News
Letter to the Editor
May 02,
2007
Dear Editor,
We would like to thank the business community and local policy makers for
their attendance at our April 30th forum on Governor Blagojevich’s proposed
Gross Receipts Tax.
The simple reality is that we are faced with a proposed tax plan that, if
passed, will be the largest tax increase in the State of Illinois and the
largest tax increase this nation has seen in over a decade. This massive tax
increase will not be used to pay down our existing liabilities such as the
$1 billion backlog in Medicaid bills or even our $41 million pension
deficit. Instead, this tax will be used for $7 billion in NEW state
programs.
The gross receipts tax is a tax that is applied to the transaction side of
business instead of the profit side. This means that under current law if a
product sells for $10 and the cost to make the product was $9, the business
is only taxed on the profit which is $1. Under the gross receipts tax, the
business would be taxed on the entire sale amount of $10. To keep businesses
solvent in this state, this tax will have to be passed onto the consumer.
This means that the cost of buying your child’s school supplies will
increase, the cost for getting your hair cut will increase, the cost for
taking your family out for a day of entertainment at the local miniature
golf course will increase and the list goes on and on.
To make matters worse, this tax will also directly affect our local
communities. We will put our Illinois businesses at a competitive
disadvantage due to their inability to compete with companies in neighboring
states and will threaten the potential loss of jobs as businesses move out
of state or choose to close their doors. Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and
West Virginia repealed their gross receipts tax because they quickly learned
that this tax stifled job creation and increased costs to consumers.
Once again, we would like to thank everyone for coming out to this important
meeting. It’s important that we stand up for our families and stop the
Governor’s massive tax increase.
Sincerely,
Dennis Reboletti
State Representative
Franco Coladipietro
State Representative
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