Panel urges business tax cuts

[Township75]

Rendell wanted group to improve commerce
Tuesday, June 22, 2004

By Bill Toland, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau



HARRISBURG -- A panel that was convened to reform Pennsylvania's commerce taxes and, in the process, invigorate the state's sluggish business climate has recommended a drastic cut in the corporate net income tax, dropping it from nearly 10 percent to between 6 and 7 percent.

That's the centerpiece of an interim report released yesterday by the Pennsylvania Business Tax Reform Commission, a 12-person board organized in March at Gov. Ed Rendell's direction. These midterm recommendations will be fleshed out in more detail and joined by other suggestions when the commission's full report is due at the end of November.

From there, the commission's suggestions, all of which would require legislative enactment, would become part of the dialogue as Rendell and state lawmakers negotiate the 2005-06 budget.

The corporate net income tax is levied on federal taxable income. Certain service institutions, such as loan groups, banks, trust companies, insurance companies and others, are exempt.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04174/335591.stm