JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Lawmakers will be taking a close look at Mississippi’s current tax system during the next Legislative Session, and it could bring some major changes.

Dr. Joshua Hendrickson, chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Mississippi, said the state’s current tax structure is an obstacle for many.

“We sort of have the worst of all worlds. You earn a dollar and that dollar gets taxed by the income tax. And then if you spend that dollar, it gets taxed again by the sales tax. If you save that dollar and you earn any interest on that dollar, that that interest gets taxed on the income tax. The state is going to have to think about how to streamline it’s tax system,” said Hendrickson.

Lawmakers have worked to address it. A tax cut passed in 2022 is still being phased in, and lowering the tax burden for Mississippians has been a focal point for Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) since entering office. A complete elimination of the income tax may lead to a higher tax elsewhere.

“I’m not sure that the state will be able to completely eliminate the income tax without replacing some of that revenue. Just trying to get there without increasing any other taxes seems very, very unlikely,” said Hendrickson.

The income tax, gas tax and the nation’s highest grocery tax will all be looked at during the next session, according to House Speaker Jason White (R-Miss.). The math and the politics are being considered by leadership.

“The grocery tax is the number one sales tax generator for most medium and small towns. That’s not only tricky math, it’s tricky politics to make all that work. Certainly we want to maintain our cities and their budgets and so, to do that we’ll have to, that’ll be a lot of levers we’ll be pulling and looking at,” said White.