Tax Department asks legislature to delay repeal of phone property taxes, outlines budget reversions and childcare payroll-tax implementation savings

Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio told the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 21 that the Department of Taxes is asking the Legislature to move the effective date for the repeal of the telephone personal property tax and the telephone gross receipts tax out one year to April 1, 2026.

Bolio said the change, proposed in the Budget Adjustment Act (BAA), follows work implementing Act 145, which modernized old statutory definitions for telephone-related taxes and envisioned moving those telephone-specific assets onto the regular grand list. The department, he said, needs an additional year to complete valuation support for local officials and to contract for outside expertise to ensure accurate and consistent local assessments.

Why it matters: The two telephone tax types are small but administratively complex, and the department said the shift to local grand-list valuation requires extra time and state assistance to avoid local burden. Bolio estimated the combined telephone tax revenue at about $2.5 million for fiscal year 2025.

Bolio also walked the committee through several reversion and adjustment items in the department’s budget. He said…