State of South Carolina secondary Archives: on Tax Reform
Ben Carson:
Taxes start at 150% of poverty level & some tax below that
My tax plan has been praised by Cato, by Wall Street Journal. Forbes said it is the best, the most pro-growth tax plan, and it's based on real fairness for everybody. Starts at the 150% poverty level,
but even the people below that have to pay something because everybody has to have skin in the game. My plan deals with corporate tax rate, and everybody pays exactly the same.
Source: 2016 CBS Republican primary debate in South Carolina
Feb 13, 2016
Henry McMaster:
Low taxes spur economic growth and prosperity
The recent tax reform bill signed by President Trump was a great victory for American taxpayers and our economy. But with the federal government cutting taxes, it is now more important than ever for us to do our part. My executive budget proposes a $2.2
billion tax cut for every South Carolinian.The first year's cut amounts to $139 million. To all the South Carolinians listening tonight: that's $139 million that would have gone to government, and will stay with you instead.
Like Presidents
Reagan, Kennedy and now Trump, I believe that low taxes spur economic growth and prosperity. Yet, South Carolina currently has the highest marginal income tax rate in the southeast--the 12th highest in the nation. Seven states have no income tax at all.
Taxes of all kinds at all levels add up--little by little--to smother growth.
We must act. We must heed the lessons of history. We must respect the right of the people to their own money, for their own purposes, according to their own priorities.
Source: 2018 State of the State speech to South Carolina legislature
Jan 24, 2018
Henry McMaster:
Lower taxes helps us compete: $2.2B tax cut
We have the highest marginal income tax rate in the southeast--the 12th highest in the nation. Seven states have no income tax at all. Taxes of all kinds at all levels add up--little by little--to smother growth. Beating the competition requires
reforming our state's marginal income and corporate tax rates. That's why I have proposed a $2.2 billion tax cut across all personal income brackets resulting in an average 15% rate reduction.
Source: 2019 State of the State address to South Carolina congress
Jan 23, 2019
Henry McMaster:
Cut income tax by $2.6 billion over five years
Last year, we returned $67 million to the taxpayers in a one-time rebate check. It was well-received. This year, I propose that we return twenty-five cents of every surplus dollar to the taxpayers through rebates and tax cuts.
It's their money. Many people don't believe it but reducing taxes in fact results in tax receipts increasing, not decreasing. South Carolina has the highest personal income tax rate in the southeast and the twelfth highest in the nation.
Therefore, I ask that we cut our state's personal income taxes by $160 million this first year, for a total of $2.6 billion over five years. This means a 15% across-the-board tax reduction for all personal income brackets, keeping us
competitive with our neighboring states. This year, with a $1.8 billion surplus, if we don't cut taxes and send money back to the people, shame on us.
Source: 2020 South Carolina State of the State address
Jan 22, 2020
Henry McMaster:
15% across-the-board reduction for all personal brackets
Reducing the tax burden on people and businesses continues to be one of the most important ways South Carolina can lay a foundation for future growth. South Carolina's marginal tax rate of 7% is the highest in the southeast and the 11th highest in the
nation. I propose that we cut our state's personal income taxes through a phased-in five-year 15% across-the-board tax reduction for all personal income brackets, keeping us competitive with our neighboring states.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address: South Carolina legislature
Jan 13, 2021
Herman Cain:
Abolish the IRS; implement 23% national sales tax
Q: You say abolish the IRS and impose a FairTax, a national sales tax of 23%. But experts say the practical effect is a tax cut for the wealthy and a tax increase for the middle class.A: With all due respect, your experts are dead wrong.
I have studied the FairTax for a long time. First of all, it is 23%, but it replaces all federal income taxes; and it replaces the payroll tax.
Depending on how you define a windfall for the rich, it's also a bonanza for the not-so-rich, because of the prebate. Every family deserves to get a prebate to offset taxes that would be paid on essential goods and services.
That levels the playing field, in my opinion, and especially gives the not-so-rich an advantage that they don't have today under our current system. So yes, I strongly support totally replacing the current code with the FairTax.
Source: 2011 GOP primary debate in South Carolina
May 5, 2011
Jaime Harrison:
Repeal 2017 tax cuts which were for the wealthy
Q: Support administration's $1.9 trillion (2017) tax cuts?Jaime Harrison: No. It gives "wealthy donors tax cuts." Promises to repeal 2017 tax cuts.
