The Johnson City Press has this article about how Tennessee government officials are keeping negotiations with corporations locked behind closed doors - despite the giveaway of millions in taxpayer dollars to these billionaire corporations. For instance, Gov. Haslam's proposed budget cuts strip money away from higher education and TennCare recipients and gives it directly to corporations like Electrolux in Memphis ($97 million in the budget is directed toward the company for its facility in West Tennessee, and Haslam has proposed an additional $3 million to the corporation in state dollars to train its workers). Haslam also gave $31 million to private corporation CCA for its prison in West Tennessee.
The Tennessee Press reported the following after Haslam's inauguration: "Gov. Bill Haslam, one day after his inauguration Jan. 15, signed an executive order setting out his commitment to transparency and openness in state government. “Government works better when people have input into the process, you are open to alternatives and examine them, and then you explain why the decision was made,” Gov. Haslam said, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
“The rule should be the more you can be open, the better,” he said. Executive Order No. 2011-02 sets out that the policy of the executive branch of government will be to “facilitate the right of Tennesseans to know and have access to information with which to hold government accountable.”
So why, behind closed doors, is our government funneling taxpayer dollars to private corporations while stripping funds from public services that help Tennesseans? Why aren't they disclosing their negotiations with Amazon to bring its distribution facility to Tennessee?
Let your representatives and Gov. Haslam know you support transparency and accountability in corporate negotiations that involve taxpayer dollars. Go here and copy and paste the following into the Message box:
"In light of millions of dollars in taxpayer dollars and potential revenue being lost or given away to private corporations through economic recruitment deals, I implore my elected officials to make these negotiations open and transparent. As a taxpayer, I want to know that my taxpayer dollars are being used effectively. I don't understand why corporations need government money to run their businesses and train their employees when they are making billions annually, often without paying any taxes. I support Sen. Bo Watson's bill to make tax rulings open to the public, and I ask that you please support this legislation. I oppose any exemption on sales tax collection to Amazon, and I would prefer that my government use public funds to serve the public and Tennessee businesses, NOT private corporations from out of state. If nothing else, I want to know how my taxpayer dollars are being used in business negotiations with private corporations. Thank you."
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Ban an Income Tax in Tennessee: Not so Fast!
Jeff Woods from the Nashville City Paper summarizes an exciting turn of events regarding the proposed ban on a state income tax in Tennessee:
In a comical bit of political theater Wednesday, state House Democrats may have found a way to foil Republican efforts to amend the Tennessee constitution to ban the state income tax.
With the help of a couple of Republicans, who doubtlessly will hear from party leaders about this, Democrats on the House Finance Subcommittee managed to change the anti-income tax resolution to prohibit any increases in the sales tax as well. That, of course, would hamstring state government’s taxing capacity and leave lawmakers without much way to plug budget holes if necessary in the future.
With a straight face, Rep. Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, offered the amendment. As House speaker in 2002, Naifeh tried and failed to enact an income tax as part of reform legislation that would have lowered the sales tax. The resulting furor led to the defeat of some Democrats in the next elections.
“This is a friendly amendment,” Naifeh deadpanned as he made his motion, pointing out that Tennessee’s maximum sales tax rate is the nation’s highest at 9.75 percent.
“We’re hurting those people who can afford it the least. A bigger percentage of their income goes for the sales tax than someone who makes $100,000 or $200,000 or whatever.”
“I think it’s just common sense,” he said as some Republicans tried to table his amendment. “I guess if you vote to table this, then you’re voting that we should have more sales tax at some point in time. I hope that we’re not thinking that when we need funds again that we’re going to go and raise the sales tax. It’s against all humanity to do that.”
Reps. Dennis Roach of Rutledge and Steve McDaniel of Lexington were the Republicans who voted with the Democrats.
Rep. Glen Casada, R-College Grove, then tried to postpone action on his resolution, but the subcommittee went ahead and adopted it with Naifeh’s amendment.
The Senate already has voted for the anti-income tax resolution. It needed also to pass the House by a majority in this General Assembly and then by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate in the next. Then the resolution would have gone on the ballot for voter approval in the 2014 elections.
In 2002, a state income tax won 45 votes in the House. The state Supreme Court has ruled three times — most recently in 1964 — that the constitution already prohibits an income tax. But in 1999, the state attorney general issued an opinion saying the tax was permissible. Supporters of a constitutional amendment say it’s needed to resolve the issue.
Holding Corporations Accountable
While this may be off topic a bit, it does highlight who pays taxes in the U.S. and who does not...and why. And interesting take on a serious issue. Enjoy the show.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Faith and Taxes
TFT Organizer Bill Howell is leading a 5-week Sunday School discussion on "Sacred Texts, Social Duty," a great DVD resource that connects scripture with our duties to advance social justice through progressive taxation. TFT has several copies of the DVD and would love to host a screening and discussion with your group. The Center on Baptist Ethics that created the DVD discusses Bill's series in this blog post.
Knoxvillians are invited April 8 to the Church of the Savior on Weisgarber Road for a screening and discussion led by TFT Board Member John Stewart at 6 p.m.
For more information, call 865-687-9600 or visit its page at EthicsDaily.com
Knoxvillians are invited April 8 to the Church of the Savior on Weisgarber Road for a screening and discussion led by TFT Board Member John Stewart at 6 p.m.
For more information, call 865-687-9600 or visit its page at EthicsDaily.com
Behold Tennessee!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Rachel Maddow leads with the March 15 Rally for Good Jobs, Living Wages and Public Services! Get on the bus, and join the uproar over attacks on public workers, diverting revenue from the people to corporations, and the Constitutional amendment to ban the income tax.
Email your legislator!
Send a postcard to the Department of Revenue objecting their proposed secret exemption for Amazon that will hurt local businesses!
Schedule a TFT workshop for your group!
Give what you can to support the fight!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Amazon V. the States
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| Even Mr. Pig here is astonished by Amazon's greed. |
Amazon v. the States
Published: March 17, 2011
It never made sense to exempt online retailers from collecting sales tax. It’s ridiculous now when so many states are in deep fiscal trouble. Illinois estimates that it is losing more than $150 million a year in uncollected taxes; California is losing an estimated $300 million a year. That would cover more than half the planned cuts for the University of California system.
It’s good news that states are using new legal tools to force Internet retailers to do what every other retailer must do. It is disappointing to see Amazon.com fight back.
Amazon and other Web retailers are shielded by a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that retailers could be required to collect sales tax only in states where they had some physical presence. Amazon has kept itself off the hook in several states using warehouses owned by subsidiaries.
