Tax Bill

The battle over Gov. William Donald Schaefer's bills to raise more than $1 billion in new taxes annually may begin in earnest now that the proposals have been introduced in the General Assembly.The controversial bills, which were introduced last night, will face a particularly rough road during coming weeks since many lawmakers have vowed to oppose major tax increases.The so-called Tax Fairness Act of 1991 would raise $800 million a year by restructuring income taxes; expanding and raising the state sales tax; and imposing a 2 percent tax on cars and boats.

WASHINGTON -- Stepping up his attack on Republican tax-cutting proposals, President Clinton said yesterday that the cost of the tax bill moving through the House would rise to "unimaginable" levels and threaten the nation's ability to deal with its most pressing long-term problems.A new estimate by the Treasury Department shows the cost of the House tax bill would "explode" from $864 billion over the first decade to $3 trillion in the 10-year period starting in 2010, Clinton said. The country could not afford that much for tax cuts while shoring up Social Security and Medicare, both of which will come under severe financial strain in the next few decades as the baby boom generation retires and life expectancies increase.

Apple has gone on a very public tax strike. Months after reporting the second-highest quarterly profits in U.S. history, America's favorite company is refusing to bring home more than $60 billion of offshore funds in protest of the taxes it would have to pay. Apple paints its predicament as unfair. Yet Apple's funds did not build up offshore because its iPhones, iPads and Macs are so much more popular overseas than they are at home. Though more than two-thirds of its retail stores are in the United States and Apple sells more products in the U.S. than in any other nation, it reports to shareholders that it made 24 cents in pre-tax profit for every dollar of sales in the United States, compared to 36 cents profit on every dollar of sales abroad.

The new owners of the former David Taylor Research Center have filed an appeal with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation in an effort to reduce a $174,000 tax bill. The appeal, which was submitted by Annapolis Partners of Alexandria, Va., last month, has reignited debate about the viability of the plan to redevelop the former Navy base as a riverside office park. But county officials - some of whom have worked closely with the group, which includes Annapolis telecommunications entrepreneur Maurice B. Tose - said that they are not concerned about the assessment appeal or the status of the high-profile project.

When assessed values are rising rapidly, it pays to know this quirk if you're trying to buy a home: Get the deed in hand before July 1 - your tax bill will be lower. That's especially true if you're buying in an area due to be reassessed the following year. Why? Follow closely: The Homestead Property Tax Credit caps increases in taxable assessments for people who live in the homes they own. You don't qualify the first full fiscal year you own it, meaning July 1 through June 30. But afterward your annual increases can't rise beyond the limit set by your jurisdiction - 2 percent to 10 percent in the Baltimore region.

WASHINGTON - The Senate moved yesterday toward approval of a sweeping corporate tax overhaul - one of a series of measures with broad appeal to key constituencies that lawmakers are expected to pass before wrapping up their pre-election session this week. During an unusual Sunday session, the bill cleared a procedural hurdle when the Senate voted 66-14 to limit debate, paving the way for final passage today of the measure, which would provide almost $136 billion in tax breaks for businesses.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's pledge last weekend to veto a compromise package of tax cuts appears to have steeled the resolve of wavering Democrats to oppose the sweeping tax bill that will reach the Senate floor tomorrow, and it may have shifted the debate toward far more modest tax proposals.The White House surprised Democrats and Republicans alike Sunday when it dispatched senior advisers to issue veto threats not only for the House-passed $792 billion tax bill but also for a $500 billion proposal that has been backed by a group of Senate Democrats.

BERLIN -- In Germany, the sturdy net of government service stretches wide and deep.So does the tax bill.Consider health care, for example. National health insurance covers one and all, cradle to grave. No one ever receives a bill or pays a penny out of his pocket, whether for a broken leg, a nursing home or an incurable disease. And only rarely does anyone complain about the quality of care. (With the exception of dentistry. Germans have notoriously rotten teeth, with dentists to match).Taxes to matchBut for any American who grinds his molars at the thought of "tax and spend" government, this might seem a place of horrors.

House and Senate negotiators completed their work on a $22.4 billion state budget last night, authorizing final spending cuts and a $135 million tax bill that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has pledged to veto. The budget could be approved by the General Assembly as early as today and sent to Ehrlich. Whenever it lands on the governor's desk, the political and fiscal wrangling that accelerated this week after the defeat of Ehrlich's slots plan will reach a crescendo. The governor vowed again yesterday to veto the tax bill, which contains a 2 percent tax on health maintenance organization policies; a 10 percent surcharge on corporate income taxes; and $35 million in so-called corporate loophole closings.

In an 11th-hour public relations offensive, Democratic leaders of the Maryland Senate are urging Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. not to veto a corporate tax bill or cut deeply into the state budget. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, the chairmen of the Senate's four standing committees, and two other leaders signed an open letter yesterday warning that Ehrlich's planned actions would protect "corporations that don't pay their fair share" while "unraveling years of work to gain national respect" for Maryland's university system.