Lindsey Graham: Yes. Strong supporter. Argued that they would "help grow the economy," and also were politically necessary.
Source: CampusElect survey of 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Sep 30, 2020
John McCain:
Voted against Bush tax cuts for not reining in spending
Q: You opposed President Bush's 2001 tax cuts. Now you say you were wrong. How can you convince Republican voters you will push a Democratic Congress hard enough to make those tax cuts permanent?A: I didn't say that I was wrong. I said that the reason
why I opposed those tax cuts was because we didn't rein in spending. And the fact is the tax cuts have dramatically increased revenues. If we don't make them permanent, then every business, farm and family in America will have to adjust their budgets to
what is in effect a tax increase.
In 2001, I proposed massive tax cuts, but I also proposed to rein in spending. Spending is out of control. We didn't lose the 2006 election because of the war in Iraq; we lost it because we in the Republican Party
came to Washington to change government and government changed us. We let spending go out of control. We spent money like a drunken sailor, although I never knew a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of my colleagues.
Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
Kevin Bryant:
Vicious cycle of paying back a lot of earned tax credits
The tax collectors created a brand new state-level earned income tax credit. Proponents of this new tax credit want to leave more money in the wallets of lower-income and amen to that! But it will not stay there long when those folks have to use their
tax savings to pay more for gas in order to spend the first 3 months of the year just to send enough income tax to government to be able to claim a credit that they then will give back at the gas pump. This is your government at work.
Source: SCnow.com: K. Bryant OpEd: 2018 South Carolina Governor race
May 12, 2017
Krystle Matthews:
Exempt feminine hygiene products from state sales tax
The list of items exempt from South Carolina's 6 percent sales tax runs 23 pages long. Absent from that roster are feminine-hygiene products, which brings $3.8 million into state coffers annually. A Lowcountry legislator wants that to end, introducing
a measure that would free them from the tax. Matthews said her bill is a matter not only of common sense but equality.South Carolina is one of 33 states where tampons, sanitary napkins and other feminine personal care products are taxed.
Source: Charleston Post and Courier: 2022 South Carolina Senate race
Apr 13, 2021
Lee Bright:
Supports the FairTax to simplify taxes
Bright favors the Fair Tax and hopes to "simplify and reduce the
burdens of payment and bureaucracy" when considering the US Tax Code.
Source: Edgefield Advertiser on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Oct 29, 2013
Mike Huckabee:
FairTax puts Going-Out-of-Business sign on IRS
Q: The alternative minimum tax caught 4 million people this year; it'll get 23 million next year unless Congress acts. How would you eliminate the tax without raising the budget deficit?A: The simplest way is an active FairTax. That's the first thing
I'd love to do as president, put a "Going Out of Business" sign on the Internal Revenue Service and stop the $10 billion a year that it costs just for them to operate. A FairTax would eliminate the alternative minimum tax [& many other taxes].
Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
Mike Huckabee:
FactCheck: FairTax requires 34% sales tax +$600B entitlement
Huckabee praised a "FairTax" without noting that it would actually impose a stiff retail sales tax & ease the tax burden on the richest Americans:"A FairTax would eliminate the alternative minimum tax, personal income tax, corporate tax, & al
the various taxes that are hidden in our system & Americans don't realize what they're paying."
The FairTax proposes a "prebate" to soften its impact on low-income persons--a monthly check for the amount of tax paid up to the poverty level.
But any sales tax also would lower taxes for those upper-income persons who save large portions of income that would be taxed under current law.Pres. Bush's bipartisan Advisory Panel on Tax Reform rejected the idea, saying it would substantially
increase taxes for 80% of taxpayers. The panel calculated that a sales tax would have to be set at 34% of retail prices, and the monthly cash prebate would amount to the largest entitlement program in history, at least $600 billion per year.
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
Mitt Romney:
Pledges no new taxes in 2007 after refusing pledge in 2002
Q: Your critics have called you "flip-flop Mitt" for your decision to take the "no new taxes" pledge this year after refusing to do so in 2002. A: I want to make it very clear that I'm not going to raise taxes. As governor of Massachusetts, I made it
very clear there, and I did not raise taxes. We faced a huge budget gap, but I recognize that raising taxes could lead to a slowdown in our economy, so we didn't do it. We balanced our budget, and that's exactly what I'll do with the federal government.
Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
Mitt Romney:
FactCheck: Did not raise MA taxes, but DID raise MA fees
Mitt Romney said he "did not raise taxes" when he was governor of Massachusetts. Technically, that is true, but it's also misleading. Romney did not raise anything called a tax during his tenure as governor, but he did increase state revenues by raising
various types of fees. In 2003, Romney doubled fees for court filings (which include marriage licensing fees), professional registrations and firearm licenses. Romney also quintupled the per gallon delivery fee for gasoline (money that is supposed to be
for cleaning up any leaks from underground fuel tanks). All told, the fees raised more than $400 million in their first year. Romney also "closed loopholes" in the corporate tax structure, a move that generated another $150 million in increased revenue.
In addition, Romney cut local aid, a program whereby the state supplied revenue to cities and counties. In 2004, Romney cut nearly 5 percent, or about $230 million, from the local aid budget.
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
Ted Cruz:
Tax returns on a postcard
We've got to get people back to work. We all agree on that but it's not going to be solved with magic pixie dust. Every time we lessen the burden of Washington on small business owners, on job creators, we see economic growth.
My plan is this: typical family of four, first $36,000 earned, no income taxes, no payroll taxes. Above ten percent, everyone pays the same simple flat ten percent income rate. You can fill out your taxes on a postcard and we abolish the IRS.
Source: 2016 CBS Republican primary debate in South Carolina
Feb 13, 2016
Thomas Ravenel:
Tax cuts lead to growing economy with higher revenues
On Cutting Taxes: "I passionately believe in the merits of cutting taxes. Lower taxes in the long term improve the quality of life of every man, woman and child."Tax cuts have always led to a growing economy with higher revenues than before the tax
cut. In 1998 when our Republican House and Senate enacted a capital gains tax cut from 28% to 20%--a 29% cut: federal revenues from this source doubled. Capital gains and marginal rate tax cuts encourage people to work, save and invest.
Tax cuts allow small business owners to plow their money back into the business, which creates growth, expansion, and jobs. Unemployment goes down and wages go up. Increases in supply and productivity reduce the costs of goods and services, and improves
their quality. Lower income citizens are then able to purchase higher quality goods at lower prices: with higher wages! Tax cuts increase the quality of life for those at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. This is compassionate conservatism!
Source: 2004 South Carolina Senate campaign website, ravenel2004.org
Sep 1, 2004
Mark Sanford:
Vetoed 50-cent increase in cigarette tax
In May 2010, [then-State Rep.] Scott voted against overriding Governor [Mark Sanford]'s veto of House Bill 3584 [which would have raised the cigarette tax]. The bill "would increase the tax by 50 cents per pack, rather than the
30-cent-per-pack increase approved earlier this year in the House budget. The increase, if enacted, would generate $136 million in state healthcare funding.
Most of the money would go into a new Medicaid trust fund to help pay for health care for the elderly, disabled and the poor." The House overrode the veto by a vote of 90 to 29, thus, it became law
[despite] the Governor's veto. [South Carolina Legislature, 5/12/10; Pageland Progressive-Journal, 4/27/10; South Carolina Legislature, H. 3584]
Source: 2024 Trump Research Book on South Carolina voting records
Aug 2, 2024
Tim Scott:
Voted against 50-cent increase in cigarette tax
In May 2010, [then-State Rep.] Scott voted against overriding Governor [Mark Sanford]'s veto of House Bill 3584 [which would have raised the cigarette tax]. The bill "would increase the tax by 50 cents per pack, rather than the
30-cent-per-pack increase approved earlier this year in the House budget. The increase, if enacted, would generate $136 million in state healthcare funding.
Most of the money would go into a new Medicaid trust fund to help pay for health care for the elderly, disabled and the poor." The House overrode the veto by a vote of 90 to 29, thus, it became law
[despite] the Governor's veto. [South Carolina Legislature, 5/12/10; Pageland Progressive-Journal, 4/27/10; South Carolina Legislature, H. 3584]
Source: 2024 Trump Research Book on South Carolina voting records
Aug 2, 2024
Nancy Mace:
Slash the state income tax to zero percent
Slash State Income Tax to Zero:
Nancy Mace is committed to slashing the state income tax to zero percent, ensuring more money stays in your pocket by streamlining state spending and fostering economic growth.
