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Committee adopts proposal to levy fee on some international wire transfers, with tax credit and earmark for law enforcement grants
Summary
A committee substitute for SB 28-28 would charge a $7.50 fee on small international wires (1.5% above $500), refundable as a state income-tax credit for filers; half the revenue would fund specified DPS grant programs while the rest would go to the general fund. An exemption for card- and federally insured-account-funded transfers was added by amendment.
Senator Hill, explaining the committee substitute for SB 28-28, said the measure is “about basic fairness,” proposing a fee on international wire transfers to capture revenue that he said currently bypasses state taxation. Under the bill, transfers below $500 would pay $7.50; transfers above $500 would pay 1.5 percent. Hill said people who file Mississippi income taxes would receive a credit on their return to reclaim the fee.
Hill told the committee that the proposal would route half of the proceeds to Department of Public Safety programs (referred to in the bill as 2-87G grants) to support work with the attorney general’s office, the auditor and law-enforcement partners, and the other half to the state general fund. “If you can get it back, it’s not a tax. It’s a fee,” Hill said, describing the mechanism for the refundable credit.
Members questioned the distribution and scope of spending. Senator Blackman asked why the money would be split rather than deposited wholly into the general fund or directed to municipalities; Hill replied that the split was intentional to seed law-enforcement grants and that local grant programs could be created if the Legislature chose to direct funds differently.
Senator Johnson offered an amendment to exempt transactions paid from accounts at federally insured financial institutions and transactions funded with U.S.-issued debit or credit cards; the committee adopted the amendment. Chair called for a motion and the committee adopted the committee substitute and reported the bill out by voice vote.
The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; passage was announced by voice vote and the bill was reported out for consideration on the floor.
