Lawmakers: Tax breaks need periodic review
The Texas tax code is rich with tax breaks. There are tax breaks for industries relocating to the state and for anyone with an Internet connection. Tax exemptions for groceries and bottled water. Tax holidays for back-to-school supplies. Tax exemptions for golf courses at private country clubs.
It adds up to at least $38 billion a year for the state’s major taxes and school property taxes, the comptroller estimates — hardly pocket change in a state that is expected to collect $80 billion in tax revenue in 2012-13. But no one claims to know for sure how much the state is forgoing because, by law, smaller taxes — those that raise $2.2 billion or less — are excluded from a biennial report by the state comptroller.
“We have so many exceptions to the tax code, none of us really know how many we have, what they cost, if they make sense or they don’t,” said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.
To get a handle on all those tax breaks, Ellis, along with Dallas Republican state Sen. John Carona, has filed legislation to create a “sunset” process that would eliminate any tax break that isn’t renewed by the Legislature.
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/lawmakers-tax-breaks-need-periodic-review/nWfgZ/ .
