Vermont H. 620: An act relating to State-owned airports and economic development

Bill Text

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VT LEG #385593 v.1
H.620 1
Introduced by Representative Waszazak of Barre City 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Taxation; wealth tax; study commission; report 5
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create a 6
commission to study the taxation of wealth and investment gains that currently 7
escape income taxation. 8
An act relating to creating a wealth tax commission 9
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 10
Sec. 1. WEALTH TAX COMMISSION; REPORT 11
(a) Creation. There is created the Wealth Tax Commission to study the 12
taxation of wealth and investment gains that currently escape income taxation. 13
(b) Membership. The Wealth Tax Commission shall be composed of the 14
following members: 15
(1) one current member of the House of Representatives, who shall be 16
appointed by the Speaker of the House; 17
(2) one current member of the Senate, who shall be appointed by the 18
President Pro Tempore; 19

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VT LEG #385593 v.1
(3) the Commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation or 1
designee; and 2
(4) the Commissioner of Taxes or designee. 3
(c) Assistance. 4
(1) The Wealth Tax Commission shall have the administrative and 5
technical assistance of the Joint Fiscal Office, which shall contract with a 6
facilitator who has knowledge of wealth taxes, mark-to-market income tax 7
reform, or other reforms for taxing wealth and investment gains that currently 8
escape income taxation. 9
(2) The facilitator contracted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 10
subsection shall coordinate with the following institutions for participation 11
with the Wealth Tax Commission: 12
(A) legislative members and staff from other states; 13
(B) administrators and staff from the revenue agencies of other states; 14
(C) national academic and legal experts on wealth and income 15
taxation; and 16
(D) the Multistate Tax Commission. 17
(d) Powers and duties. 18
(1) The Wealth Tax Commission shall study the policy considerations 19
surrounding the taxation of wealth and investment gains that currently escape 20

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VT LEG #385593 v.1
taxation, implementation issues, and coordinating with other states to 1
uniformly tax forms of wealth and investment gains. 2
(2) The Wealth Tax Commission shall report on the following issues 3
relating to the implementation of a wealth tax: 4
(A) addressing taxpayers who move into and away from a state 5
during a tax year and identifying the best approach for residency criteria for 6
subjecting individuals to a tax on wealth and investments gains that currently 7
escape income taxation; 8
(B) valuing nonpublic assets, including a functional mechanism for 9
taxpayers to contest a state’s value and alternative mechanisms for valuing 10
difficult-to-value assets; 11
(C) addressing losses in taxpayers’ net worth, including whether 12
losses should be carried over in future tax years; 13
(D) addressing situations where wealth is primarily held in real 14
estate, such as farmers and other taxpayers who may lack the funds needed to 15
pay the tax without selling real estate; 16
(E) determining whether legislative changes are needed to require 17
nonpublic information be made public for purposes of asset valuation, such as 18
adding transparency to private business valuations; and 19
(F) determining the best practices of other states by conducting a 20
survey of other states’ experiences with key components of taxing wealth and 21

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VT LEG #385593 v.1
investment gains that currently escape taxation, including valuing businesses, 1
using financial accounting information, and withholding the income of 2
nonresident individuals. 3
(3) The Wealth Tax Commission shall report on the following issues 4
relating to coordinating with other states to enact a wealth tax: 5
(A) identifying and addressing legal considerations across states, 6
such as federal preemption, the ability to form an interstate compact for state 7
taxation, constitutional differences between states that could affect the 8
coordination of enacting uniform tax laws, and the plausibility of developing a 9
uniform approach or provisions for taxation of wealth and investment gains 10
that currently escape income taxation; 11
(B) identifying the best approach for multiple states to enact a wealth 12
tax contingent on passage or enactment in other states; 13
(C) identifying the components of a wealth tax that are most 14
desirable to be uniform across and the components that can be left to the 15
discretion of individual states; 16
(D) addressing how to best coordinate residency requirements, basis 17
adjustments, crediting taxes paid in other states on wealth and investment gains 18
that currently escape income taxation, enforcement, and information reporting 19
across states; and 20

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