Lawmakers make tweaks to property tax reform, affecting businesses and veterans

Indiana’s major property tax reform is already changing as lawmakers made tweaks on the final night of the legislative session.

The reform measure, SEA 1, made huge changes to the business personal property tax, an annual tax on business equipment. Under current law, businesses with less than $80,000 total in equipment are exempt. This session’s tax reform, already signed into law, raised that exemption to $1 million this year, and $2 million next year.

Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) said lawmakers have now decided to alter that in a follow-up bill, HEA 1427. It will keep the exemption threshold the same this year, and go straight to $2 million next year.

“And the reason really for that is because property tax bills have already gone out and it would make it very difficult for the locals to try to figure out,” Pryor said.

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The reform bill also eliminated property tax deductions for veterans and replaced them with property tax credits — the idea being credits would do more to reduce people’s bills.

But Rep. Chris Judy (R-Fort Wayne) said after veterans groups raised concerns about that change, lawmakers are changing it back: the deductions will remain, instead of credits.

“We’re not going to have a veteran say, ‘Hey, due to the tax credit, I’m getting less than what the deduction I was offered,’” Judy said.

Judy said lawmakers will revisit the idea of property tax credits for veterans next year.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.