House committee advances major income tax cut, exempts some military pensions and carves out bullion gains

The Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee on Jan. 30, 2025, voted 12–2–1 to send House Bill 40 to the full House with a due‑pass recommendation. The bill, sponsored in committee by Speaker Mike Moyle (District 10, Star), would lower Idaho’s individual income tax rate, expand exemptions for military retirement pay and remove state tax on gains from certain monetized bullion and precious‑metal transactions.

Speaker Mike Moyle told the committee the bill is the first of three tax‑relief proposals this session and described it as the latest in a multiyear effort: “The last 6 years the legislature's provided about $4,600,000,000 in tax relief. This year before this committee, we've proposed 3 different bills that propose an additional $400,000,000 in tax relief. This is the first of the 3. This 1 deals with income tax relief.” Moyle summarized the bill’s key provisions: it lowers the income tax rate from 5.695% to 5.3%; it exempts disabled military retirement pay from state income tax at all ages (saying that previously that exemption applied only above age 62); and it eliminates state taxation on gains from certain bullion/monetized precious‑metal transactions.

Moyle framed the change as both fiscal policy and economic development, saying the state…