Monday was an odd day. It began with Governor Asa Hutchinson getting an “atta boy” from Fox News and from the Wall Street Journal for proposing a reduction in Arkansas’ top income tax rate. Before the day was over, Hutchinson was announcing hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes for highways.
His highway tax plan includes:
- New taxes on gasoline and diesel. The tax on gasoline will be an additional 3 cents per gallon on gasoline and an additional 6 cents per gallon on diesel.
- Repassing and extending a ½ cent sales tax on gasoline which is set to expire
- Higher registration fees (taxes) on electric cars and hybrid cars.
- Dedication of $35 million in casino taxes and reserve funding to highways. The state hasn’t started receiving additional gambling taxes but it is already being spent.
Speaking of taxes, Governor Hutchinson’s budget is also counting on passing an Internet Sales Tax to collect taxes from you on any online out-of-state purchases that are now exempt from the sales tax.
