‘EPIC’ consumption tax group launching second bid for 2026 midterms

Organizers behind the failed 2024 EPIC (eliminate income, property and inheritance taxes) ballot initiative petition are planning a second attempt in the 2026 midterm elections.

The new petition aims to amend Article VIII of the Nebraska Constitution by adding a section that states, “No governmental entity in the state of Nebraska shall collect property tax, income tax or inheritance tax beginning Jan. 1, 2028.”

Advocates for the EPIC system want to replace property, income and inheritance taxes with a consumption tax – a sales tax on services and all new purchases. A spokesperson for the group declined an interview but said organizers will formally announce plans sometime this week.

The website dedicated to the new petition effort said organizers are “diligently working to develop a robust and successful plan for EPIC Option 2.0.” While this is the latest attempt to abolish property taxes in Nebraska, the group said its mission remains the same: Transitioning Nebraska to a consumption-based tax system.

In 2024, the same group circulated a petition that sought to create a constitutional amendment that would have stated, “No governmental entity in the State of Nebraska may impose taxes other than retail consumption taxes or excise taxes.”

Though organizers spent a year and a half circulating the petition, it failed to collect enough signatures to turn in petition pages for signature verification. The campaign primarily relied on grassroots, volunteer efforts to collect signatures until late 2023, when the group spent $1 million on a petition signature collection company to get more signatures in the state's urban areas.

Petition sponsors pointed to two general reasons for the 2024 petition’s demise – “misinformation” from EPIC opponents and the lack of funding. The financial pitfall is referenced on the website for the new petition effort, where organizers wrote, “One critical factor is essential for implementing this plan – funding.”

“If everyone who signed the initial EPIC Option petitions donated just $250.00, we are confident we’d have the funding needed to successfully implement the plan," the website states.

During the 2024 petition campaign, several groups rallied opposition against the consumption tax idea. The Tax Foundation produced a report, finding the EPIC consumption tax would need to be around 21.6% or higher to cover the abolished property, income and inheritance taxes. The foundation’s estimate is quite larger than the 7.5% rate the EPIC team estimated, which the Tax Foundation said was based on “flawed calculations.”

Several former state senators, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and other statewide groups formed an opposing group called “No New Taxes” to tamp down on the 2024 EPIC team’s campaign.

Since the petition seeks to create a constitutional amendment, organizers will need to collect valid signatures from 10% of Nebraska’s voters – around 125,000 people. The total is based on the number of registered voters at the time of the filing deadline, which is typically four months before the general election. Organizers will also need valid signatures from 5% of the registered voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.