Millions in Unpaid Taxes Sought at Maryland Chamber of Commerce

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 24th, 3:00 p.m.
CONTACT: Maureen Higgins, C 443-631-5090, maureen.higgins@1199.org

Labor-community coalition will press Thursday for hundreds of millions in taxes owed by Maryland corporations and millionaires

Coalition’s taxpayer advocates delivering “Past Due” notices at Chamber, saying it’s time to pass Millionaire’s Tax and Combined Reporting

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Dozens of taxpayer advocates will descend on the Maryland Chamber of Commerce Thursday to expose a brazen tax evasion scheme at the state’s leading business lobby. The Chamber is trying to block legislation that would ensure that wealthy residents and corporations pay their fair share in taxes.

The two bills are the Millionaire’s Tax extension (S.B. 798/H.B.1070) and Combined Reporting for corporations (S.B. 305/H.B. 731). If the Chamber succeeds in blocking the bills, Maryland’s millionaires and corporations could avoid paying as much as $270 million a year in state taxes.

“It’s just wrong to give tax breaks to millionaires and big business when everyone else in Maryland is struggling,” said John Reid, executive vice president of 1199SEIU, the Maryland healthcare union that’s part of the labor-community coalition backing the bills.

“We won’t have to make cuts in education and healthcare if Maryland’s corporations and wealthiest citizens pay their fair share in taxes,” said Rion Dennis, executive director of Progressive Maryland, the citizen’s advocacy group that’s leading the fight for tax fairness.

The Millionaire’s Tax was first enacted in 2008 and established a slightly higher tax rate for households with over $1 million in income. The Chamber warned then that the wealthy would flee the state, but Maryland still has the second highest concentration of millionaires in the country. S.B. 798 would extend the Millionaire’s Tax through 2014. Letting the tax expire would cost Maryland up to $100 million a year in lost revenues, according to Progressive Maryland calculations.

The Combined Reporting bill would close accounting loopholes that allow multistate companies to avoid paying taxes on the profits they earn in Maryland. A study by Maryland’s comptroller showed the state loses as much as $170 million a year in corporate income tax revenues because it doesn’t have combined reporting for corporations. Twenty-three other U.S. states already have combined reporting, including more conservative states such as West Virginia and Arizona.

Thursday’s action at the Chamber of Commerce is part of the “Fight for a Fair Economy,” a campaign of the Service Employees International Union and community groups around the country. It’s working to promote economic policies that benefit ordinary Americans, not just Chamber of Commerce members.