CBPP: As Corporate Share of Federal Revenues Hits Historic Low, Timing Gimmicks Mask True Cost of Proposed Tax Measure

554 words
14 October 2003
U.S. Newswire
English
Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

News Advisory:

Conference Call Briefings

TO BE HELD: Thursday, October 16, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. (ET)

CONTACT: Michelle Bazie, e-mail: bazie(At)cbpp.org, phone: 202- 408-1080

AS CORPORATE SHARE OF FEDERAL REVENUES HITS HISTORIC LOW, TIMING GIMMICKS MASK TRUE COST OF PROPOSED TAX MEASURE

Without Sunset Provisions, Thomas Bill's 10-Year Impact on Deficits Would Soar

With:

-- George Plesko, Assistant Professor of Management, Sloan School of Management, MIT

-- Leonard Burman, Senior Fellow, the Urban Institute

-- Joel Friedman, Senior Fellow, CBPP

-- Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, CBPP (moderator)

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities will hold conference call briefings on Thursday, October 16 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) and 2:00 p.m. (ET) to discuss a proposal by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) that would provide a sweeping range of new tax breaks to corporations at a time when corporations' share of federal revenues is at a historic low point. The Thomas measure is expected to be taken up by the full Ways and Means Committee the week of October 20.

In a major forthcoming Center analysis, CBPP Senior Fellow Joel Friedman finds that a weak economy, a number of tax breaks over the years, and aggressive tax sheltering have pushed corporate income tax receipts down to historically low levels as a share of total federal revenues, and of the economy as a whole. The Thomas bill responds to World Trade Organization objections to exports subsidies for American businesses totaling $49 billion. But the bill goes well beyond simply replacing those provisions with measures of the same cost; as introduced, it would cost $128 billion over ten years. And while news reports indicate that the bill will be "scaled back," the savings reportedly are being achieved in substantial part through a series of artificial "sunsets." A separate forthcoming Center analysis by David Kamin finds that without timing gimmicks, the projected ten-year cost pf the bill as introduced would reach nearly $640 billion. With interest, that figure could exceed $800 billion.

Both analyses will be posted to the Center's site http:// www.cbpp.org when they are completed. Joining Joel Friedman on the call will be George Plesko, Assistant Professor of Management at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, Leonard Burman, Ph.D., a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert on tax policy. Robert Greenstein, Executive Director of CBPP, will moderate. After opening remarks, the presenters will take questions from journalists.

To join the call on Thursday, October 16 at 11 a.m. ET or 2 p.m. ET, register by e-mailing bazie(At)cbpp.org, or calling Michelle Bazie at (202) 408-1080. Or register on-line at http:// www.cbpp.org/confcall.htm.

Include the following information: name, affiliation, phone number (the operator will reach you at this number), e-mail and the time of the call (11 a.m. or 2 p.m.).

http://www.usnewswire.com

Contact: Michelle Bazie of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 202-408-1080; e-mail: bazie(At)cbpp.org; web: http:// www.cbpp.org

Document USWIR00020031014dzae0023b