Tax Burden

Sometimes the state giveth back.Gov. William Donald Schaefer did just that yesterday by signing into law a bill intended to ease the sales tax burden on small retailers and the companies that supply them.Yesterday's bill was a reaction to a section of the tax law passed in 1992 that was aimed at people who avoided paying sales taxes, especially at large warehouse-type stores. But retailers had complained that last year's tax law created an administrative burden that ended up costing small retailers money, and earned very little for the state.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan's ideas concerning exempting police pensions from state income tax has the advantage of getting those pensioners to remain in the state of Maryland after retirement ( "Pension pandering," Aug. 13). Those same pensioners will continue to pay taxes such as sales, gasoline, the so-called rain tax, property and all the others that burden Marylanders. Without this incentive many retirees vote "with their feet" and leave the state and end up paying nothing into Maryland's coffers.

As they argued over a proposed $50 annual trash fee increase yesterday, Howard County Council members were given something else to consider -- the total tax burden of county residents compared with those in eight surrounding counties. County budget director Raymond S. Wacks argued that based on his comparison of the nine central Maryland counties, Howard residents pay less in combined taxes and fees than people in six other jurisdictions. Only Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties were lower.

Dozens of big U.S. corporations are considering leaving the United States in order to reduce their tax bills. But they'll be leaving the country only on paper. They'll still do as much business in the U.S. as they were doing before. The only difference is they'll no longer be "American" and won't have to pay nearly as much in taxes to the U.S. government. OK. But if they're no longer American citizens, they should no longer be able to spend a penny influencing American politics.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton said yesterday that his economic program would require courage and sacrifices to do "something no generation has ever had to do before."Laying groundwork for the spending cuts and tax increases he plans to announce Feb. 17 in his State of the Union address, Mr. Clinton said the greatest burden will be borne by the rich, whom he described as "those who got the most and gave the least during the past dozen years.""While most Americans paid higher taxes on lower real incomes, the privileged few paid lower taxes on much higher real incomes," Mr. Clinton said in a five-minute radio address, his first as president.

Carroll County officials are looking for ways to reduce the property tax burden on senior citizens. One possible solution is creating a program that would allow seniors and the disabled to defer tax bills until their houses are transferred or sold, the county comptroller told commissioners yesterday. Under state law, local governments have the authority to create a tax-deferral program for property owners who are older than 65 or disabled, have lived in their homes for at least five years and meet income requirements set by the county, said Comptroller Eugene Curfman.

The Sun's article "State leaders look at Md. income taxes" (July 19) was a good start at engaging the attention of taxpayers in the discussion about how to address the state's $1.5 billion structural deficit. And, yes, Maryland's income tax could be made more progressive. But the role of business in carrying the tax burden also needs to be brought into the discussion. According to a February report from the Council on State Taxation comparing the tax burdens of business among the states for fiscal 2006, Maryland ranks No. 48 (tied with Oregon)

Although Howard residents have been hit with a big income tax increase and face skyrocketing property values, a budget office analysis shows their local tax bills are among the lowest in the region. Howard's local tax bill remains third-lowest among metropolitan subdivisions, just above Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, despite an income tax increase last year that brought Howard's rate to the legal limit of 3.2 percent. "The question we were trying to answer is: If you are a Howard resident, what is your tax rate comparable to somebody else - if you picked them up and plopped them down in another place?"

(Clarification: Although the ONE foundation's $15 million in funding in 2008 is listed in tax documents as “contributions,” the organization does not solicit funding from the general public but from foundations and board members, according to ONE’s website and a statement from a spokeswoman.) Tonight, U2 bring their enormously successful 360 Tour to Baltimore, and if previous U2 shows are any guide (trust me, I've seen them 11 times), the show will feature not only the soaring anthems for which they are rightly known but also a healthy dose of promotion for the band's many charitable causes.

