[Vision2020] LARGE Corporate Tax Breaks in Idaho

[Sam Scripter]

*" ... and 105 lawmakers."

*My bolding and enlarging, above and below, in the news story.

Does the above mean the members of the Idaho State Senate 
and the House of Representatives?

If yes, then Representatives Trail and Ringo, and Senator
Schroeder, have you received  your copies?

What do you expect will be the legislative response to this?  
E.g., will it be ignored?

Sam Scripter


Tom Hansen wrote:
> Just a reminder for you blahg weenies that are struggling with English 
> comprehension . . .
>
> Courtesy of KTVB (Boise, Idaho) at
>
> http://tinyurl.com/CorporateTaxBreaks
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Whistleblower: Tax Commission Gave Companies Big Breaks
>
> John Miller
> Associated Press 
>
> Updated May 28, 2008
>
> BOISE - A veteran state Tax Commission auditor Wednesday released a 17-
> page whistleblower report alleging that agency commissioners for years 
> have improperly settled tax protests by large corporations, saving the 
> companies money but shorting Idaho by millions of dollars. 
>
> Stan Howland, a corporate income tax auditor for the tax collection agency 
> for 28 years, said the four appointed members of the Tax Commission, as 
> well as the deputy attorneys general who advise them, routinely allow 
> largely out-of-state corporations to pay just a percentage of what they 
> really owe. 
>
> Then, commissioners use disclosure loopholes in the state's public records 
> laws to keep these decisions secret, Howland said in his report, which he 
> delivered to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden *and 
> 105 lawmakers. *
>
> He said the practice began about 17 years ago and has continued, despite 
> complaints from auditors who believe it violates state law. Howland said 
> auditors feel undermined when companies win compromise settlements worth 
> hundreds of thousands of dollars - even though the auditors' objections 
> are proper and reflect state tax law. 
>
> "I'm hoping the Legislature will totally review all of the activities of 
> the Tax Commission and all of its internal control policies, or lack 
> thereof, and they'll address this situation," Howland told The Associated 
> Press in an interview, adding he's tried unsuccessfully to address the 
> matter internally. "I believe Idaho taxpayers are suffering because of 
> deals cut with large corporations." 
>
> Idaho's tax commissioners are Royce Chigbrow, an Otter appointee from 
> 2007; Tom Katsilometes, named to the panel by then-Gov. Dirk Kempthorne in 
> 2005; and the two longest-serving members, Severina "Sam" Haws, named by 
> Gov. Phil Batt in 2000 and Coleen Grant, appointed by Gov. Cecil Andrus in 
> 1991. Commissioners serve six-year terms. 
>
> Lawmakers who oversee tax issues in Idaho said they hadn't yet seen the 
> report and couldn't comment. 
>
> "I'll look at it, and follow up from there," said House Revenue and 
> Taxation Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot. "But as we speak, I have no 
> knowledge of it." 
>
> Howland contends the improprieties result when companies file an incorrect 
> Idaho income tax return, which is then corrected by the audit staff. When 
> a company formally protests, he says it's become standard practice for a 
> tax commissioner to offer a so-called "Confidential Compromise and Closing 
> Agreement" requiring them to pay only a percentage of what is really owed. 
>
> "This allows these companies to avoid paying millions of dollars of income 
> tax that are properly due the state of Idaho, and to do so in complete 
> secrecy," Howland said in his report. "The commission has settled the 
> majority of all multistate corporate protests over the past 17 years with 
> C&Cs. The commission has settled almost all multistate corporate protests 
> in the past year in this manner." 
>
> Howland, who said he is about 1 1/2 years from retirement and wanted to 
> take a stand now, contends the companies share information among 
> themselves about how to take advantage of this practice in Idaho. He 
> doesn't identify the companies in his report, saying that would violate 
> state law. 
>
> "The commission has operated that way for so many years, I think they just 
> take it for granted," Howland said. "They don't see that all of the other 
> taxpayers in this state are paying their full tax, and it's not fair." 
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>   
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