Revenue commission releases tax break report

The laws granting most of Louisiana’s hundreds of tax credits, rebates and exemptions don’t spell out what taxpayers are supposed to be getting for their money, according to the Legislature’s Revenue Study Commission, which released its final report today. That’s one aspect of the state’s tax expenditure system the commission thinks should change. Lawmakers also recommend mandatory collection of relevant data, formal review processes possibly featuring sunset provisions, and an annual cap on costs for certain expenditure programs. They say the Legislature should consider investing in better economic modeling about the impact of various expenditures. The commission released an addendum of tax expenditures “identified for legislative action”—presumably elimination—which have “expired, sunset, are underutilized, or are obsolete.” They also issued a list of expenditures that they say warrant “further review and potential legislative action.” The second list contains several high-profile, high-cost programs, such as the Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit and the Enterprise Zone. “This detailed look into Louisiana’s tax structure will prove extremely valuable to the Legislature as we debate tax reform come April,” says Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, the commission’s chairman. Read the report here. You can find a Business Report story about the state’s tax exemption system here; and check out the commission’s report here.