Carroll County officials are looking for ways to reduce the property tax burden on senior citizens. One possible solution is creating a program that would allow seniors and the disabled to defer tax bills until their houses are transferred or sold, the county comptroller told commissioners yesterday. Under state law, local governments have the authority to create a tax-deferral program for property owners who are older than 65 or disabled, have lived in their homes for at least five years and meet income requirements set by the county, said Comptroller Eugene Curfman.

Supreme Court conservatives continue to insist that corporations have the same rights as people on matters ranging from making campaign donations (Citizens United) to raising religious objections to government policies (Hobby Lobby). Meanwhile, anti-tax conservatives continue to argue that corporations are inhuman and it's foolish to tax them because the cost will be passed along to actual humans. Forget for a moment the contradictory notion that a corporation increasingly enjoys the same civil protections of a living, breathing person yet conveniently reverts to an inanimate entity when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

Fifth in a series of profiles of candidates for governor. When he campaigns in residential areas, Democrat Douglas F. Gansler practically sprints from door to door. He's trying to meet as many voters as he can. But it can appear he is chasing somebody. Which, metaphorically, he is. With the June 24 primary for governor approaching, Gansler, 51, trails Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown in the polls and is playing a role that suits the state attorney general's personality - the scrappy challenger.

Contrary to popular belief, the most important tax day for Marylanders isn't April 15. It's today, April 28. That's when, on average, you finally earn enough money to pay off all of the taxes you owe for 2014. From tomorrow on, you can start to keep the money you make. The fact that it takes more than 100 days of work to pay off the tax man shows just how economically draining our tax burden really is. According to the Tax Foundation, 30 percent of the average American's annual income goes from workers' paychecks to the state, local and federal tax rolls.

As a citizen of Maryland, I oppose S.B. 629, a bill in the state Senate that, if enacted, would authorize a county or municipality to impose an annual surcharge for the registration of a motor vehicle. The legislation would provide for a surcharge up to $20 per year per vehicle and require that revenue from the surcharge be used for transportation development purposes. While the terminology used in S.B. 629 says "surcharge," this is really a tax since the intent is for the "surcharge" to apply every year.

Only in Maryland can politicians get away with the double-speak of calling the slight lowering of one of the nation's highest corporate tax rates a "give away" ( "Brown attacks Gansler for favoring corporate tax cut," Feb. 5). Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown also calls lowering corporate taxes to a level that is still higher than most other states "a reckless corporate tax handout. " Maybe when the last corporation has left Maryland for another state with a more reasonable tax burden, he will realize the true meaning of "a corporate give away.

Maryland Republican legislative leaders vowed Tuesday to make tax reduction, including repeal of the so-called "rain tax," their top priority for the 90-day General Assembly session that begins Wednesday. After a briefing at which GOP lawmakers were told that the state's tax burden is driving affluent taxpayers to move elsewhere, the party's House and Senate leaders said they would push for everything from an across-the-board income tax cut to targeted relief for small businesses.

The Obama economic team's announcement this week that it wants more tax relief for small businesses is good news for the economy. Small business today is larger than big business - it earns more money and employs more people - and while Wall Street bailouts may be necessary to preserve capital and liquidity, they are also likely to raise the long-term tax burden of Main Street. If this happens, we will be hurting the very businesses that we need to pull us out of the recession. The predominance of small business in the American economy didn't happen by accident.

The recent announcement of the elimination of 191 jobs at the Saks retail distribution center in Aberdeen – which once employed about 600 people and went through an earlier round of cuts last year – is a reminder to some of us that the distribution center's location was chosen in part because of tax breaks offered to the corporate ownership. Saks closed a distribution center in New York and relocated to Aberdeen and one of the things that made the deal a bit sweeter for the corporation was $8.1 million in tax breaks offered by Harford County and the state.

An Indiana university said Monday that it gave Maryland a "D" for its manufacturing-industry health, adding that tax levels are likely a turnoff for companies in the sector. Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research gave the state "D" grades for tax climate - particularly its individual income tax, unemployment insurance and property taxes - as well as for the state's global reach through exports and the health of its logistics industry. The best grade the university gave Maryland was a "B" for productivity and innovation, a measure that includes research-and-development activity and patents per capita.