Jason Astrup, the Democratic-NPL endorsed candidate for Tax Commissioner, called on the North Dakota Legislature to enact income tax and property tax relief to help ease the tax burden on North Dakota families and small businesses.

Astrup’s plan would simplify the tax code by eliminating all but one tax bracket and provide an income tax exemption on the first $40,000 of taxable income for single filers and $80,000 of taxable income for married filers. This exemption, when combined with the standard federal deduction, would eliminate the first $50,000 in income from taxation for single filers and $100,000 from married filers. Any income over these exemption levels would be taxed at 2.52%. Individual childless filers making $50,000 would see $524 in savings. Married couples with two children, making $108,000 would see savings of $1,220. Furthermore, both of these scenarios yield zero tax liability for the taxpayers.

“This plan not only simplifies the tax code but it also eliminates any tax liability for the bottom 57% of all income filers in North Dakota. North Dakota is sitting on the taxpayers’ money and it’s about time the state starts respecting the taxpayer and provide meaningful relief to them. This proposal benefits not only all individuals who file a tax return in North Dakota but also the 111,000 small businesses, farmers, ranchers, partnerships, LLC’s, and S-corporations who are taxed at the individual level.”

In addressing property taxes, Astrup proposed making last session’s 12% property tax credit permanent. He has advocated for permanent property tax relief from the beginning of his campaign. “Our residents can’t gamble that the state is going to get around to addressing property tax each Legislative session and need to know that this legislation is not going away.”

Astrup also proposed a renters income tax credit. The savings for an individual paying $833 a month for rent, not unheard of in the western part of the state, would be $500 a year. “We need to pass this property tax relief down to all the people across our state who rent and aren’t currently seeing the same reduced costs that homeowners are receiving.”

The last leg of Astrup’s property tax proposal is a homestead property tax credit. The first $75,000 dollars of assessed value on every home in the state, and up to $125,000 in assessed home value for the elderly, would become property tax exempt. “This will ease the burden of property tax on every homeowner in the state. For example, a 45-year-old owner of a $155,000 house in Cass County will see their tax bill reduced by $1,100. An elderly resident of Williams County with an assessed value $213,000 would save $918.” The proposal will also allow the elderly to afford living in their own homes longer. “This is real property tax relief that gives every North Dakota resident a piece of our state’s prosperity.”

The total amount of the “Respect the Taxpayer Plan” is $1.138 billion per biennium.

Astrup stated “This plan shows that our state is serious at creating a tax policy that helps everyone living in our state and our small businesses as well as being an attractive recruitment tool to assist our employers in filling the 23,000+ job openings in our state.”

Jason Astrup is an attorney in private practice in Fargo. He focuses on business law, tax law, and estate planning. Astrup received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Jamestown College and his Law degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in North Dakota, Minnesota, and United States Tax Court. Astrup is the Democratic-NPL endorsed candidate for Tax Commissioner in this November’s general election.

The post Astrup’s “Respect the Taxpayer” Plan simplifies taxes, provides more than $1.1 billion in relief appeared first on North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.

From:: Dem-NPL News