REPORT TO PUSH FOR TAX REFORM PANEL WILL URGE CITY TO SIMPLIFY ITS CODE.Byline: Alexa Alexa is a feminine name meaning defender of man, with its origins in the Greek language. People named Alexa:
A task force is suggesting that Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. pour more money into enforcing business tax laws, simplify its tax rules and abandon some provisions that are driving away companies. The city's Business Tax Advisory Committee makes those and other recommendations for sweeping reforms in a report scheduled to be released today. ``We are really basing this a lot on our own first-hand experiences. We have seen businesses making the decision not to come to Los Angeles or making the decision to move,'' said the committee's chairman, Mel Kohn, an Encino accountant and member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. The 19-member task force, made up of representatives of a range of industries from accounting to entertainment, was appointed by the City Council and Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. as part of Riordan's massive effort to overhaul the business tax code. The city has long been plagued by complaints that it is unfriendly and expensive to businesses, and a city report earlier this year estimated the city could be losing up to $60 million a year from scofflaws doing business without paying the municipal business tax. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Kohn, the 10-page ``Blueprint blueprint, white-on-blue photographic print, commonly of a working drawing used during building or manufacturing. The plan is first drawn to scale on a special paper or tracing cloth through which light can penetrate. for Business Tax Reform,'' will include the following findings: --Tax rates in Los Angeles are too high compared with neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. cities. --The city's tax and permit division is chronically underfunded un·der·fund tr.v. un·der·fund·ed, un·der·fund·ing, un·der·funds To provide insufficient funding for. underfunded adj → infradotado (económicamente) and undersupported. --The city's tax rules are unduly complex and expensive to follow. --Los Angeles tax codes include some unfair double taxation provisions that have been the subject of recent corporate lawsuits against the city. --The appeal system is archaic and understaffed. ``We are asking the city to continue sending a sign to businesses that we are a business-friendly city and that business tax reform is not just about changing the rates,'' Kohn said. City Councilman Mike Feuer, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee ad hoc committee A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its raison d'etre is finished on Tax Reform, issued a statement praising the report. ``We can stimulate the local economy and help create high-quality jobs by streamlining and modernizing our antiquated tax system,'' Feuer said. After taking office, Riordan proposed a sweeping reduction in the dozens of categories in which businesses could be classified for tax purposes. The city adopted a plan to reduce the number of categories, although the reduction was not as great as the mayor had proposed. |
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