HARRISBURG,  May 2, 2011 – The budget plan offered by House Republicans yesterday ignores obvious remedies for Pennsylvania’s budget problems and lopsided business –tax system,  State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today.

“It’s better than what Governor Corbett proposed, but barely,” Tartaglione said. “It’s the same song with a new arrangement: Cut the needy; save the greedy.”

The House GOP proposal fails to address the growing game of corporate tax-ducking, even as 85 percent of companies involved in the rapidly expanding Marcellus Shale gas industry pay no corporate income taxes.

“The insistence on preserving loopholes for big drillers and big retailers while cutting education and family programs is not just fundamentally wrong,” Tartaglione said. “It’s short-sighted economic policy that darkens the future in favor of hit-and-run energy profits.”

Tartaglione, who recently revealed the existence of hundreds of newly formed Delaware subsidiaries related to the gas industry, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 679, which would require “combined reporting” for businesses in Pennsylvania and close the “Delaware Loophole.” 

“The combined reporting requirement simply targets corporations that are avoiding their tax obligation by using out-of-state mailboxes,” Tartaglione said. “We all want businesses to be successful and the economy to grow.  The best way to get there is to create a business tax system that is fair to all businesses, big and small.”

Several years ago, the state Department of Revenue estimated that $400 million in corporate taxes could be recouped by adopting a combined reporting standard, as 23 states have already done.   With the formation of hundreds of new Delaware subsidiaries, the revenue lost through the loophole could be dramatically rising, Tartaglione said.