Advocates are pressing Minnesota legislators to close tax loopholes and prevent companies from shifting income to offshore subsidiaries to avoid paying taxes.
Advocates push to close corporate tax loopholes in Minnesota
Groups say money would eliminate service reductions and tax pressure off of Minnesota taxpayers.
April 2, 2013 at 6:00PM
Take Action Minnesota says that companies are avoiding paying millions in taxes, which either results in service reductions around the state or higher taxes for all Minnesotans.
"Minnesota families cannot continue to pay for corporate tax avoidance," said Greta Bergstrom, spokeswoman for Take Action Minnesota, an advocacy group.
Legislators are exploring a proposal to close some tax loopholes, which would bring in an additional $36.5 million over the next two years. If legislators closed all tax loopholes, the state could potentially take in an additional $350 million.
Tax loopholes have sparked heated debate around the Capitol for years. Even though a fraction of Minnesota companies take advantage of them, some of the state's largest and most politically powerful companies benefit from the breaks.
The Minnesota Business Partnership and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce have successfully lobbied against the elimination of tax loopholes for years. Former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty displayed no interested in ending the tax breaks.
Now with a DFL Legislature and governor, state Rep. Frank Hornstein says now could be different. He has not discussed the proposal with House leaders, but he said many DFLers supported the idea when he pushed it a few years ago.
"This the year we will finally get this bill signed into law," said Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis.
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