Issue Position: Taxes

Issue Position

Jim Banks Will Fight Washington to Stop Tax Increases

There are few ways you can throttle the economy and restrict growth faster than increasing taxes. Jim Banks has been fighting tax increases at every level of government from the time he was elected to his county council through his service in the state senate.

One of the most anti-growth tax policies is the estate tax. This tax punishes many small business owners and farmers who seek to pass on their investments of time and effort as a legacy to their children. Once he was elected to the State Senate, Jim was a leader in the fight to eliminate Indiana's Death Tax -- one of only six states in the country that still assessed an inheritance tax at the time. Jim was recognized by many conservative groups and the Wall Street Journal for his work to repeal the state death tax and is the only candidate at the time of this writing who has signed a pledge to repeal the Federal estate tax as well.

Jim was named chairman of the Indiana Taxpayer Protection Caucus, a project supported by Americans for Tax Reform that worked to encourage Indiana legislators to sign a pledge to not raise taxes. In this campaign for Indiana's Third District Jim Banks is the only candidate who has signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to not raise taxes if he should be elected and has challenged his opponents to do the same.

One of the most common reasons legislators are called upon to raise taxes has to do with out of control government spending. A quick and effective way to prevent the need for tax increases is to reduce spending. Jim was also the first candidate for Indiana's Third Congressional District to sign the Coalition to Reduce Spending's pledge to reduce federal government spending.

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