About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Chris Atkins & Jonathan Williams, Corporate Tax Reform Will Enhance Kansas Competitiveness 1 (2007)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/ffhixz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FOU AgN DAT IO0N February 21, 2007 Corporate Tax Reform Will Enhance Kansas Competitiveness by Chris Atkins and Jonathan Williams Fiscal Fact No. 78 I. Introduction Occasionally, politicians get the big questions right. In no place is that more evident in 2007 than in Kansas, where lawmakers are currently debating a package of corporate tax reform plans. The Kansas tax burden is ripe for reduction, as Kansas taxpayers face the 18th highest burden of any state in the U.S., and the second highest looking just as Kansas' border states. Reducing corporate tax rates, as Governor Sebelius and legislative leaders are working to do, is also exactly the right way to reduce the burden, as Kansas' corporate franchise and income tax rates are also higher than most other states. As the old saying goes, however, the devil is in the details. While Kansas lawmakers are correct to focus on corporate tax reform, several of the proposals on the table will not achieve the goal of increasing the competitiveness of the Kansas tax system. How far do lawmakers need to go in reducing corporate taxes to truly become competitive? This study answers that question by presenting data on the Kansas tax burden, Kansas' business tax structure, and examining the Kansas corporate franchise and income taxes in detail. It concludes, based on the data, that Kansas needs to eliminate the franchise tax and reduce the corporate tax rate to at least 6.25 percent. Stopping short of these goals would not significantly enhance the competitiveness of the Kansas tax system and may, in the case of a failure to eliminate the franchise tax, actually lead to a decrease in competitiveness since Kansas' neighboring states are ripe to repeal or reduce franchise taxes as well. II. Kansas' Tax Burden In both real and comparative terms, Kansas' state and local tax burden has increased since 1970. By burden we mean the fraction of state income taken by taxes of any kind. Kansas' 2006 tax burden of 10.7 percent of income is average and ranks 18th highest nationally. However, when compared regionally, taxpayers pay the second highest tax

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most