Phila. controller cool to tax plan

Philadelphia’s Controller is cautioning City Council about approving a new business tax structure.  The plan seeks to make taxation fairer, but the controller calls it unbalanced.

 

City Controller Alan Butkovitz says the plan to shift emphasis from a net income tax to a gross receipts tax is wrong, because it works only if white collar jobs replace blue collar jobs.

 

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“The truth is it takes all kinds of businesses to support a community and that’s the mix of businesses that we want to have right now,” said Butkovitz.

 

Ed Grose of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association says the tax would hit the hospitality business hard and could stop construction of a new anchor hotel for the expanding convention center.

 

“This is just another example of making it harder for a new hotel to do business in this city,” said Grose.

 

Sponsors of the idea say it will move some of the tax burden from small businesses to giant corporations with a presence in Philadelphia.  A hearing on the issue is scheduled for next week in City Council.

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