Corporate tax bill revised

Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, informed the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee this morning that his bill to lower and phase out the corporate income tax is being revised so that the rate would only go down if state revenues grow.

A previous version of the bill that lowered the tax rate in small increments over several years irrespective of tax revenues has been a top priority of Gov. Rick Scott.

Telling the committee, “I believe that this bill is a critical cornerstone for a jobs agenda,” Richter asked for Senate Bill 1236 to be temporarily postponed to allow time for the bill to be further researched and revised.

Richter told the committee that with the new bill future reductions in the state's 5.5% corporate income tax rate would be determined by future increases in revenues. Those revenues would have to exceed a level that takes into account four components: the growth rate of the 1990s, the population growth rate and the cost of living, plus 50 basis points.

Richter explained to the committee that for each dollar of corporate income tax paid it equates to a reduction of $2.50 in wages, money that companies could use to add employees or increase wages for existing employees. “It's wage earners that pay this corporate income tax,” Richter told the committee.