Unless there are dramatic changes, Pennsylvania will continue to have one of the worst tax burdens in the nation and will continue to scare off job creators from locating here. Tom and Jim will combat this trend by enacting reforms that reduce the tax burden on Pennsylvania families and job creators, cut regulatory barriers that are crushing job growth and expand opportunities for new industry sectors to call Pennsylvania home.
Plan Highlights
Tax Reform for Job Creation - The right blend of tax reforms will make Pennsylvania more friendly to the private-sector organizations, large and small, that will create jobs and reinvigorate our economy. The plan will:
- Repeal the death tax
- Phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax
- Reduce the Corporate Net Income Tax to 6.99% over six years
- Remove the Net Operating Loss Cap over a nine-year period
- Adopt a single sales factor for Corporate Net Income Tax apportionment
- Implement a tradable Net Operation Loss Program to allow start-up companies to sell NOLs to infuse new capital into their businesses
- Empower the Revenue Secretary to fight fraud and investigate intra-company transactions, creating fairness and predictability for taxpayers
- Work with the Auditor General to streamline the tax dispute process in order to increase collected revenues
Regulatory Reform - Government should be a partner to business, not an adversary. State agencies should use their resources to develop businesses within the state and promote job creation, not hinder the advancement of our economy. Tom and Jim will make our state agencies work harder and more efficiently for the taxpayer by instituting these reforms:
- Require a program effectiveness review within all state agencies, to eliminate unnecessary regulations and improve the development of regulations by working with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission
- Eliminate the permit backlog at state agencies by instituting a "money back guarantee" to insure that permit decisions are made in a timely manner
- Mandate uniform administration and enforcement of regulations
- Implement compliance assistance by publishing an Annual Compliance Report, summarizing each agency's actions
- Institute the Paperwork Reduction Act requiring Office of Administration approval on any new forms that pose an information collection burden on the public
Legal Reform - Taxpayer money is wasted while excessive and frivolous lawsuits tie up our civil courts. Our legal system can and will perform better, The jobs reform plan will do the following:
- Pass the "Fair Share Act" that was vetoed by Governor Rendell, and put caps on noneconomic damages
- Enact product liability measures that require plaintiffs to obtain independent verification of a product's defectiveness before a suit can be filed
- Protect the innocent seller by providing reasonable protections for retailers who unknowingly sell defective products
- Prevent venue shopping, the practice of filing litigation in jurisdictions that have little or no relation to the defendant or to the act that gave rise to the cause of action for the suit
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