I just finished reading a post by Nicole Kaeding at The Tax Foundation about how confusing and bad the Louisiana Gross Receipts Tax proposal is. I couldn't agree more.
Why do states continually try to raise revenue by making tax calculations more complex which end up producing unintended consequences or unconstitutional tax regimes?
Many answers are possible, but I digress. Back to Louisiana's gross receipts tax proposal.
I had noticed that Louisiana proposed a gross receipts tax, but hadn't drilled down into the details. When I read Nicole's article, I couldn't believe what I was reading. I particularly love the flow chart she provides which shows the complex tax structure under HB628.
As the corporate income tax becomes less of a revenue source, will more states adopt something similar? I hope not, but as history tells us, states like to play copycat.
Here is a link to another post Nicole wrote which discusses what states currently employ gross receipts taxes and other states considering such a tax.