That strategy is now being challenged. In October, Texas sent a $269 million bill to the company for four years’ worth of taxes, citing Amazon’s Texas warehouse, owned by a subsidiary. In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley is reportedly reconsidering a deal cut by her predecessor that would allow Amazon to set up a warehouse there and exempt it from collecting sales taxes.
Last week, Illinois passed a law forcing online retailers to collect sales tax if they have local affiliates — local businesses, blogs or nonprofits — whose Web sites sent business their way in exchange for a cut. New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina have adopted similar laws, and New Mexico, Minnesota and Vermont are considering their own legislation. After Amazon threatened to terminate its affiliate programs in California and Hawaii, governors in both states vetoed similar bills. The California Legislature is trying again.
Amazon isn’t giving up. It is disputing the tax charge in Texas and said it will close the warehouse there. It challenged the New York law in state court and lost but is now appealing. It has terminated affiliate programs in Rhode Island and North Carolina and said it will sever its affiliate links in Illinois in April.
Collecting state taxes is not an unreasonable burden for online retailers. Amazon already collects taxes in five states, including New York, and it also collects taxes on behalf of physical retailers that sell through Amazon.
The best outcome would be for Congress to pass legislation requiring all retailers, online and off, to collect sales taxes everywhere they are due. In the meantime, states should not give in to Amazon’s pressure tactics.
Shop Amazon? Think Again!
States across the country have fought for Amazon to follow the law and collect sales taxes, and Amazon has fought back with low-ball tactics. Now that Amazon has agreed to locate distribution facilities in Tennessee, the fight has come home. The Department of Revenue wants to create a special rule change to exempt Amazon from sales tax collections, losing the state at least $35 million in revenue annually, and hurting local businesses.
This blogpost from Pennsylvania makes some excellent points on the topic:
"You might save a little money [by using Amazon] short term," [small business owner] Drabyak finishes, "but in the long run, you're doing yourself and your community a huge disservice" ... Drabyak cites The Andersonville Study to prove his point. This study, conducted in 2004, points out that for every one hundred dollars spent locally, $68 remains in that community, as opposed to $43 spent at a chain store. If a shopper would choose to use Amazon.com, the local community would not even see a dime.
“One of the big issues we’ve been championing is the state sales tax,” Drabyak explains. People who buy their books more cheaply through web sites such as Amazon.com do not pay sales tax to the state of Pennsylvania. Therefore, the local tax base suffers."
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Attacks on Public Workers are Attacks on the Middle Class
Attacks on Public-Employee Unions Undermine the Middle Class
"Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ohio are likewise all considering legislation to ban various types of collective bargaining, and in Indiana, almost every Democratic member of the state's House of Representative recently boycotted a legislative session to stop a bill that would weaken collective bargaining.
What has not been clearly noted, however, despite the thousands of barrels of ink that have been spilled about this topic, is the underlying motive behind these attacks. Why, exactly, has the governor of the Badger State made destroying public-sector unions his No. 1 goal? Why are similar efforts being made in numerous other states? Why target public-sector workers and their unions? What put this on the top of the hard right's agenda? Especially because, as The New York Times noted, "A raft of recent studies found that public salaries, even with benefits included, are equivalent to or lag slightly behind those of private sector workers with a similar education.
There is a plan at work here - let's call it, "the Plan" - and that plan is designed to accomplish the following goals:
1. Defund the Democrats. This is perhaps the most transparent of the goals of the Plan, because Republicans have not been shy about pointing out how, in various states, labor union contributions of both time and money have supplied Democrats with critical support at election time. The actual numbers can be debated and most of the Republican claims of labor union dominance of the Democratic Party are overblown. The failure of Congress, even when Democrats controlled both the White House and both houses of Congress from 2008-2010, to enact any substantive federal labor law reform, is stark evidence of that. But labor generally comes back to the Democrats and Republicans, and other right-wingers recognize that disabling labor unions now will advance their legislative agenda in the long run.
2. Delegitimize Government. Once public-sector unions are destroyed or damaged and the wages and benefits of public employees are slashed, the ability of government to attract and retain qualified, dedicated employees - whether teachers, bus drivers, fire fighters or police - will deteriorate. The more that happens, the greater the pressure to turn over these and all other "public" services to for-profit private companies, a trend that is already in full swing.
3. Redefine the Middle Class Downward. Above all else, the attack on public employees and their unions is an effort to eliminate the one substratum of working people who still, to a large extent, maintain a truly "middle-class" existence, a life where the rent or mortgage payments may be paid, health coverage is maintained and retirement savings socked away in defined benefit pension plans, where it will actually still be available upon retirement."
We can't let this happen. Revenue with Justice for All will ensure that our public structures are intact and that our taxpayer dollars are used for the common benefit and good of all our communities, and not funneled to billionaire corporations in an attempt to dismantle our government and our democracy and replace it with a privatized oligarchy. The time is now to take a stand, speak out, and stop this Plan in its tracks.
"Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ohio are likewise all considering legislation to ban various types of collective bargaining, and in Indiana, almost every Democratic member of the state's House of Representative recently boycotted a legislative session to stop a bill that would weaken collective bargaining.
What has not been clearly noted, however, despite the thousands of barrels of ink that have been spilled about this topic, is the underlying motive behind these attacks. Why, exactly, has the governor of the Badger State made destroying public-sector unions his No. 1 goal? Why are similar efforts being made in numerous other states? Why target public-sector workers and their unions? What put this on the top of the hard right's agenda? Especially because, as The New York Times noted, "A raft of recent studies found that public salaries, even with benefits included, are equivalent to or lag slightly behind those of private sector workers with a similar education.
There is a plan at work here - let's call it, "the Plan" - and that plan is designed to accomplish the following goals:
1. Defund the Democrats. This is perhaps the most transparent of the goals of the Plan, because Republicans have not been shy about pointing out how, in various states, labor union contributions of both time and money have supplied Democrats with critical support at election time. The actual numbers can be debated and most of the Republican claims of labor union dominance of the Democratic Party are overblown. The failure of Congress, even when Democrats controlled both the White House and both houses of Congress from 2008-2010, to enact any substantive federal labor law reform, is stark evidence of that. But labor generally comes back to the Democrats and Republicans, and other right-wingers recognize that disabling labor unions now will advance their legislative agenda in the long run.
