OPINION — Editorial

Can we get a break?

When your government refuses money

TALK ABOUT man bites dog! People in Arkansas are sending checks into the various county governments, and they’re sending them back!? What’s going on here?

Property owners are responding to a one-time change in the U.S. tax code, a first in more than 100 years. Beginning January 1, people will not be able to deduct state and local taxes if they exceed $10,000 per year. But ever since the income tax was enacted in America in 1913, people have been able to deduct state and local taxes. So people naturally would like to pay their property taxes, upfront and in advance, this week (by year’s end) so they can get a deduction, since they would lose much or all of that deduction next year.

It’s not just happening in Arkansas, but all across the country. In fact, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order allowing people to pay their property taxes due next year by the end of this year.

Yet in Pulaski County and around Arkansas, if people send their property taxes in early, folks in the know say the county treasurers will have to send them right back. Arkansas has an interesting custom: They don’t ask you to pay your property taxes until October of the following year. So what we’re talking about here is property taxes for 2017, and when people are trying to pay them by December 31, 2017, government won’t accept the money. It’s true that for some property taxes will go up, and some people may owe more for their 2017 taxes than the previous year. But why would county governments refuse advance payments on the final amount due, and in fact get an interest-free loan for more than 10 months?

All this nonsense could be solved by Governor Asa Hutchinson’s issuing an executive order, just like Gov. Cuomo did in New York—allowing taxpayers to pay part or all of their ultimate tax bill due next October, and do it by December 31 this year. It would be a nice Christmas gift for a lot of taxpayers. Lots of Arkansas taxpayers are going to see their taxes go up next year when they can’t deduct state income taxes. So this would help offset some of that tax increase.

This seems like a win/win scenario—a win for the taxpayers and a win for the county governments that get their money early and can invest it to their benefit.

Let’s hope our reasonable Governor Hutchinson can make this happen.

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