Source: 2026 South Carolina Governor campaign website NancyMace.org
Aug 14, 2025
Alan Wilson:
Trust me to do things like eliminate our income tax
Wilson said wants to get rid of the state income tax. "I'm asking you to trust me to do things like eliminate our income tax, reform our property taxes,
reform our education system, maintain parental rights at all costs," Wilson said during the forum.
Source: The State on 2026 South Carolina Gubernatorial race
Mar 5, 2026
Pamela Evette:
Committed to eliminating the state income tax
Every dollar matters for families and small businesses. That's not the case with politicians and bureaucrats in Columbia who waste taxpayer dollars.
Pamela is committed to eliminating the state income tax and delivering a bold, conservative tax reform plan that will give families real financial relief and empower small businesses to grow and create jobs.
Source: 2026 South Carolina Governor campaign site PamelaEvette.com
Mar 25, 2026
Annie Andrews:
End tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and corporate polluters
I'll fight to:- End tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and corporate polluters
- Raise wages and strengthen workers' rights
-
Expand affordable child care and paid family leave
- Bring back trade policies that protect South Carolina's jobs and farms
Source: 2026 South Carolina Senate campaign site DrAnnieAndrews.com
May 1, 2026
Henry McMaster:
If General Assembly can eliminate income tax, I'll sign it
Five years ago, I signed into law the largest income tax cut in state history. As a result, South Carolina taxpayers have kept an additional $1.275 billion of their hard-earned money.
This year, I have again proposed cutting the personal income tax rate as much as we can, and as fast as we can. And if the General Assembly can find a way to eliminate it altogether, I will sign it the second it arrives on my desk.
Source: 2026 State of the State Address: South Carolina legislature
Jan 28, 2026
Jermaine Johnson:
Expand number of people not paying income tax
Eliminating the state Income tax: Johnson said it may be impossible to eliminate the state income tax because it represents more than 40% of the state's budget. He also lamented how the recent tax cut benefits wealthy people in the state. "What
they didn't tell you is that there are 40% of South Carolinians who were already not paying income tax, they were getting it back in the form of a refund, they just took down those
40% who were not paying income tax took them up to 1.99% and they will not even realize that they will not get the refund back that they got last year until next year when they filed their tax returns,"
Johnson said. "That is a problem. My plan calls for expanding that 40% to 70% of South Carolinians not paying income tax, and I know exactly how to get there."
Source: The State magazine on 2026 South Carolina Gubernatorial race
Jun 6, 2026
Mullins McLeod:
Reduce state income tax by reducing development deals
[On Eliminating the state Income tax]: McLeod said the tax burden could be reduced if lawmakers didn't give incentives as part of economic development deals. "If you look at how much the people pay into the system, for every dollar we, the people, pay
in these large for-profits, like Volvo, pay a dime. If the people of South Carolina do not get what they bought and paid for, yet these for-profits get everything for free," McLeod said. "I am for reducing the tax burden on the people and enforcing the
laws on the books against these large for-profits, instead of giving them a free ride."Johnson said it may be impossible to eliminate the state income tax because it represents more than 40% of the state's budget.
He also lamented how the recent tax cut benefits wealthy people in the state. Johnson said. "My plan calls for expanding South Carolinians not paying income tax, and I know exactly how to get there."
Source: The State magazine on 2026 South Carolina Gubernatorial race
Jun 6, 2026
Kasie Whitener:
We can't tax our way out of this
We can't tax our way out of this. Despite the "tax the billionaires" rhetoric, we cannot ever raise the money we need to fix this debt problem unless we address the spending first. There are three ways to fix this: - Increase revenue
- Decrease
spending
- Grow the economy.
Raising taxes and reducing spending don't get politicians elected. In fact, it's cutting taxes and increasing the spending that gets them elected, and since being elected is what they want, they keep spending.
Source: 2026 South Carolina Senate website KasieSouthCarolina.com
Oct 14, 2026
Page last updated: Oct 18, 2026