Cash-Hungry States Eye Business Tax

AP ^ | February 17th, 2007 | AP

[Bishop_Malachi]

Cash-Hungry States Eye Business Tax

Saturday February 17, 1:17 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A handful of states are taking a new look at an old, often-criticized business tax to thwart what they say are too many companies avoiding their fair share of taxes.

The states also hope to increase revenue to improve schools, create jobs, provide health care for the poor and pay for other essentials of government spending.

Kentucky, Texas and Ohio are the latest to adopt versions of the tax on companies' sales or profits, levied at a very low rate meant to apply to as broad a swath of corporate earnings as possible. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has also proposed a version as part of a tax system overhaul.

"There were far too many companies doing profitable business here but not paying their fair share of taxes," said Brad Cowgill, Kentucky state budget director.

[Bishop_Malachi]

I'm a public school teacher, and I can vouch for the fact that our problems are definitely *not* a lack of funding.

[facedown]

The states also hope to increase revenue to improve schools, create jobs, provide health care for the poor and pay for other essentials of government spending.

Manure. They're just looking for more money to buy votes.

[politicalwit]

Kentucky, Texas and Ohio are the latest to adopt versions of the tax on companies' sales or profits, levied at a very low rate meant to apply to as broad a swath of corporate earnings as possible.

Texas lost two multi-million businesses in December 2006 because of the new tax. As a matter of fact the USA lost two multi-million dollar businesses when we moved our corporate headquarters off-shore.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Businesses are getting out of Ohio as fast as they can because the taxes are too high now. This kinda bs is only gonna make it worse!

[Ben Ficklin]

Which companies?

[theFIRMbss]

[WildWeasel]

Raise taxes instead of cutting spending. What a concept.

[Graybeard58]

Here in Illinois when governor dumbass threatened trucking companies with new taxes, they just reminded him that they are very mobile businesses and would pack up and move to bordering states.

That was enough to convince the afore mentioned governor dumbass and he dropped it.

[neodad]

I though states were awash in cash a few years ago.

[politicalwit]

Sorry, but I won't post the names of the businesses on an open forum. These are the two companies that I own...one is a petroleum business (trading, buying, selling crude oil...not papertraders either, circa 1998) and the other is the healthcare recruiting company (circa 1987).

[groanup]

"There were far too many companies doing profitable business here but not paying their fair share of taxes," said Brad Cowgill, Kentucky state budget director.

OK. I'm sure those companies will be happy to do their profitable business elsewhere. BTW, Cowgill, who provides your job?

[VOA]

I'm a public school teacher, and I can vouch for the fact that
our problems are definitely *not* a lack of funding.

I spent about a decade in Los Angeles, working in a support job
in a laboratory at one of California's prime research universites
that shall remain un-named (but is known as "The University
of Communists and Liberal A$$holes.)

I investigated teaching high-school science in the Los Angeles
Unified School District (LAUSD).
What I learned in discussions with LAUSD employees (teachers) was
1. Inner-city (problem) schools got a LOT more $$$ per student
than the elite schools like University High in West Los Angeles (attendees
include some children of stars like Lloyd Bridges).
2. If you aren't the right "tone" (skin, I assumed), don't bother
applying to teach in East LA or South Central.

and

3. Just drive around the parking lot of the LAUSD headquarters
in downtown LA and look at the cars; you'll see that someone is
getting VERY RICH being "public servants" in the public education system.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Government will NEVER understand (or acknowledge) the fact that they will NEVER get enough money, because there is no limit to its hunger for money.

For government, there will never be enough income and never be too much out go.

[econjack]

Trouble is, most people don't (and evidently no politicians) understand what the Laffer Curve is all about. In your graph, Point A might be associated with a marginal tax rate of 8% while Point B might be 92%. The thing to notice is that both marginal tax rates generate the same tax receipts. The reason is because at Point B, two effects takes place: 1) tax avoidance, where there are huge disincentives to worker hard because you don't get to keep much of the extra income, and 2) tax evasion, where you simply cheat on the taxes. Friedman estimated that the Equilibrium Point (i.e., maximized tax receipts) is at a marginal tax rate of about 17%.

[Dianna]

Businesses are getting out of Ohio as fast as they can because the taxes are too high now. This kinda bs is only gonna make it worse!

Which is EXACTLY why Kentucky should not be raising business taxes. We should want to attract businesses from across the river.

[JDOH]

This article makes the tax look like a wonderful thing.

It's Bull****.

It's the business equivalent of the Alternative Minimum Tax. The state "just knows" that there is taxable "stuff" happening out there that is not covered by existing taxes, and they aim to tax it. They can't quite pin down what it is, but, by golly, they are going to collect some revenue from it no matter what "it" is.

Wishy-washy RINO and apathetic Republicans put Ohio on the path to ruination, and the new dem's are going to finish the job with panache and a smile.

[EvilOverlord]

EvilOverlord says that the goal of government should NOT be to maximize tax revenue, anyway. The goal should NOT be to have a maximally sized government.

The goal should be to take as LITTLE of the people's money
as possible, and have the smallest government possible that is capable of executing the MINIMAL set of tasks assigned to that government.

[econjack]

Ohio has even tried an "exit tax" under Gov. Celeste years ago. He stated that any company that moves elsewhere must pay to the state the equivalent of 6 months salaries of the displaced workers. The idiots in the state legislature saw this as a new meal ticket and passed it into law. Within a few months, those same legislators started to worry since no new businesses had formed in Ohio since the law was passed. (Well, duh...) To their credit, they repealed the law.

Maybe some day politicians will learn you can't create something out of nothing. New business taxes ultimately end up being paid for by the consumers and the stockholders and the only real winners are the politicians who, once again, think they can spend my money better than I can. Well, duh...again!

[wolfcreek]

"There were far too many companies doing profitable business here but not paying their fair share of taxes,"


And who do these offcials think that tax will be pass on to?

[Condor51]

... too many companies avoiding their fair share of taxes.

The states also hope to increase revenue to improve schools, create jobs, provide health care for the poor and pay for other essentials of government spending.

Arrrrrrgh!!!
Okay, what exactly is a "FAIR SHARE"!?! And exactly whom determines what a "Fair Share" is? Some pencil neck commie geek in a basement office next to the Boiler Room?

And when the &^%$ did it become the job of Businesses to "provide health care for the poor" or any of the other nonsense mentioned, huh? Exactly &%$%ing when?!?! I'm sorry but that's not in my copy of the Constitution. And I'm suuuuuuuure it's not in any state constitution either.

These s*nsofbit@he$ might as well just come out and say they want ALL the profits from every company as they're now a socialist state and everything belongs 'to the people'. And all private property will be confiscated and 'ownership' of anything is illegal.