I will fight for the right to tax you to subsidize other people. Governor Branstad is touchy about criticism of the massive tax breaks for the Southeast Iowa Orascom fertilizer plant. Radio Iowa reports:
“I’m here to make it clear that the chief executive of this state is on your side and we will fight for these jobs and I want to make it clear that when we make a promise to Lee County — or to any county in Iowa for that matter — it’s a promise we’re going to keep, no matter what they might say in Des Moines in any committee meeting,”
Never mind the high possibility that the plant would have been built without our tax money. Never mind the moral problem of taxing existing businesses and taxpayers to lure and subsidize outsiders. Never mind that political allocations of investment capital are always and everywhere unwise. Forget the lost opportunities for taxpayers to spend the money on their own projects. Jobs!
The Governor also hinted at darker forces opposing the tax credits, reports KCCI.com:
And he said he believed the Koch brothers were behind some opposition to the plant because it would hurt their fertilizer business.
The EITC is a refundable credit, which means the tax man writes checks to folks with no taxes. Naturally EITC fraud is rampant.
TaxGrrrl, Hundreds Of Thousands Of Taxpayers Thought To Be Impacted By Education Credit Snafu
IRS agent pleads guilty to charges resulting form selling out a whistleblower. Jack Townsend has the scoop.
Kay Bell, 2013 tax filing season gets crazier for some H&R Block, TurboTax customers
Jason Dinesen, Small Business Health Insurance Credit, Part 2
Elizabeth Malm, Texas Considering Drastic Modifications to Margin Tax (Tax Policy Blog). Good.
Patrick Temple-West, Yankees embrace frugality to dodge tax, and more. Who says taxes don’t influence behavior?
Jeremy Scott, Carl Levin Changed the Face of Tax Enforcement (Tax.com)
Howard Gleckman, Taxes and Paul Ryan’s Budget (TaxVox)
William Gale, A Carbon Tax is a Win-Win for the Economy and the Environment (TaxVox)
David Brunori, Things to Read, Sites to Visit. (Tax.com). He shares some online resources, but tragically fails to mention the Tax Update.
Peter Reilly, No Fans Of Sister Wives At The IRS ? As far as I’m concerned, the possibility of consolidated individual returns should be all the argument needed against polygamy.
The Critical Question: Why Is My Refund Short? (Trish McIntire)
News you can use. Note to Drivers: All Wheel Drive Does Not Give You Superpowers, Just a Dangerous Overconfidence (Megan McArdle).
So you think you’re having a bad busy season? It could be worse: Upstanding San Leandro Accountant Finds Himself on Oakland’s Most Wanted List. Going Concern has the news of law enforcement gone awry.
Tags: Branstad tax policy, corporate welfare, David Brunori, Earned Income Tax Credit, economic development, Elizabeth Malm, Going Concern, Howard Gleckman, Jack Townsend, Jason Dinesen, Jeremy Scott, Joe Bolkcom, Kay Bell, megan mcardle, Patrick Temple-West, Peter Reilly, TaxGrrrl, The Critical Question, Trish McIntire, William Gale
Joe Kristan writes the Tax Update items, and any opinions expressed or implied are not necessarily shared by anyone else at Roth & Company, P.C. Address questions or comments on Tax Updates to
[...] ours. Iowa Senate taxwriters have been eloquent in criticizing the corporate welfare famously doled out to fertilizer companies over the last year. It turns out, though, that not all corporate welfare is bad, to them. Just [...]