Business tax counterproposal includes 15 percent cut.IT'S no secret that the release earlier this year of a consultant study to reform the city of L.A.'s cumbersome cum·ber·some adj. 1. Difficult to handle because of weight or bulk. See Synonyms at heavy. 2. Troublesome or onerous. cum business tax has met with a cold reception at City Hall. The plan, more than a year in the making, recommended simplifying the tax code, but it would not reduce taxes overall and would hit some businesses with a new real estate tax. "It's dead on arrival," City Councilman Eric Garcetti Eric Garcetti (born 1971) is the son of former Los Angeles county district attorney Gil Garcetti, and was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001. He was reelected in 2005. confirmed last week. Instead, Garcetti, who chairs the council's housing, community and economic development committee, has drawn up a proposal, along with Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. , that would cut business taxes by at least 15 percent over the next five years. The proposal is based on a plan unveiled in a series of community meetings last week by the Business Tax Advisory Committee, a five-year-old panel whose members were selected by the mayor and City Council. Besides cutting the gross receipts tax A gross receipts tax, sometimes referred to as a gross excise tax, is a tax on the total gross revenues of a company, regardless of their source. It is similar to a sales tax, but it is levied on the seller of goods or services rather than the consumer. rates, the advisory committee plan establishes an option for small and mid-sized businesses to pay a flat tax of about $145 per year. It also cuts the current 64 separate tax rates down to five, although it keeps the same current rate range of $1.18 per $1,000 in gross receipts the total of the receipts, before they are diminished by any deduction, as for expenses; - distinguished from net profits. - Bouvier. See under Gross, a. os> See also: Gross Receipt to $5.91 per $1,000 in gross receipts. Any business paying a rate in between one of these five new levels would see their tax rate rounded down to the nearest level. This would avoid any tax increases, which under state law would have to be put to a vote of the people. The Garcetti-Greuel proposal also contains steeper tax cuts for businesses in eight targeted industries, including entertainment, tourism, international trade, apparel and technology. Such a plan would cost the city tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues in the short run and would add to any budget shortfall, now estimated at $250 million for the 2004-05 fiscal year. For that reason, the proposal would not take effect until the following fiscal year, 2005-06. Also, Garcetti said that if voters approve a half-cent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. hike for public safety now being circulated by L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. , tens of millions of dollars would be freed up and the city could consider further cuts in its business tax. But even without those additional revenues, Garcetti said the new business tax plan is essential for the long-term economic health of the city. "Even with our city's huge budget deficit, I have come to believe that we must cut the business tax," he said. Staff reporter Howard Fine Howard Fine (November 28, 1958) is an American acting teacher, the founder of the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, CA, and also a theatre director. Early Life Howard Fine was born on November 28, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the youngest of 5 children. can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or at hfine@labusinessjournal.com. |
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