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Overview on Making Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

Oct 19 2008

By taxing corporate owners, an effective corporate income tax has two large advantages for states: the majority of owners are in the richest 1% of the population, and many are not state voters. Corporate income taxes are often the main tax that out-of-state corporations and their shareholders pay for the public benefits enjoyed by their companies.

One reason social services face funding crises is that state corporate income tax revenues have dropped from 9.7% of all state taxes in 1980 down to just 5.7% by 2000. States are increasingly using a variety of tools to have corporations pay their share, including

  • Combined Reporting: States are increasingly requiring companies to use combined reporting, listing profit reports for all subsidiary companies together on state tax forms to prevent shell games where companies hide profits through phony transactions among different corporate entities.
  • Decoupling: States can save revenue by refusing to automatically grant special interest tax breaks handed out by the federal government --"decoupling" their tax code from the feds.
  • Oil windfall taxes: A number of groups have advocated state Windfall Profits Taxes to capture the outsized oil company profits.

From the Dispatch

Eye on the Right: Arizona's Failed Experiment with Tax Cuts

Feb 11 2010

How are Arizona's right-wing legislators responding to the state's most severe fiscal crisis since the Great Depression?

Massive corporate income tax cuts, of course.

Revenue Options in 2010: Making the Case and Debunking the Myths

Feb 01 2010

Last Tuesday, Oregonians overwhelmingly approved two ballot initiatives that ratified legislative action last year to increase high-end personal income and corporate taxes.  The failure of the anti-tax movement in Oregon is one more in a long stream of right-wing initiatives rejected by voters at the ballot box.  In fact, progressive revenue generation as part of a balanced approach to addressing state deficits has been popular with both voters and legislatures for years.  This Dispatch will provide both the facts and messages to debunk opposition to smart revenue options, while outlining a few of the best revenue approaches to filling budget holes.

Making the Rich Pay their Fair Share on the Ballot in Oregon

Jan 14 2010

In 2009, Oregon lawmakers approved HB 2649 and HB 3405, a balanced approach to dealing with their fiscal problems that included increased taxes on the wealthiest state residents and corporations.  These revenue increases were combined with lowered taxes for people receiving unemployment insurance benefits, offering tax relief to many families. 

Big Business Already Giving Big to Take Down Oregon Tax Increase

Aug 13 2009

Earlier this year, policymakers in Oregon enacted both temporary and permanent changes in the state’s tax system to help close an enormous budget gap and, by extension, provide funding for vital services like education, health care, and public safety... Yet, due to quirks in Oregon’s legislative process, opponents of these changes have an opportunity to put them before the voters for approval via referendum.  Not surprisingly, representatives of big business and a who’s who of anti-tax organizations are attempting to take full advantage of that opportunity.

Some Bad Corporate Tax Ideas in New Jersey Governor's Economic Recovery Proposal

Oct 24 2008

Addressing the recession affecting New Jersey, as well as many other states, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine last week presented a plan for reviving the state economy.  Some of the proposals - such as speeding up work on infrastructure projects and putting $500 million of state pension money in community banks to spur lending to local businesses - are smart and desperately needed.

Dos and Dont's of Coping With State Budget Crises

Feb 19 2008

The budget news is grim in some states.  Twenty states face a combined budget shortfall of at least $35 billion for 2009, according to analysis by the Center on Budget Policy & Priorities (see CBPP graph below). Another 8 states will likely have budget problems next year or the year after.
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