Vermont Lawmakers Focus on Wealth Tax, High-Income Surtax Bills

Vermont’s Democratic-controlled legislature reviewed two tax proposals targeting upper-income residents Tuesday, just hours after Republican Gov. Phil Scott presented a fiscal year 2025 budget that steers the state away from new taxes and fees.

The state House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing that examined tax bills that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue from wealthy Vermonters. One bill, H.828, would impose a 3% surcharge on income north of $500,000 beginning in the current tax year. The second, H. 827, would create a first-in-the-nation wealth tax scheme, imposing income tax on the unrealized ...