2. Delegitimize Government. Once public-sector unions are destroyed or damaged and the wages and benefits of public employees are slashed, the ability of government to attract and retain qualified, dedicated employees - whether teachers, bus drivers, fire fighters or police - will deteriorate. The more that happens, the greater the pressure to turn over these and all other "public" services to for-profit private companies, a trend that is already in full swing.
3. Redefine the Middle Class Downward. Above all else, the attack on public employees and their unions is an effort to eliminate the one substratum of working people who still, to a large extent, maintain a truly "middle-class" existence, a life where the rent or mortgage payments may be paid, health coverage is maintained and retirement savings socked away in defined benefit pension plans, where it will actually still be available upon retirement."
We can't let this happen. Revenue with Justice for All will ensure that our public structures are intact and that our taxpayer dollars are used for the common benefit and good of all our communities, and not funneled to billionaire corporations in an attempt to dismantle our government and our democracy and replace it with a privatized oligarchy. The time is now to take a stand, speak out, and stop this Plan in its tracks.
The Story in a Nutshell
John Hallinan at the Cap Times has the story straight: "The Crisis is our Unwillingness to Make Rich Pay Their Fair Share." That pretty much sums it up, but he hits the nail on the head so many times, you've got to read this great article.
An excerpt: "Now we are told that state workers making $40,000 to $60,000 per year are stealing the state blind. The same workers who for the last two years have taken over a 3 percent pay cut in the form of furloughs are now told they haven’t sacrificed enough. Now they must forfeit 7 percent or more of their pay, and give up their right to negotiate their future. What is appalling is the state workers were willing to give up the money to help out the state. All they asked was to keep their right to negotiate. Yet the wealthiest in our country aren’t willing to give up anything to help our country out of the financial mess they created.
"Now we are told that everyone must sacrifice to bring state and federal government budgets in line. But somehow the sacrifices once again all fall on those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Once again businesses are given tax cuts, money is found to increase spending on roads, but education, health care and help for the poorest in our society are cut.
There isn’t a financial crisis at either the state or the federal level. The crisis is our unwillingness to ask those who have gained the most from our society to pay a fair and equitable share from the wealth this society has allowed them to accumulate. It is the honest, Christian, and patriotic thing to do."
Amen!
An excerpt: "Now we are told that state workers making $40,000 to $60,000 per year are stealing the state blind. The same workers who for the last two years have taken over a 3 percent pay cut in the form of furloughs are now told they haven’t sacrificed enough. Now they must forfeit 7 percent or more of their pay, and give up their right to negotiate their future. What is appalling is the state workers were willing to give up the money to help out the state. All they asked was to keep their right to negotiate. Yet the wealthiest in our country aren’t willing to give up anything to help our country out of the financial mess they created.
"Now we are told that everyone must sacrifice to bring state and federal government budgets in line. But somehow the sacrifices once again all fall on those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Once again businesses are given tax cuts, money is found to increase spending on roads, but education, health care and help for the poorest in our society are cut.
There isn’t a financial crisis at either the state or the federal level. The crisis is our unwillingness to ask those who have gained the most from our society to pay a fair and equitable share from the wealth this society has allowed them to accumulate. It is the honest, Christian, and patriotic thing to do."
Amen!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Coalition Partner Spotlight: TN Education Association
TFT Board Member Al Mance is the director of TFT coalition partner Tennessee Education Association. As you know, teachers are the only public workers in the state with the right to collectively bargain. It's a hot issue right now, and our elected officials are proposing challenges to that vital right.
Read Mr. Mance's article in the Oak Ridger to learn more about what we can do to support Tennessee's teachers.
Read Mr. Mance's article in the Oak Ridger to learn more about what we can do to support Tennessee's teachers.
Amazon: Pressure Builds, "It's About Fairness" AND REVENUE
Tax break issue about fairness
By Roger Harris
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Pressure is building to end the unfair price advantage enjoyed by Amazon.com and other Internet-only retailers that don't collect sales taxes.
Recently, Illinois adopted a law closing this tax loophole. Similar legislation is being considered by other states. Unfortunately, Tennessee is unlikely to join the movement, which means small businesses across the state will continue to be pummeled by giant online retailers.
Knoxville businesswoman Flossie McNabb says the sales tax loophole is a serious threat to the downtown bookstore she plans to open at the end of April, Union Avenue Books.
"It's an outrage for Tennessee to let Amazon get away with this," McNabb said.
John Bevis, CEO of the Disc Exchange in South Knoxville, said it's hard to compete when a competitor starts with a 10 percent price break.
"We have to work harder to make a sale. Amazon doesn't have to do anything," Bevis said.
Since 1992, online retailers have benefited from a Supreme Court ruling that said companies were not required to collect state sales taxes if they didn't have a physical presence - office, factory, distribution center - in the state where a purchase was made.
Amazon is fighting to hang on to its tax break, threatening to close operations in states that demand it collect sales taxes. In Illinois, which broadened the definition of physical presence to include affiliate companies that funnel shoppers to online retailers, Amazon cut ties with affiliates.
Amazon doesn't have a physical presence in Tennessee, but last year it announced plans to build distribution centers in Hamilton and Bradley counties. Normally, that would mean Amazon would have to collect sales taxes on Tennessee purchases, but before leaving office former Gov. Phil Bredesen agreed to a sales tax rule change that would exempt Amazon from the physical presence rule.
Bredesen's successor, Gov. Bill Haslam, ordered a temporary freeze on any new rules, but has spoken in favor of granting sales tax incentives to companies like Amazon. "I don't think because Amazon decides to build a distribution center here, that should change their tax status," Haslam said in Chattanooga in February.
McNabb said state government cutting a deal with Amazon is "almost like selling our soul to the devil. There's a short-term benefit but in the long run it's very dangerous."
One thing is certain, a lot of money is at stake. The advocacy group Tennesseans for Fair Taxation estimates that granting Amazon a sales tax exemption will cost the state about $64 million a year. That's money Tennessee can't afford to lose.
As Bevis said: "It's a fairness issue, but I also feel like you're looking at a state here that relies completely on sales tax and to not collect sales tax doesn't make any sense."
Reducing the size of government is a popular mantra these days, but government should level the playing field "so everyone can compete," said Danny Diaz, spokesman for Alliance for Main Street Fairness, a Virginia-based group that opposes online sales tax breaks.
The issue is "really, very straight forward," Diaz said. "There's a tax due and it only makes sense to collect it."
Business writer Roger Harris may be reached at 865-342-6342. Follow his comments on business news on the Rant$ and Rave$ blog.
