Jon Iversen: Things Heat Up in Juneau

In his most recent column for State Tax Notes, Jonathan Iversen looks at the numbers in the Alaska Department of Revenue’s (DOR) spring 2023 revenue forecast, which the governor and Legislature rely on for budget discussions during the legislative session. Iversen also summarizes some of the bills legislators introduced during the last session that would increase existing taxes or impose new ones.

As a result of lower predicted oil prices and reduced production, DOR lowered its 2023 spring forecast for unrestricted general fund revenue from that of its official fall 2022 forecast by $246 million for fiscal 2023 and $679 billion for fiscal 2024. Among the tax bills under consideration during the most recent legislative session—some of which were put forward thanks to the “comparatively less rosy” revenue forecast—were:

• H.B. 109: Would remove eight of nine existing corporate tax brackets and leave a single tax rate, so that corporations with taxable income over $25,000 would be taxed at a flat 2% rate.
• H.B. 134: Would prohibit a borough, city, or the state from levying a tax on the transfer of real property.
• H.B. 142: Would impose a 2% tax on all sales of goods and services purchased in Alaska. Would allows the Legislature to share half the tax revenue with municipalities that meet certain criteria.
• S.B. 114: Would impose a new income tax and substantially increase the oil and gas production tax.
• S.B. 120: Would expand the education credits that are available for use against a variety of state taxes.