It looks like today is the day for the House to complete its version of the Maryland Tax Reform Act of 2007 (HB 2) . Delegates are expected to vote today, in which case the two competing bills (HB 2 and SB 2) will go to a joint tax conference committee for reconciliation and final votes from both legislative bodies. Makes you think back to your 7th grade civics class, doesn’t it?

The House proposal has higher personal (from 4.75 percent to 5.75 percent) and corporate income tax (from 7 percent to 8.75 percent) rates than the Senate version. In addition, sales taxes increase from 5 percent to 6 percent and the hotel room tax rate jumps from 5 percent to 10 percent. Also:

• The House version contains more services subject to sales tax than the Senate version.
• The House version has less spending cuts than the House version.
• The House version contains combined reporting, which was eliminated from the Senate version.

Assuming the House passes its tax bill today, lawmakers will turn their attention to slots on Monday.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce has a good analysis of the changes here.

Here is a copy of the 17 amendments passed by the House Ways and Means Committee which will be voted on today. The full text of HB 2 can be found here. The list of services included in sales tax base are on pages 14 and 15. Note: Accounting, consulting and tax preparation are still out of the bill and amendments. Although we have heard that repairs and maintenance were added to the list, I cannot find them in the latest documents from the General Assembly published bills.

The MACPA’s State Tax Committee requested additional information on combined reporting from the governor and now from the House. You can download their letter here.

See The Sun’s coverage here.