Income Tax Ban hearing Wed. March 23
TFT Board Member Jennifer Tlumak penned this great op-ed in the Tennessean speaking out against the proposed Income Tax ban, and TFT Member Phil Schoggen's op-ed was also printed last week in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
The House Finance Subcommittee will hear the bill Wed. March 23 - if you'd like to join us in attending the hearing and showing support for this revenue option, please call 865-687-9600 or email elizabeth@fairtaxation.org. We'd love to have you and your elected officials need to hear from you.
An excerpt from Phil's op-ed:
"Last Monday, the governor released his new budget for the coming year. But that budget relies entirely on cuts of several million dollars instead of revenue increases through closing of tax loopholes. So he proposes to reduce state expenses through reductions in funds to TennCare and public higher education, and by closing several group homes for children and shrinking programs of early education for children, among others. But the state budget had already been reduced, and the state is among the lowest-ranked states in services provided. How do we ever expect Tennessee to get out of the bottom of the state services barrel?
Amending the constitution is a momentous undertaking with long-lasting consequences. It should not be easy, and it should not be attempted without careful consideration. Amending the constitution in a way that limits the General Assembly’s future options for generating revenue is a risky proposition and a statement of exaggerated self-esteem. It says “We, in this General Assembly, know every circumstance that could possibly occur in the future. None of them could justify ever having an income tax, and we don’t trust our successors in future General assemblies to not pass an income tax.”
It’s not hard to imagine circumstances that would call for an income tax. A depression or another severe recession might reduce revenue to the extent that an income tax becomes essential to the continuation of a state government that serves citizens adequately.
An earthquake on the New Madrid fault or a severe outbreak of tornadoes will require funding for relief and reconstruction efforts that exceeds the capacity of the existing tax structure, which is so heavily dependent on very high sales and food taxes. With both of these potential disasters, it’s not a question of “if” but “when” they will occur, as the tragic events in Japan have so recently demonstrated.
Even without these disasters, Tennessee revenue is down because an ever smaller part of economic activity is subject to our sales tax. Severe cuts in state services have been imposed in an effort to keep the budget balanced. If the proposed amendment passes, it would take at least three years to amend it out of the constitution and pass an income tax. How much would Tennessee suffer in the meantime?
This resolution is an insult to the constitution, its framers and to current and future citizens and their elected representatives. They all deserve more respect."
The House Finance Subcommittee will hear the bill Wed. March 23 - if you'd like to join us in attending the hearing and showing support for this revenue option, please call 865-687-9600 or email elizabeth@fairtaxation.org. We'd love to have you and your elected officials need to hear from you.
An excerpt from Phil's op-ed:
"Last Monday, the governor released his new budget for the coming year. But that budget relies entirely on cuts of several million dollars instead of revenue increases through closing of tax loopholes. So he proposes to reduce state expenses through reductions in funds to TennCare and public higher education, and by closing several group homes for children and shrinking programs of early education for children, among others. But the state budget had already been reduced, and the state is among the lowest-ranked states in services provided. How do we ever expect Tennessee to get out of the bottom of the state services barrel?
Amending the constitution is a momentous undertaking with long-lasting consequences. It should not be easy, and it should not be attempted without careful consideration. Amending the constitution in a way that limits the General Assembly’s future options for generating revenue is a risky proposition and a statement of exaggerated self-esteem. It says “We, in this General Assembly, know every circumstance that could possibly occur in the future. None of them could justify ever having an income tax, and we don’t trust our successors in future General assemblies to not pass an income tax.”
It’s not hard to imagine circumstances that would call for an income tax. A depression or another severe recession might reduce revenue to the extent that an income tax becomes essential to the continuation of a state government that serves citizens adequately.
An earthquake on the New Madrid fault or a severe outbreak of tornadoes will require funding for relief and reconstruction efforts that exceeds the capacity of the existing tax structure, which is so heavily dependent on very high sales and food taxes. With both of these potential disasters, it’s not a question of “if” but “when” they will occur, as the tragic events in Japan have so recently demonstrated.
Even without these disasters, Tennessee revenue is down because an ever smaller part of economic activity is subject to our sales tax. Severe cuts in state services have been imposed in an effort to keep the budget balanced. If the proposed amendment passes, it would take at least three years to amend it out of the constitution and pass an income tax. How much would Tennessee suffer in the meantime?
This resolution is an insult to the constitution, its framers and to current and future citizens and their elected representatives. They all deserve more respect."
Friday, March 18, 2011
Let's close some loopholes!
The state of Washington has a good idea:
Tennessee is facing a $1 billion revenue short fall this year and Governor Haslam has offered to cut money from every department. He said in the state of the state address that our universities must "do more with less." Setting aside how such a task is accomplished, below is a simple and just answer to raising revenue. It is not a new tax, it is simply collecting taxes that Tennesseans are already owed. Let's close some loopholes and save some services at the same time. Seems the only reasonable thing to do.
Tennessee is facing a $1 billion revenue short fall this year and Governor Haslam has offered to cut money from every department. He said in the state of the state address that our universities must "do more with less." Setting aside how such a task is accomplished, below is a simple and just answer to raising revenue. It is not a new tax, it is simply collecting taxes that Tennesseans are already owed. Let's close some loopholes and save some services at the same time. Seems the only reasonable thing to do.
Tennessee Small Business Protection Act (SB1614/HB1914)
Sponsored by Senator Marrero and Representative Stewart
Tennessee’s business tax laws allow multistate companies to avoid taxes by setting up sham subsidiaries in Delaware or Nevada to transfer ownership of their real estate or trademarks and logos. They then deduct their payments to their own subsidiaries from their Tennessee income, thus avoiding TN taxes. The bill:
- Provides for “Combined Reporting,” a comprehensive solution to this “Las Vegas loophole”.
- Allows TN to receive tax revenues on a fair proportion of the companies’ revenues.
- Reduces the state sales tax rate on grocery food by 1% and leaves the local option unaffected.
Impact: The bill levels the playing field for Tennessee small businesses that pay TN taxes. More than half of the states use combined reporting. It’s time for Tennessee to join the majority.
What happens when you can’t raise taxes
Andy Kroll fact-checks Gov. Haley Barbour’s claim that “we” — meaning Mississippi under Barbour’s leadership — “dug out of a $720 million budget hole in two years without raising anybody’s taxes.” As it turns out, Barbour raised all sorts of taxes during his time in office: He created an excise tax on cigarettes and then raised it, increased taxes on hospital beds and businesses that lay off workers, and tried and failed to pass a new tax on hospital revenue.
