Capitol Gains: I’ve got 99 problems, but tax expenditure reporting isn’t one!
Note: Capitol Gains is a bi-weekly feature on fiscal happenings in the Colorado legislature.
By Ali Mickelson
I’ve got 99 problems, but tax expenditure reporting isn’t one!
On Monday, Feb. 24, the Senate voted unanimously to pass CFI’s first bill of the session on to the governor for signature! HB 1018 permanently extends the Colorado Tax Profile and Expenditure report. This is a huge step toward increased transparency and accountability in Colorado’s tax code, and we are thrilled our legislators saw the value in this important report.
Introducing: Taxpayer Protection!
HB 1285, the Taxpayer Protection Disclosure Reporting Act, was introduced last week in the House. Our second CFI bill of the session requires that paid tax preparers provide a disclosure statement to potential clients with important information about the preparer, including the preparer’s background, qualifications, contact information and fee schedules.
We know that choosing who prepares your taxes can be a difficult decision, especially since the consequences of tax filing errors can be devastating. That is why we believe Colorado taxpayers need to know what kind of training the person preparing their tax returns has, how they charge for their services and how to reach them in case there’s a problem later. To ensure this basic level of transparency and accountability, we are working to pass HB 14-1285.
This bill is already off to a great start with three excellent prime sponsors (Rep. Ryden, Sen. Aguliar and Sen. Johnston) and 11 co-sponsors in the House, including the speaker and the chairman and a majority of the members of the assigned committee — House Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development.
The bill is scheduled to be heard on March 11, 2014. To see the factsheet on this bill, please click here: Taxpayer Protection One-pager FINAL.
Everybody (still) gets a tax credit!
Nearly halfway through the session, it is clear that Tax Credit Oprah is here to stay (click here for last week’s blog on this topic). Twenty different tax credit bills have already been introduced and many have passed through their first committee of reference, in spite of testimony on the priorities in the budget that don’t get funded Colorado continues to give away tax dollars to special interests. In the last two weeks alone, CFI has testified against four different tax credit bills, ranging from a tax credit for property used in space flight, to a sales tax holiday for the purchase of firearms. We will continue to encourage the General Assembly to evaluate all tax breaks through a lens of efficiency, effectiveness and equity and will hopefully stem the influx of new giveaways in the process.
