The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - One plan to simplify Ohio's income tax would result in about $1 billion in savings for those making more than $100,000 yearly while raising taxes for 70 percent of Ohioans, according to an analysis by the Ohio Department of Taxation.

A Republican House group designed the plan to make three tax brackets instead of the current nine, while still collecting the same revenue.

It would reduce the top tax rate to 3.9 percent from 7.5 percent, but put more people in that top bracket - incomes of more than $45,000 for married couples filing jointly, for example.

The plan also calls for no tax for married couples filing jointly who make less than $20,000 a year. Joint filers making $20,000 to $45,000 would be taxed at a rate of 2.5 percent.

The plan is incomplete, said Dwight Crum, spokesman for House Republicans.

"Everyone realizes the importance of running the numbers to see how this plays out," he said.

The state's nine tax brackets now range from 0.74 percent for incomes less than $5,000 to 7.5 percent for those making more than $200,000.