WMC on Taxes: Tax Cuts for the Rich and Loopholes for Corporations, Paid by the Middle Class

WMC Claim: "We need to encourage economic growth and development to expand the tax base, thereby reducing the burden on all taxpaying entities."

WMC Watch Reality Check: Families see their tax burdens and their property taxes rise, but WMC fights for corporate tax loopholes and giveaways to the state's wealthiest paid for by the middle class.

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WMC’s Harmful Legislative Agenda on Taxes

Legislation Supported WMC supports indefinite deferment of taxation on capital gains, which benefit the wealthiest, at a $64 million cost in lost revenue annually. 2005 AB 910 WMC supports excluding income from a business from being taxed at a cost of at least $44 million a year. 2007 AB 671 WMC supports elimination of the estate tax – a $100 million a year giveaway to the children’s of Wisconsin’s wealthiest. 2007 AB 149

Legislation Opposed WMC opposed closing the "Las Vegas Loophole," which allowed corporations to avoid $81 million a year in taxes owed to the people of Wisconsin by opening a post office box "headquarters" in a state, like Nevada, which doesn't tax corporate income. 2007 SB 210 WMC opposes having corporations submit annual statements to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue under a Corporate Tax Accountability Act. 2007 SB 367

For more information about WMC's lobbying effort, click here to visit the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board's website about WMC.

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WMC's Tax Agenda in the Media

No tax increase for corporations or the rich, speaker urges
Wisconsin State Journal, February 11, 2009
By Judy Newman

Don't raise taxes on corporations or wealthy people. That is a key to bringing the nation's economy back to good health, Barry Asmus… said in Madison on Wednesday. "The surest way to abundance is to allow people to keep the fruit of their labor," Barry Asmus told Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce's annual Business Day in Madison… "The first order of business is: Do no harm. Raising taxes on business or (imposing) expensive regulations - this isn't the time for that," WMC vice president James Buchen said.

Business leaders decry tax increases in state budget
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 14, 2009
By Rick Romell

Chief among the negative items in [Jim Buchen's] view: an increase in the top personal tax rate from 6.75% to 7.75%; a collective $200 million-a-year bump in corporate income taxes; and a slicing in half of the amount of capital gains, generally speaking, that are exempt from state tax. Part of the increase in corporate income taxes comes from adoption of "combined reporting." That closed what some viewed as a loophole in which corporations shuffled profits to subsidiaries in states that don't tax them.

Corporations avoid fair share
Capital Times, April 12, 2007

It doesn't come as a surprise to readers of this newspaper, but yet another study confirms that businesses in Wisconsin pay some of the lowest state taxes in America… That means, of course, that individual taxpayers must make up close to a billion-dollar-per-year shortfall… Those figures fly in the face of what Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce would have us believe. They also fly in the face of the claims made by WMC and other business interests that lower taxes will attract more businesses and jobs to Wisconsin. The truth is that most businesses don't base their decisions on taxes alone, but consider a number of factors from work force availability to the quality of education to transportation considerations.

Advocacy group claims Wis companies don't pay enough income tax
Associated Press, December 4, 2006
By Scott Bauer

Some of the largest, most-profitable companies in Wisconsin have not paid corporate income tax, resulting in a heavier burden on individuals... according to data presented by Jack Norman, research director of the Milwaukee-based Institute for Wisconsin's Future... Many companies complain that corporate income taxes are too high here, and the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state's largest business group, has suggested the corporate income tax should be eliminated. But the fact that 67 percent of corporations didn't pay any corporate income tax in 2003 belies their arguments, Norman said. He accused the WMC of spending millions of dollars on false advertising to make taxpayers believe business taxes are too high.

Taxpayer Bill of Rip-Offs
Capital Times, May 23, 2004

The point of the ads is to fool working Wisconsinites into telling legislators to side with Gard and back the TABOR proposal. But don't be fooled. If this legislation passes, tax increases will be limited, but ordinary Wisconsinites will still pay more for worse services and inadequate funding for public schools. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the big businesses for which it lobbies apparently think that in the midst of that, their interests will be well served. That, of course, is why WMC is paying for all those radio ads.

Legislature sends corporate tax break to governor
Associated Press, June 25, 2003
By Jenny Price

A corporate tax break that would cost the state $45 million a year when fully implemented was approved Wednesday by the Legislature as part of a plan some lawmakers say would help Wisconsin's ailing economy... Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business group, has long pushed for the change. WMC spokesman Jim Pugh said the tax break would encourage businesses to grow or move to Wisconsin.