[JViello]

Hey I report the good with the bad, and found this to be interesting.

Businesses operating in Connecticut were the least burdened of all states by state and local taxes, the latest Ernst & Young report shows.
Connecticut businesses' 3.3 percent tax burden as a share of private sector gross state product was the lowest of all 50 states in fiscal 2010, according to the ninth annual report produced in conjunction with the Council On State Taxation (COST).

The national average was 5 percent.

CT Inc.'s tax burden lowest in U.S. | Hartford Business

The study:

http://cost.org/Page.aspx?id=79163

Granted it seems as though this is simply corporate tax. Not sure how it would rank for small businesses.

http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php..._of_any_state/

[JayCT]

I saw this too and thought about posting it. It is interesting and a different point of view. I think it is more overall. Too many of these reports just look at state taxes alone, but do not consider county (we do not have this) or municipal taxes (which overall are lower) Jay

[mlassoff]

So that begs the question then- Why aren't businesses attracted to Connecticut and what can be done about it. I have said in at least three threads that taxation is not the problem- infrastructue to support entrepreneurship is...

Of course all of those threads had a million posts and lively debate...This one crickets....

[JViello]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

So that begs the question then- Why aren't businesses attracted to Connecticut and what can be done about it. I have said in at least three threads that taxation is not the problem- infrastructue to support entrepreneurship is...

Of course all of those threads had a million posts and lively debate...This one crickets....

Agreed, but it begs the questions from me to wonder where the tax burden has fallen/shifted too. Seems government and big corporations are doing fine here, and in fact Malloy's first five boondoggle really didn't do much except pay off big corporations.

I have to wonder if a disproportionate amount of the burden is in fact on the middle class and small business (Under 500 employees) in this state. It sure feels like it.

Also if you are minority or woman owned, the state goes out of it's way to give you a competitive advantage. One of my sort of competitors who's wife is Latino actually made her president of the company to land state contracts granted to minorities and woman that essentially shut me out from bidding. She has about as much to do with the business as my wife in mine. Stuff like that really bothers me.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by JViello

Also if you are minority or woman owned, the state goes out of it's way to give you a competitive advantage. One of my sort of competitors who's wife is Latino actually made her president of the company to land state contracts granted to minorities and woman that essentially shut me out from bidding. She has about as much to do with the business as my wife in mine. Stuff like that really bothers me.

That's not a Connecticut thing. We had the same situation with the last company we had in Austin. (I was a minority partner with a small ownership percentage). The president of the company was the owner's wife... Not because she really ran the company, but because it gave us favorability in state and municipal contracts.

[gilfman]

That is because of all the deals Hartford gives. They just gave Starwood Hotels corporate to move 800 employees to Stamford $40,000,000 in tax rebates. Last year they gave a ton to Gen. Dyn. & Waste Mgt. Well figure getting all those kick backs you would have a low tax burden.

Does the state make it up in sales tax collection and personal inc. Well you figure how long that takes.

[DawnMTL]

I don't know -- I felt taxed up the butt from CT.

When I looked into changing my address (to MA) for all the related business things (IRS, Dept. of Labor, etc...), when I got to the Business Entity Tax folks, I gasped: They wanted $100 in order to change my address. Really? REALLY?

Anyway, I'm closing the business, but that's not really the point, is it? It's madness.

[gilfman]

I forgot to add about Starwood Hotels that they moved 10 miles from I-287 corp park in Westchester. Most tops live in Harrison, Rye & Bedford, NY and most employees won't move for that short trip.

Hey corp is diff from pers. A S-corp or LLP is taxed at personal level not corporate. All income is passed from corp return into a K-1 that appears on personal 1096 form. So maybe the Hartford, Stanley or UBS gets a great state kick back. I don't know. However, CT is 3rd behind NY then NJ#1 as top tax states per individual. Both Cuomo & Christie are trying to lower taxes while Malloy is raising them. Why has Texas gained so many corporations in last 20 years. They are second behind NY in Fortune 500 headquarters.

FYI when you hear the gov't is cutting programs; question. Most gov't budgets have mandatory % raises (usually 10%) or it is considered a cut from last year. Ex. program A $100,000 2011 if it does not go above $110,000 2012 it is considered a cut.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by gilfman

FYI when you hear the gov't is cutting programs; question. Most gov't budgets have mandatory % raises (usually 10%) or it is considered a cut from last year. Ex. program A $100,000 2011 if it does not go above $110,000 2012 it is considered a cut.

That is not true. Where did you get this idea from? Jay

[JViello]

Originally Posted by JayCT

That is not true. Where did you get this idea from? Jay

They do it all the time Jay. They just did it here in CT last session! We only grew by 2% instead of 3% so they called it a cut in spending. ROFL You can't make it up!