The governor's accountant declined this week to lay out in detail how Huntsman's proposed 5 percent "flatter" tax would impact all of his income - including more than $20 million the governor made when he sold his shares of stock in Huntsman Chemical Corp., his family's business.

But even estimates based just on the governor's $104,100 state salary show Huntsman would pay less if lawmakers adopt his tax reform plan. Not factoring in deductions for mortgage interest, the governor would save about $3,000 a year.

"It probably will decrease his taxes a little," said Keith Prescott, Huntsman's personal accountant and one of a team of advisers who devised the governor's tax models. "But that didn't even enter into our minds."

When Huntsman and his advisers released his tax formula Oct. 5, they touted the plan as a reform measure that would right a "corrupted" tax system. They pledged to protect low-income Utahns, give most taxpayers a cut and stabilize the state's tax base to pay for future generations of schoolchildren while encouraging CEOs to move their companies to the Beehive State.

A Salt Lake Tribune analysis found that tens of thousands of Utahns would pay less under the governor's original plan - mostly the poor and the rich. But those in the middle - earning between $56,650 and $138,500 a year - likely will pay more.

Huntsman is not one of them. Taxpayers' bills would vary based on the number of exemptions they claim and their donations to charity. The governor's six children - he could claim eight personal exemptions under his tax plan - would allow him to avoid a bigger tax bill on his state salary. And factoring in a credit for charitable giving - he reportedly pays between $30,000 and $50,000 a year - the governor would pay no Utah income tax under his plan.

But the governor's income is not limited to his state paycheck. Huntsman and each of his siblings held 1.8 percent of the 60 million shares sold when the family business went public this year. He sold his shares at the asking price of $23 a share, netting about $24 million on the sale. That money, if claimed as capital gains, would put the governor in Utah's top income tier.

Under current tax law, Huntsman could subtract half his federal income taxes on the stock proceeds from the amount he pays in state taxes. Using that formula, the governor would have to count about $21 million in capital gains toward his 2005 income - resulting in about $1,470,000 in state taxes, based on a top 7 percent tax rate. Using the governor's tax plan, he would not be able to deduct his federal taxes, but would pay a lower overall rate of 5 percent, resulting in a tax bill of $1,200,000 in Utah income taxes. He would save about $270,000 overall.

"That sounds like a lot of assumptions," said Huntsman spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi.

And Prescott said such a comparison is "misleading." For one thing, Huntsman's tax plan would not affect this year's income. The soonest the state's income tax rate likely would be adjusted would be 2007. By then, Huntsman will have invested his stock income or stashed it in certificates of deposit or a savings account and will only claim income on the interest.

President Bush, who has proposed his own tax reform plan, has released his tax returns every year he has been in the White House. Such disclosure is a tradition among presidents and nominees going back decades. When former presidential candidate Steve Forbes proposed a flat tax, he was criticized for refusing to release his tax returns.

While Huntsman has cringed at the notion, taxpayers have raised the question to reporters since the governor and his advisers released his plan more than three weeks ago.

Duane Austin, a retiree who figures his own income taxes will stay about the same under Huntsman's formula, says Utahns would like to know how the tax plan will affect the governor's tax bill if it involves a lot of money. "If it was going to be a big benefit to him, people would be interested in knowing that," Austin said.

In a letter to the editor a week ago, Doug McGregor urged taxpayers to log on to the governor's web site at utah.gov to calculate their taxes.

"If your taxes went down, you should remember those responsible for your tax and you should vote for them in the next election," McGregor wrote. "If your taxes went up, you should remember those responsible for your tax increase and vote against them in the next election."

Two weeks ago, The Salt Lake Tribune requested a general accounting of how the governor's tax plan would affect his 2005 income. The governor's representatives initially agreed to produce the numbers. This week, Huntsman backed out, concerned about using imprecise numbers.

"The governor's not comfortable providing estimates," Prescott said. "We do not know how this money is going to be invested. That's just a work in progress. It will be much different next year. It makes him very difficult to project for."

Huntsman's calculator gives mixed results for other officials overseeing Utah tax-reform action. Senate President John Valentine, an Orem tax attorney, entered his income into the governor's formula and discovered he will pay about $92 less annually under the governor's original plan. Tax Reform Task Force Chairman Curt Bramble, an accountant, figures he will pay just slightly more if lawmakers implement Huntsman's plan in 2007.

"It's not a big deal," Bramble said.

Key points of Huntsman tax plan:

* 5 percent rate

* $12,000 household exemption

* $6,000 exemption for single taxpayers

* $4,000 per person exemption (an original cap of five exemptions has since been removed)

* Tax credit for charitable giving

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