I don’t really care whether Barbour is a hypocrite. What’s interesting about this is that it’s a window into the sort of policies that Republican executives resort to when they decide that transparent, broad-based revenue measures such as income and sales taxes are off the table. Barbour, to keep people from noticing his tax hikes, ended up passing some fairly regressive, narrowly targeted, economically inefficient taxes. He still had to raise taxes, but he ended up doing a worse job of it. And as Kroll goes on to note, because you can’t raise all that much revenue by taxing hospital beds, Barbour had to make extremely deep cuts in public services such as education. Mississippi ranked 48th in Forbes magazine’s list of “best states for businesses and careers,” and Barbour’s decision to cut education funding by $520 million probably isn’t helping his state develop the sort of skilled workforce it needs to lift its position in those rankings. But it is helping him run for president. That’s not a great incentive structure.
While Mississippi may have been "ranked 48th in Forbes magazine’s list of “best states for businesses and careers;" Tennessee, according to the CQ Press's State Fact Finder Series: State Rankings 2010, has the distinction of being ranked 50th in state and local expenditures per capita for education (well below the national average), 1st in bankruptcy( TN has the most), and 48th worst for violent crimes! The race is on!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
‘New Normal’ Not Good Enough - We Need Revenue with Justice!
Gov. Haslam said Monday in his State of the State address that Tennesseans face a $1.4 billion revenue shortfall, noting that this “reality will frame this budget” and that this is the “new normal.”
The revenue shortfall is not an inevitability reality – it is a choice. Tennessee’s elected officials have revenue options that could give two-thirds of Tennesseans a tax cut, support local businesses and the state’s economic growth, AND raise more than $1.4 billion in new revenue. They choose to ignore those options – that is the reality.
The status quo for Tennessee – revenue generated overwhelmingly by one source, the highest sales tax in the nation – has left us underfunded and kept us ranked behind the rest of the nation and our neighboring states in key quality of life issues. By declaring this to be the “new normal,” Gov. Haslam is telling Tennessee he is willing to settle for last, or maybe next to last, place.
“Gov. Haslam proposes cutting up to 2.5% from every state department, saying the government has to spend less,” said John Stewart, former TFT board chair. “At the same time, a portion of public money is being directed away from needs of Tennessee taxpayers and redirected toward large corporations.”
The proposed budget includes a $92 million gift to Electrolux, a company that recently closed a distribution center in Chattanooga to move it to Georgia. Electrolux has proposed a new center in Memphis, claiming that the almost $100 million gift in state funds was promised by the Bredesen administration. The leading Internet retailer, Amazon, has also promised to build two distribution centers in Tennessee, but only if it receives a special exemption from having to collect the Tennessee state sales tax. The Dept. of Revenue is considering a rule-change to cave in to this demand, throwing away at least $35 million in annual revenue for Tennessee, and handing Amazon a significant competitive price advantage over all other Tennessee retailers.
It’s one thing to be “business friendly”; it’s quite another to be promiscuous with taxpayer dollars! Gov. Haslam’s proposed budget takes money from Tennessee’s colleges, TennCare, and pre-K and gives it to corporations that aren’t even based in Tennessee and refuse to follow Tennessee’s laws,” said Phil Schoggen, Nashville TFT member “This is outrageous – Tennessee needs jobs, but giving millions of dollars to mega-corporations who don’t need the subsidies is not the way to do it.”
Gov. Haslam’s address emphasized the importance of job creation and education. Local businesses create up to 80% of our private-sector jobs, but they are hurt by the state’s high sales tax, competition from online retailers, and economic development deals that funnel money to large, out-of-state corporations. The high sales tax sends Tennessee shoppers and Tennessee jobs across the borders into neighboring states with lower sales tax rates.
Higher education is only attainable when it is affordable – college tuition has increased 74% in the last 10 years because of state budget cuts. Furthermore, the HOPE Scholarships, funded by a regressive and "voluntary" tax, goes disproportionately to the well-off who wind up paying little in tuition. "In the meantime, other students must take on personal debt to obtain a college degree. that debt isn’t going to help the state economy in the future,” said Anne Mayhew, a retired professor from Knoxville . “The state needs to increase funding to our pre-K programs, colleges and universities if we’re truly going to have a competitive workforce and economic growth in the future.”
In balancing the state budget, our elected leaders have two options: budget cuts or revenue generation. Lately, they have ignored this second option.
“Gov. Haslam claimed in his address that ‘the people of Tennessee want us to fix the budget shortfall and not raise their taxes,’” said Jennifer Tlumak, TFT board member “That could be accomplished by asking corporations to pay their fair share and by asking higher income residents to pay at a level comparable to what lower income Tennesseans are paying in taxes, thereby avoiding program cuts that hurt all our communities. We need revenue and we need justice.”
Tennesseans for Fair Taxation is a statewide non-profit organization that works at the intersection of revenue and justice to create a tax system that invests in Tennessee, its people, and its communities.
TFT’s proposals would raise at least $1.4 billion with the following measures:
- Close corporate tax loopholes that allow multi-state corporations to shelter income earned in, and owed to, Tennessee ($110 million).
- Require online and out-of-state retailers to follow the law our local businesses must follow and collect sales tax on items sold in Tennessee ($100-$365 million).
- Eliminate the single-article sales tax cap on big-ticket items, so those making expensive purchases pay the same tax rate paid by those making inexpensive purchases ($85 million).
- Eliminate the tax on groceries, reduce the general sales tax and implement a broad based personal income tax with generous exemptions (2/3 of Tennesseans would get a TAX CUT and pay no income tax and an additional $1 billion in revenue would be raised).
Rally for Good Jobs, Living Wages and Public Services
TFT joined our coalition partners from across the state and thousands of Tennesseans in Nashville March 15 to Rally for Good Jobs, Living Wages and Public Services. More than 1,000 people came out to protest union-busting bills in the legislature this session, including the removal of collective bargaining rights for teachers, the only public workers in Tennessee who are given such rights. We also attended the SOCM and TAP press conference supporting green jobs initiatives, and of course met with several legislators to discuss Gov. Haslam's State of the State address and support our bills like the Out-of-State Sales Tax Act, the Tennessee Small Business Protection Act, and the Single-Article Cap Removal Act.
It was an inspiring day, and TFT Board Member Al Mance did a great job speaking at the rally. We were joined by comrades from Jobs with Justice, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Tennessee Citizen Action, ACL-CIO, TEA, Progressive Student Alliance, SEIU, AFSCME, and TIRRC, among others. This was only the first step in this battle, and was a huge step forward in our efforts to build a broad movement of social justice in the state.
