Tax Incentives Bill Moves Forward
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA bill calling for a legislative commission to regularly evaluate state and local tax incentives has cleared the Indiana House. The proposal, designed to determine if tax breaks are creating anticipated jobs and investments, now goes to the state Senate. January 23, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – House Bill (HB) 1020, the Indiana Economic Development Tax Incentives Evaluation Act, authored by State Representative Eric Koch (R-Bedford), passed unanimously out of the House today. HB 1020 would require state and local tax incentives to be subject to regular review and evaluation. The bill also would require the Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy (CSTFP) to review, analyze and evaluate state and local tax incentives that are provided to encourage economic development or to alter, reward or subsidize a particular action or behavior by a tax incentive recipient.
HB 1020 requires the CSTFP to complete a comprehensive review of all state and local tax incentives over a five-year period beginning in the 2014 interim and requires the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) to conduct the evaluation and analysis of each incentive scheduled for review by the CSTFP.
The five-year incentive review would cover exemptions, deductions, credits, preferential rates and other tax benefits that: (1) reduce the amount of a tax that would otherwise be due the state; (2) result in a tax refund in excess of any tax due; or (3) reduce the amount of property taxes that would otherwise be due to a political subdivision of the state. The review would include programs under which political subdivisions dedicate revenue to provide improvements or to retire bonds issued to pay for improvements in an economic or sports development area, a community revitalization area, an enterprise zone or a tax increment financing district.
“I've been pleased with the response to the bill and appreciate the unanimous support it received in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Koch. “This bill will provide state and local policymakers the information necessary to decide whether to continue, modify or repeal economic development incentives based upon real data and independent analysis.”
Source: Office of Indiana State Representative Eric Koch