L.A. Council pushes ahead on business tax simplification.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and business croups are pushing to resolve unfinished issues on reforming L.A.'s costly and burdensome business tax.

Two years ago, the council passed a set of reforms that exempted all businesses with less than $100,000 in gross receipts from the business tax and cut business taxes 15 percent over five years for the rest of the city's businesses. Also exempted temporarily were newly established businesses grossing less than $500,000.

But left on the table was a proposal to simplify the system, reducing the city's whopping city's 64 business tax categories to just 11. That proposal is finally working its way through the process and could come before the council early next year.

"One of the big gripes about the business tax--besides the cost--was its sheer complexity, with all these categories. With this reform, there would now be fewer categories for business owners and their accountants to worry about," said Mel Kohn, a partner in the accounting firm Kirsch Kohn & Bridge and one of the point men on business tax reform for the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

Equally anticipated is another reform that would make permanent the exemption for new businesses grossing less than $500,000.

Greuel, who chairs the L.A. City' Council's Ad-Hoc Business Tax Reform Committee, said these proposals are long overdue.

"The evidence is clear. When we make the business tax system simpler and less onerous, businesses stay, thrive, and expand in the City of Los Angeles," Greuel said.

Business advocates are only hoping that this set of reforms won't take seven years to win council approval like the last series of reforms did.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 227.