GOP lawmakers say Arizonans can file their taxes without fear of having to refile

Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that Arizonans can safely file their taxes without fear of having to refile later on, even though state law doesn’t match the tax filing guidance issued by the Arizona Department of Revenue.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs already struck down two Republican proposals this year to align state law with federal tax cuts approved last year in Congress.

The first GOP plan would have achieved conformity, with a few tweaks. The second vetoed proposal would simply have brought the state in line with existing guidance.

Hobbs prefers implementing only a portion of those cuts at the state level.

Meanwhile, many Arizonans have filed their taxes based on state-issued guidance that doesn’t match Arizona tax law.

Lawmakers said they won’t be penalized for following those instructions.

“My message here today is a plain and simple and direct message, and that is that, yes, Arizona income taxpayers can rely on these forms, but no thanks to Katie Hobbs,” Rep. Justin Olson (R-Mesa) said.

Considering that the tax filing deadline is less than two months away, if state officials make any changes to state law now that don’t align with federal conformity, it means a huge amount of people would have to redo their taxes and potentially pay more money.

Republican lawmakers said they won’t let that happen. They pledged to stand united in budget negotiations with the governor to ensure Arizona tax code fully conforms with federal tax cuts, at least eventually.

“We are deep into filing season. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are already filing on forms that don't clearly align with current statute,” House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear) said.

Republicans pledged to fully conform Arizona’s tax code with federal changes in budget negotiations later this year.

In the meantime, they won’t make any changes to state tax policy.

“The administration is going against what is in the law, but we are saying we're not going to change what the administration has done,” Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) said. “It wasn't our preferred approach, but the least worst option at the moment.”

Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) said Hobbs recently asked to meet with GOP leaders about the state budget, and they will.

For several weeks, Republicans have questioned why Hobbs didn’t acquiesce to their request from months ago to hold a special session and address the conformity issue before tax filing season began.

They also questioned why she directed the Arizona Department of Revenue to issue guidance that assumes conformity with federal law, when that doesn’t match her own tax cut plan.

“You have stated that full conformity must be addressed as part of budget negotiations.” Republican leaders wrote to Hobbs in a letter on Wednesday. “As we begin that process, we look forward to reaching a timely agreement that resolves the chaos facing taxpayers after your administration vetoed conformity legislation and allowed filing season to begin without clear tax guidance.”