Findings and purpose

Inflation erodes the value of personal exemptions and deductions in the Maine individual income tax structure and distorts fiscal equity among taxpayers. Inflation-induced increases in individual income tax revenues result in annual collections that exceed the amounts anticipated by legislative actions establishing rates, exemptions, deductions and other features of the Maine individual income tax. Furthermore, the income tax laws of this State, in combination with economic inflation, have caused inequitable treatment of the taxpayers because the application of inflexible, statutorily prescribed rates of tax, standard deduction and personal exemption to increasing personal incomes has resulted in increasing the taxpayer's tax liability while the taxpayers purchasing power has remained the same or, in some instances has decreased. It is the purpose of this Act to correct this situation by requiring that certain components of the individual income tax structure be adjusted in order to compensate for the impact of inflation. [IB 1981, c. 2, §4 (NEW).]