There are ways to find revenue if legislators are brave and dedicated enough to take the difficult path of finding it for the children of Virginia. The Better Choices For Virginia coalition has come up with some places to find hidden revenue. Here's a snapshot:
Better Choices for Virginia Legislative Agenda 2012
The Better Choices for Virginia 2012 Legislative Agenda is a three-point plan that will close roughly half of the predicted shortfall in the upcoming 2012-2014 biennium through revenue enhancements.
I. Extending Previous Reforms - Virginia enacted some targeted tax policy reforms during the recession that helped address the state’s continuing budget shortfalls. . . could generate over $220 million in the 2012-2014 biennium.
- a. Extension of Land Preservation Tax Credit Reform (Brink HB1268) - savings of between $50 and $75 million per year.
- b. Scale Back the Domestic Production Deduction (Budget Amendment)- Commonwealth could save approximately $10 million per year.
II. Reforming Costly Loopholes - at least $286 million
a. Enact an “Amazon law” (Wagner SB597) -
a gain in revenue of around $17 million per year by requiring sales tax collection.
b. Enact Mandatory Combined Reporting (Scott HB1267) - By enacting mandatory combined reporting, Virginia could gain more than $100 million a year and also end a tax advantage that local businesses don’t share.
c. Yacht Owners’ Loophole (Englin HB145) - Virginia taxes the sale of watercraft at a reduced rate of 2 percent (instead of the 5 percent applied to other goods) and limits the total amount collected on any vessel to $2,000 even if 2 percent of the selling price exceeds that amount.
d. Adopt a Minimum Corporate Income Tax (Englin HB1030) - If Virginia were to implement a $250 minimum corporate tax payment, the state could realize approximately $11 million in new revenue per year.
e. Eliminate Wasteful Coal Tax Credits (Toscano HB446) –Virginia gives away more than $30 million in credits to the coal industry.
III. Increasing Transparency & Accountability – Each year, Virginia gives up about $2 billion in revenue in the form of various tax breaks.
All totaled up, that's at least $500 million just for the first two items before you even tackle the $2.0 billion of lost revenue from various tax breaks.
