Budget Director: Don't Expect Changes To Sales Tax Plan

The head of Ohio's Office of Budget and Management says he does not expect GOP state lawmakers to pare down the list of business services that could be subject to sales tax for the first time. Governor Kasich wants to cut the state income tax and business taxes, and apply sales tax to many previously-exempt services. "With the exception of a few exemptions...all services will be subject to taxation. So it's not an enumerated list," Tim Keen said on All Sides with Ann Fisher Wednesday morning. Keen said many of the businesses in those sectors already pay some form of sales tax. "If you're a barber shop and they sell any hair care products, they're collecting the sales tax now. The same with a beauty salon. So a lot of these service providers are already collecting the sales tax for the goods that they sell." The plan is billed as a more than billion dollar tax cut, while the liberal think tank Policy Matters Ohio says the plan will be a tax increase for many Ohioans, especially the poor.