And there was some excitement - for more information, this article has the best coverage so far.
We appreciate everyone who joined us and who coordinated the efforts, and hope to see you on the bus next time!
It was an inspiring day, and TFT Board Member Al Mance did a great job speaking at the rally. We were joined by comrades from Jobs with Justice, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Tennessee Citizen Action, ACL-CIO, TEA, Progressive Student Alliance, SEIU, AFSCME, and TIRRC, among others. This was only the first step in this battle, and was a huge step forward in our efforts to build a broad movement of social justice in the state.
And there was some excitement - for more information, this article has the best coverage so far.
We appreciate everyone who joined us and who coordinated the efforts, and hope to see you on the bus next time!
NO on the proposed Income Tax ban in Tennessee
TFT Board Member Erica Thomas has this great guest column in Memphis' Commercial Appeal:
Reliance on sales tax causes an imbalance
Tennesseans should tell their legislators they're against a prohibition on state income tax because it ensures the highest earners pay the most.
An excerpt: "While Tennesseans grapple with the potential loss of state services and funding to our communities, Kelsey and Casada are sponsoring a measure that would permanently remove one revenue option from ever being considered in the state, locking Tennessee into what could be a perpetual revenue shortfall. On Feb. 8, Kelsey introduced Senate Joint Resolution 18 that would enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution a prohibition against any tax on incomes or payroll. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday and the House will soon take up the issue.
Tennesseans for Fair Taxation has long advocated a system of taxation that requires those with the greatest ability to pay and who benefit most from our government to pay more of the cost of government. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy's "Who Pays?" report in November 2009, Tennesseans earning less than $17,000 a year pay 11.7 percent of their meager income in state and local taxes while those earning $228,000 annually pay only 4.5 percent of their abundant income. Tennessee's tax structure is the fourth most regressive tax system in the nation -- meaning that incomes are more unequal after taxes than before. It is our excessive reliance on sales and other consumption taxes that causes the imbalance. The only way to correct this "upside-down" tax structure is to add a broad-based income tax and simultaneously reduce the oppressive sales tax."
Reliance on sales tax causes an imbalance
Tennesseans should tell their legislators they're against a prohibition on state income tax because it ensures the highest earners pay the most.
An excerpt: "While Tennesseans grapple with the potential loss of state services and funding to our communities, Kelsey and Casada are sponsoring a measure that would permanently remove one revenue option from ever being considered in the state, locking Tennessee into what could be a perpetual revenue shortfall. On Feb. 8, Kelsey introduced Senate Joint Resolution 18 that would enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution a prohibition against any tax on incomes or payroll. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday and the House will soon take up the issue.
Tennesseans for Fair Taxation has long advocated a system of taxation that requires those with the greatest ability to pay and who benefit most from our government to pay more of the cost of government. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy's "Who Pays?" report in November 2009, Tennesseans earning less than $17,000 a year pay 11.7 percent of their meager income in state and local taxes while those earning $228,000 annually pay only 4.5 percent of their abundant income. Tennessee's tax structure is the fourth most regressive tax system in the nation -- meaning that incomes are more unequal after taxes than before. It is our excessive reliance on sales and other consumption taxes that causes the imbalance. The only way to correct this "upside-down" tax structure is to add a broad-based income tax and simultaneously reduce the oppressive sales tax."
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
State and Local Budget Cuts Harm Nation's Economy
Gov. Bill Haslam will release his state budget Monday, March 14, and has warned that his plan is to cut, cut, and cut some more - to the tune of more than $1 billion.
This article out of Nashville's News Channel 2 highlights the dangers of such an approach to our economy, job creation, and collective well-being:
"Deep spending cuts by state and local governments pose a growing threat to an economy that is already grappling with high unemployment, depressed home prices and the surging cost of oil.
Lawmakers at state capitols and city halls are slashing jobs and programs, arguing that some pain now is better than a lot more later. But the cuts are coming at a price - weaker growth at the national level.
The clearest sign to date was a report Friday on U.S. gross domestic product for the final three months of 2010. The government lowered its growth estimate, pointing to larger-than-expected cuts by state and local governments. The report suggested that worsening state budget problems could hold back the recovery by putting more people out of work and reducing consumer spending."
TFT has solutions that would raise more than $1 billion in additional revenue for the state while still giving two-thirds of Tennesseans a tax cut = a double-whammy economic stimulus deal that provides a common-sense solution to the problems we face. This solution is simple:
Require corporations to pay their fair share in taxes - most have found loopholes to exploit, and often report no taxable income, despite receiving many benefits provided by the public.
Boost local businesses and their economic regeneration in our communities by requiring out-of-state corporations to follow the same rules and collect the sales tax.
Eliminate the tax on food.
Reduce the general sales tax.
Implement a personal income tax that makes the richest Tennesseans pay the same percentage of their income the rest of us are paying.
Will our elected officials continue to rob Tennessee taxpayers to line the pockets of mega corporations? Will they give us program cuts and layoffs in one hand and give millions to corporations with the other? Not if we stand tall, speak out and let them hear our voices supporting revenue with justice for all. Join TFT in advocating for our state and its future. Let your legislators know where you stand.
This article out of Nashville's News Channel 2 highlights the dangers of such an approach to our economy, job creation, and collective well-being:
"Deep spending cuts by state and local governments pose a growing threat to an economy that is already grappling with high unemployment, depressed home prices and the surging cost of oil.
Lawmakers at state capitols and city halls are slashing jobs and programs, arguing that some pain now is better than a lot more later. But the cuts are coming at a price - weaker growth at the national level.
The clearest sign to date was a report Friday on U.S. gross domestic product for the final three months of 2010. The government lowered its growth estimate, pointing to larger-than-expected cuts by state and local governments. The report suggested that worsening state budget problems could hold back the recovery by putting more people out of work and reducing consumer spending."
TFT has solutions that would raise more than $1 billion in additional revenue for the state while still giving two-thirds of Tennesseans a tax cut = a double-whammy economic stimulus deal that provides a common-sense solution to the problems we face. This solution is simple:
Require corporations to pay their fair share in taxes - most have found loopholes to exploit, and often report no taxable income, despite receiving many benefits provided by the public.
Boost local businesses and their economic regeneration in our communities by requiring out-of-state corporations to follow the same rules and collect the sales tax.
Eliminate the tax on food.
Reduce the general sales tax.
