Should the 3.5% income tax cap be lowered? North Carolina referendum

North Carolina voters went to the polls on November 3 to decide whether to lower the state constitution's income tax cap from 7% to 3.5%, a measure placed on the ballot under Senate Bill S1080 covering both personal and corporate income tax rates. The vote concerns the constitutional ceiling rather than the actual tax rate, and if approved by majority vote and certified, the lower cap would apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. The amendment does not itself cut rates to 3.5%, since actual rates are set by separate legislation, with the personal income tax rate already scheduled to fall from 3.99% in 2026 to 3.49% in 2027-2029, 3.24% in 2030-2032 and 2.99% from 2033. The outcome matters because it would constitutionally constrain future lawmakers' ability to raise income taxes, and the next thing to watch is certification of the result and how the legislature sets rates within the new ceiling.