Finance & Revenue

EU regulators found that tax deals granted to Apple and Fiat violate the prohibition against state support of companies. Economic Development in Europe is broken too. Fix It Again, Tony. [WSJ] 

It takes a lot of human capital to run oil fields. Those humans need to sleep somewhere. A Houston based company that provides accommodations for oil field works discovered the tax implications of booming business. The company considered converting to a REIT, but hot summer days led to a better conclusion- move to Canada. Not only does Canada offer cooler summers but is also offers a lower tax rate for this C-Corp. The 25-26% tax rate in Canada is roughly 4% lower than the US tax rate on the C-corp’s income.  [Financial Post]

Reform the Enterprise Fund is the mantra of this election season. Whether the legisaltive solution relies on greater transperancy, a stricter application process, a faster application process to improve competitiveness, stricter enforcement, or elimination of the fund is the question du jour.  Tea Partiers lean toward elimination. Business interests lean toward reform.

Will the Legislature take the politically expedient option or the option that strengthens Texas position has an economic powerhouse? Greg Abbott told the Houston Chronicle that every option should be on the table. [Houston Chronicle]

For decades, the fight to control your tax rates has been brewing. The State wants to control inflated property tax rates. Locals want to be able to provide for their own needs. Controlling the purse strings is a very big deal. 

Some state leaders are talking about property tax caps. Not a popular concept to local officials. Beaumont Enterprise is first out of the gate railing against property tax caps. [Beaumont Enterprise]

Austin Chronicle awarded Real Values for Texas the “2014 Best Grassroots Campaign to Hit Home.”  Real Values for Texas supports fairness in the proeprty tax system. What’s interesting is the organizations supporting Real Values for Texas. They aren’t the usual far right red meat, the organizations supporting Real Values for Texas are of the blue variety: AFL CIO, Move On, AFT….[Real Values for Texas] 

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis maps economic growth. Its searchable. There are printable maps. [US Dept. of Commerce]

Tax Shelters are Feeling the Heat. Luxembourg has agreed to EU requirements for account information sharing. [WSJ]

Deja vu all over again. Remember the last years long battle to establish statutory balance that helps alleviate the concerns of residential property tax payers? We’re back! Hello talks of appraisal caps and providing property relief for residential property tax owners. [Houston Press] 

SB 1678 (2013) added events to the Major Events Trust Fund recipient pool. Nobel goal to draw events and the corresponding tax revenue to Texas. But, when you draft these bills you have to remember that just adding an event to the list isn’t enough.  You have to add the ability to award those funds to the event too. Want to know how to draft a bill like this? Read [GA-1052]

Protesting taxes, an American tradition, comes to life in San Antonio as people gather to rally to reform commercial property tax system. In Boston, protestors throw tea into a harbor, in San Antonio does one dump tequila in the river? What makes this protest intersting is that the activists are of the blue variety, not the red variety. [My San Antonio]

Legislators hear a lot about high tax rates in Harris County, Dallas County and the corresponding metropolitican areas. But, which county has the highest tax rates? Who should be the most vocal and concerned about high tax rates?  Politifact sifts through tax rates, includes links to country tax rates and decalres Travis as the highest tax rate. [Politifact]

Tax law is complicated. Complicated laws lead to law suits. Property tax law suits brought by commercial property owners are impacting the coffers in San Antonio. [ My SA]