Tax & Budget In the News

The General Assembly did a disservice to Maryland businesses and individual taxpayers when it failed to close some corporate tax loopholes during the special session ("O'Malley's risks not over," Nov. 20).

Over the past two months, 48 businesses signed on to a letter urging decision-makers to close these loopholes and level the playing field for in-state businesses.

The Greater Brunswick Area Chamber of Commerce in Frederick County, for instance, supported "combined reporting" as a way to "restore fairness to business taxation in the state."

Corporate tax loopholes will likely be an even bigger issue in coming years as a result of this special session.

When lawmakers raised the corporate income tax rate by more than 1 percent but failed to close some loopholes, they gave multi-state companies even more incentive to transfer profits out of state and put the little guy at an even greater disadvantage.

I hope the General Assembly will level the playing field for in-state businesses and make the tax code more fair by instituting combined reporting during the regular 2008 session.

Johanna E. Neumann

Baltimore