Implement a personal income tax that makes the richest Tennesseans pay the same percentage of their income the rest of us are paying.
Will our elected officials continue to rob Tennessee taxpayers to line the pockets of mega corporations? Will they give us program cuts and layoffs in one hand and give millions to corporations with the other? Not if we stand tall, speak out and let them hear our voices supporting revenue with justice for all. Join TFT in advocating for our state and its future. Let your legislators know where you stand.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Pressure on Amazon Builds - Tennessee Should Join Other States in Standing Strong
The Atlantic Monthly is just the latest voice joining the call for Amazon to follow the law and collect the sales tax in states where it has a physical presence. As you've read here, Amazon has agreed to build two distribution centers in Tennessee's Hamilton County. But in addition to $30 million in incentives the state and local governments have already handed it as part of the deal, Amazon is now demanding special treatment in the state's tax laws to gain an even bigger competitive edge over our local businesses: exemption from having to collect the sales tax in Tennessee.
Amazon can afford to collect the sales tax. Tennessee cannot afford to lose this revenue to give a corporate bully millions in handouts. As other states recognize Amazon needs their strategic distribution locations as much as the states need Amazon jobs, the leading Internet retailer will be forced to stop its bullying tactics and play by the rules. Tennessee's legislators should stand up for their constituents, support their local businesses, and demand that Amazon follow the law. Go here to let your legislator know you support local businesses and want Amazon to collect sales tax, and support legislation that would close corporate tax loopholes like the ones Amazon uses to game the system:
The Out-of-State Sales Tax Act would require any company selling more than $4,800 in goods annually to Tennesseans to collect the sales tax. Amazon would be included, and the issue of a special exemption would be moot.
The Tennessee Small Business Protection Act would implement combined reporting in Tennessee, a reporting method most states use to ensure corporations are taxed on their considerable income and contribute to the infrastructure they require in their business operations.
The issue of corporate tax avoidance and corporate bad behavior in attempts to increase the wealth divide and defund our public structures and the jobs they provide are gaining attention. Join the growing numbers of TFT members and supporters across the country supporting our public structures, public workers, and investments in programs that benefit ALL of us, not just the wealthiest 5%.
Amazon can afford to collect the sales tax. Tennessee cannot afford to lose this revenue to give a corporate bully millions in handouts. As other states recognize Amazon needs their strategic distribution locations as much as the states need Amazon jobs, the leading Internet retailer will be forced to stop its bullying tactics and play by the rules. Tennessee's legislators should stand up for their constituents, support their local businesses, and demand that Amazon follow the law. Go here to let your legislator know you support local businesses and want Amazon to collect sales tax, and support legislation that would close corporate tax loopholes like the ones Amazon uses to game the system:
The Out-of-State Sales Tax Act would require any company selling more than $4,800 in goods annually to Tennesseans to collect the sales tax. Amazon would be included, and the issue of a special exemption would be moot.
The Tennessee Small Business Protection Act would implement combined reporting in Tennessee, a reporting method most states use to ensure corporations are taxed on their considerable income and contribute to the infrastructure they require in their business operations.
The issue of corporate tax avoidance and corporate bad behavior in attempts to increase the wealth divide and defund our public structures and the jobs they provide are gaining attention. Join the growing numbers of TFT members and supporters across the country supporting our public structures, public workers, and investments in programs that benefit ALL of us, not just the wealthiest 5%.
The Upside-Down Economy
Watch An Upside-Down Economy for a great discussion on:
Idle resources and untapped revenues
The role of government spending in job creation
Governments are shooting themselves in the foot by cutting spending - denying economic growth through defunded public structures
Public goods and how we all benefit
The role of public investment in a globally competitive market
The structural problem of campaign financing
And more!
This Time article highlights the same underlying issues affecting the future strength of our communities, and while it addresses the federal budget, translates directly to investments at the state level, as well.
Idle resources and untapped revenues
The role of government spending in job creation
Governments are shooting themselves in the foot by cutting spending - denying economic growth through defunded public structures
Public goods and how we all benefit
The role of public investment in a globally competitive market
The structural problem of campaign financing
And more!
This Time article highlights the same underlying issues affecting the future strength of our communities, and while it addresses the federal budget, translates directly to investments at the state level, as well.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Amazon at it again, this time in California
This corporate bully will soon have nowhere to hide, as more states are standing up to their antics and strong-arm tactics to demand the revenue the billion-dollar-selling corporation owes in sales tax collections:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-02/amazon-com-threatens-to-sever-ties-with-california-affiliates.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-02/amazon-com-threatens-to-sever-ties-with-california-affiliates.html
Why the Rich Should Pay Their Fair Share
As our state Senate considers a constitutional amendment today that would ban an income tax in Tennessee, we turn to this evidence from truth-out.org of such a measure's short-sightedness and harm to our state's future economic growth and jobs creation:
"Reduced taxes on the rich leaves them with more money to influence politicians and politics. Their influence wins them further tax reductions, which gives them still more money to put to political use. When the loss of tax revenue from the rich worsens already strained government budgets, the rich press politicians to cut public services and government jobs and not even debate a return to the higher taxes the rich used to pay. So it goes - from Washington, to Wisconsin to New York City.
How do the rich justify and excuse this record? They claim that they can invest the money they save from taxes and thereby create jobs etc. But do they? In fact, cutting rich people's taxes is often very bad for the rest of us (beyond the worsening inequality and hobbled government it produces).
Several examples show this. First, a good part of the money the rich save from taxes is then lent by them to the government (in the form of buying US Treasury securities for their personal investment portfolios). It would obviously be better for the government to tax the rich to maintain its expenditures, and thereby avoid deficits and debts. Then, the government would not need to tax the rest of us to pay interest on those debts to the rich.
Second, the richest Americans take the money they save from taxes and invest big parts of it in China, India, and elsewhere. That often produces more jobs over there, fewer jobs here, and more imports of goods produced abroad. US dollars flow out to pay for those imports and so accumulate in the hands of foreign banks and foreign governments. They, in turn, lend from that wealth to the US government because it does not tax our rich, and so we get taxed to pay for the interest Washington has to give those foreign banks and governments. The largest single recipient of such interest payments today is the People's Republic of China.
Third, the richest Americans take the money they don't pay in taxes and invest it in hedge funds and with stockbrokers to make profitable investments. These days, that often means speculating in oil and food, which drives up their prices, undermines economic recovery for the mass of Americans and produces acute suffering around the globe. Those hedge funds and brokers likewise use part of the money rich people save from taxes to speculate in the US stock markets. That has recently driven stock prices higher: hence, the stock market recovery. And that mostly helps - you guessed it - the richest Americans who own most of the stocks.
