Colorado eyes ballot question to collect from corporate tax havens
Voters in November could determine whether corporations doing business in Colorado must report and pay state taxes on profits funneled into offshore tax havens.
Doing that would create a tax windfall of up to $150 million a year, according to a legislative analysis.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, sponsors of legislation to put the issue on the ballot, want that money earmarked for schools.
“When corporations don’t pay their taxes, kids pay the price,” said Kerrie Dallman, a high school social-studies teacher in Jefferson County and president of the Colorado Education Association.
House Bill 1346 is scheduled to be heard before the state House of Representatives’ Finance Committee on Wednesday afternoon — the day income taxes are due.
“There are some corporations that don’t pay their taxes like the rest of us, unfortunately,” Foote said. “But they do get a chance to use our roads and take advantage of educated folks who work in their businesses, courts for dispute resolutions and so forth. They just don’t pay for that.”
The liberal-leaning Colorado Public Interest Research Group on Tuesday released a report that indicates each small business in Colorado would have to pay an extra $3,165 annually to make up the money lost to corporate tax havens.
More than 300 Colorado small businesses have endorsed the bill asking for a vote.
“This bill will simply ensure that big corporations that should be paying their fair share restore funding to our state and back to our kids in their classrooms,” Pettersen said.
Montana and Oregon have passed laws demanding a share of taxes from offshore accounts in such places as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Luxembourg, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands.
The Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry will testify against the bill, saying it’s overly broad and ropes in affiliated businesses — not just those with tax havens.
“We understand the intent to eliminate the shifting of income to tax havens to avoid Colorado taxes,” said Loren Furman, CACI’s senior vice president for state and federal relations. “But, there are many instances where legitimate business is conducted in these countries, and that income may not have been subject to Colorado tax.”
