PHOENIX — According to Democratic campaign ads, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs wants to impose a 23% sales tax on Arizona if elected governor.
One ad authorized by Gov. Katie Hobbs starts with: “Andy Biggs wants you to pay a consumption tax on just about everything,” and ends by saying the 23% tax is "gonna cost you big time” if he's governor.
Biggs, the Republican nominee for governor, told ABC15 the ads are deceptive.
“I say that's a lie. That's not even part of our platform,” he said. “We've not ever brought it up. That's a federal piece of legislation, has nothing to do with the state.”
He's referring to the Fair Tax Act, a proposal to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service and replace federal income taxes with a 23% sales tax that he has long backed. The plan would reduce taxes for the majority of Americans, he said.
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When Hobbs’ campaign released the ad last week, her spokesperson, Michael Beyer, pointed to remarks Biggs made in 2012 when he was running for state Senate about his most passionate tax issues.
“My biggest passion for Arizona is to see a complete overhaul, and I think a consumption tax is the best way to do that,” Biggs said then.
Beyer said Arizona families are already stretched thin.
“At a time when Arizona families are worried about affording groceries and gas, Andy Biggs is so out-of-touch he wants to make every trip to the checkout line even more expensive," he said.
‘I will never raise taxes’
Biggs does want to eliminate Arizona’s income tax as governor – but he isn’t proposing any new taxes to replace that revenue.
“I will just say this: I will never raise taxes on Arizonans,” he told ABC15.
Income taxes from individuals make up 31.5% of the $18.85 billion in revenue in the state’s General Fund for the current fiscal year, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
Nearly half of the revenue – $8.82 billion – is from sales and use taxes.
Biggs is proposing the state gradually phase out the state income tax so Arizona can compete with other Sun Belt states no income taxes, such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee.
He says Arizona can make up the difference – $5.94 billion in this fiscal year – by slashing waste and fraud, making agencies more efficient and monetizing assets like state trust lands.
“Those things right there can make up that difference without ever touching or raising any other tax,” he said.
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