The one kind of significant wealth average Americans own, if they own any, is their individual home. And home values remain deeply depressed: no recovery there.
Cutting the taxes on the rich in no way guarantees social benefits from what they may choose to do with their money. Indeed, their choices can worsen economic conditions for the mass of people. These days, that is exactly what they are doing."
"Reduced taxes on the rich leaves them with more money to influence politicians and politics. Their influence wins them further tax reductions, which gives them still more money to put to political use. When the loss of tax revenue from the rich worsens already strained government budgets, the rich press politicians to cut public services and government jobs and not even debate a return to the higher taxes the rich used to pay. So it goes - from Washington, to Wisconsin to New York City.
How do the rich justify and excuse this record? They claim that they can invest the money they save from taxes and thereby create jobs etc. But do they? In fact, cutting rich people's taxes is often very bad for the rest of us (beyond the worsening inequality and hobbled government it produces).
Several examples show this. First, a good part of the money the rich save from taxes is then lent by them to the government (in the form of buying US Treasury securities for their personal investment portfolios). It would obviously be better for the government to tax the rich to maintain its expenditures, and thereby avoid deficits and debts. Then, the government would not need to tax the rest of us to pay interest on those debts to the rich.
Second, the richest Americans take the money they save from taxes and invest big parts of it in China, India, and elsewhere. That often produces more jobs over there, fewer jobs here, and more imports of goods produced abroad. US dollars flow out to pay for those imports and so accumulate in the hands of foreign banks and foreign governments. They, in turn, lend from that wealth to the US government because it does not tax our rich, and so we get taxed to pay for the interest Washington has to give those foreign banks and governments. The largest single recipient of such interest payments today is the People's Republic of China.
Third, the richest Americans take the money they don't pay in taxes and invest it in hedge funds and with stockbrokers to make profitable investments. These days, that often means speculating in oil and food, which drives up their prices, undermines economic recovery for the mass of Americans and produces acute suffering around the globe. Those hedge funds and brokers likewise use part of the money rich people save from taxes to speculate in the US stock markets. That has recently driven stock prices higher: hence, the stock market recovery. And that mostly helps - you guessed it - the richest Americans who own most of the stocks.
The one kind of significant wealth average Americans own, if they own any, is their individual home. And home values remain deeply depressed: no recovery there.
Cutting the taxes on the rich in no way guarantees social benefits from what they may choose to do with their money. Indeed, their choices can worsen economic conditions for the mass of people. These days, that is exactly what they are doing."
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
TFT stands with majority in seeking Revenue with Justice over budget cuts
A New York Times/CBS poll released yesterday reveals that most Americans support our public workers and protection of their rights. Those surveyed said they opposed, 56 percent to 37 percent, cutting the pay or benefits of public employees to reduce deficits, breaking down along similar party lines. A majority of respondents who have no union members living in their households opposed both cuts in pay or benefits and taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
Tax increases were not as unpopular among those surveyed as they are among many governors, who have vowed to avoid them. Asked how they would choose to reduce their state’s deficits, those polled preferred tax increases over benefit cuts for state workers by nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes, 22 percent chose decreasing the benefits of public employees, 20 percent said they would cut financing for roads and 3 percent said they would cut financing for education.
Although cutting the pay or benefits of public workers was opposed by people in all income groups, it had the most support from people earning over $100,000 a year. In that income group, 45 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 49 percent opposed it. In every other income group, a majority opposed cutting pay or benefits: Among those making between $15,000 and $30,000, for instance, 35 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 60 percent opposed it.
Tax increases were not as unpopular among those surveyed as they are among many governors, who have vowed to avoid them. Asked how they would choose to reduce their state’s deficits, those polled preferred tax increases over benefit cuts for state workers by nearly two to one. Given a list of options to reduce the deficit, 40 percent said they would increase taxes, 22 percent chose decreasing the benefits of public employees, 20 percent said they would cut financing for roads and 3 percent said they would cut financing for education.
Although cutting the pay or benefits of public workers was opposed by people in all income groups, it had the most support from people earning over $100,000 a year. In that income group, 45 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 49 percent opposed it. In every other income group, a majority opposed cutting pay or benefits: Among those making between $15,000 and $30,000, for instance, 35 percent said they favored cutting pay or benefits, while 60 percent opposed it.
Are Amazon's Tax-Dodging Days Numbered?
TFT says, "Yes, they are!" - As we stand together with allies across the state to support public workers and the services they provide, we know revenue is a top priority to fund these workers and the benefits we all receive from the work they do. There is no excuse for the state laying off workers and cutting programs because of a "budget crisis" when it gives millions away to a corporate bully like Amazon.
This Forbes.com article says that "In Tennessee, where state regulations explicitly require an in-state distribution center to collect tax on shipments to in-state customers the Department of Revenue has proposed changing the rule to exempt a distribution center if at least half of its sales come from shipments out of state. That has prompted howls of protest from both Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, a coalition of labor and church groups, and some local merchants."
TFT will continue to advocate that the state pursue the $30-$60 million or more in revenue that would be provided by Amazon following the law as it is currently written. We will continue to "howl in protest" of this special exemption for Amazon, and stand by our local business owners and communities as we speak out collectively on behalf of all Tennesseans.
Amazon needs Tennessee's strategic location for its distribution facilities as much as, if not more than, Tennessee needs its distribution centers. The state should not bend in its negotiations with this corporate bully. Amazon can afford to collect the sales tax. Tennessee cannot afford to lose the revenue.
This Forbes.com article says that "In Tennessee, where state regulations explicitly require an in-state distribution center to collect tax on shipments to in-state customers the Department of Revenue has proposed changing the rule to exempt a distribution center if at least half of its sales come from shipments out of state. That has prompted howls of protest from both Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, a coalition of labor and church groups, and some local merchants."
TFT will continue to advocate that the state pursue the $30-$60 million or more in revenue that would be provided by Amazon following the law as it is currently written. We will continue to "howl in protest" of this special exemption for Amazon, and stand by our local business owners and communities as we speak out collectively on behalf of all Tennesseans.
Amazon needs Tennessee's strategic location for its distribution facilities as much as, if not more than, Tennessee needs its distribution centers. The state should not bend in its negotiations with this corporate bully. Amazon can afford to collect the sales tax. Tennessee cannot afford to lose the revenue.
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