're really trying to protect but as some sort of consolation prize they are rolling in state workers as well.
It's like this, I worked for Uncle for over 20 years in the military and refunded taxes back to Uncle and my home state (assuming I had a state of legal residence that taxed me while away from home) for those 20 years. Then I retire to another state and that state taxes my retirement from Uncle. As the SC says, not legal.
If I had worked in the state, was a resident of that state and then retired in that state all those years then the state could tax me, but it's not the case all the time.
I'm no expert on tax law, just basing my opinion on what I know.
SZ
This sure underscores who government serves.
As a USG retiree living in Virgnia, I hope it passes. It is a win-win solution. Virginia keeps more retirees in state and the individual retains more of their own money, which can be spent on the local economy. In addition to the states above, there are others, i.e., Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, that don't have state income taxes. Other states provide partial breaks for government retirees.
Twenty-seven states with an income tax exempt Social Security benefits from taxation. The 27 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. Wisconsin will also fully exempt Social Security benefits from taxation beginning in tax year 2008.
The article failes to list that state with no income. So while Hawaii sounds like a nice place to retire on this article Washington, Texas, Forida, New Hampshire, Nevada and Wyoming are nice places to live and work, income-tax-free.
Why not just make public "servants" royalty? We could address them as "your lordship", they can rent us land to live on. You know, just like the good old days ...
In Mississippi ALL retired pay is exempt from state income taxes, not just govt employees retired pay.
Certain way to promote a revolution.
Public employees earn as much or more than private industry.
They can opt out of Social Security and most if not all can retire early at 80% of their final salary.
What reasoning, other than "All animals are equal; but some animals are more equal than others" can be the justification for this special privilege?
In essence, this gives them twice the usual retirement that non-public employees enjoy.
If it passes, the retirement income of EVERYONE, not just government workers, should be exempted. Why should government workers be treated better than the people who pay their salaries - and their retirement benefits?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.