Cut tax "earmark" deal in Minnesota

A preview of Sunday's editorial takes a common sense approach to cutting the special tax breaks for businesses out of the Minnesota budget for savings of $2.1 billion.

Some preview excerpts. (there's a reward at the end if you take your spinach and read through this stuff!)

Over the years, Minnesota’s tax code has exploded with special deals

These so called “tax expenditures” represent unfair tax breaks for one business over its competitors. If your business is dog grooming, you pay a sales tax. If your business is grooming one’s legal issues as a lawyer, you pay no sales tax. If you sell someone a computer, you pay sales tax. If you provide computer “services” you pay none.

These kind of inequities go on and on when one considers the latest “tax expenditure” budget report from the state of Minnesota. In just the area of business services purchased by businesses alone, there are $2.1 billion of these tax deals, about a third of the current deficit.

Add another $400 million to state coffers if these tax deals were removed for consumer purchases of business services.

From day one of the sales tax in Minnesota, it's been unfair.

Some services were taxed with the establishment of the Minnesota sales tax in 1967, including gas and electric service and local telephone service, and preparing and serving meals. The sales tax was expanded in 1987 to include parking services and laundry service and building cleaning services.

Yet, apparently those businesses with good lobbyists kept their tax exemptions.

It’s a system that started out as unfair and remains today as unfair as ever. Removing these exemptions cannot be described as raising taxes. It’s more like collecting debts owed from taxes that should have been paid years ago.

Officials say these deals are “for public policy goals, such as funding or encouraging specified activities or providing financial assistance to persons, businesses, or groups in particular situations.”

Sounds like government intrusion into the marketplace to us.

Send lawyers, guns and money (OK, that's not in there, but I couldn't resist).Here's a great youtube version of the song by Hank Williams.

Have a good weekend.