Tax Disclosure Proposal Deals Blow to Businesses

A proposal in the Finance Committee would release to the public proprietary tax information about many Connecticut businesses, casting a blow to their competitiveness and harming the state’s image as a place to do business.
Under HB 6560, the Department of Revenue Services would make public a list of businesses accessing state-provided deductions, credits or exemptions, along with the actual amount of tax savings and advantages realized by each company.
Good tax policy, which includes these factors that lawmakers have made available to businesses, is designed to promote economic development, job growth and more investment in the state. Proposals such as HB 6560 work directly against those goals.
<p> This proposal will impact Connecticut businesses in major ways. First, publicly disclosing sensitive tax information will put that valuable information where it shouldn’t be–in the hands of companies’ competitors.
By making this data public, it will also immediately make Connecticut companies’ operations and decisions open to the eyes and second-guessing of a wide range of interests
Business competitors might have the opportunity to review their chief rival’s tax information.  Parties in negotiations might be able to review pertinent tax data from the opposing side. And special interest advocacy groups would be able to use the information for political purposes.
Ultimately, HB 6560 will be a heavy strike against efforts in Connecticut to appear more business-friendly.
CBIA urges lawmakers to reject efforts such as this that would undermine business confidence, jobs and more investments in the state.
For more information, contact CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart at 860.244.1925 or bonnie.stewart@cbia.com.