Tax Realty Consultant

A new state tax break could prompt investors to put money into “trophy properties” like retail centers, multifamily complexes and office buildings in Mississippi.

Legislators this year made the state income tax law conform with federal law dealing with certain exchanges of property.

Real estate consultant John David Hurt says the bill the Legislature passed eliminates a state tax for properties exchanged in and out of the state.

He said that before the change, Mississippi would impose a 5% state tax on any person who exchanged real property from Mississippi to another state.

Governor Haley Barbour signed the bill in March and the new law was retroactive to January 1st.

Republican Barbour, re-elected this month for another four years, said he wants the Legislature to enact more tax cuts.

He plans to have a tax study done in the first year of his second term, which starts in January.

The bill is House Bill 1585