Voices for Illinois Children: Profitable Companies in Illinois Not Paying Their Fair Share of State Income Taxes
ITEP Work in ActionOver the past five years, many profitable Fortune 500 corporations, including several based in Illinois, paid little or no state income taxes to any of the states in which they do business thanks to copious loopholes, lavish giveaways, and crafty accounting. That’s the conclusion of a new report, released by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
This report comes at a time when lawmakers in Illinois have proposed cutting the state corporate income tax in half and as we’ve seen corporations lobby for tax breaks and other giveaways under the false premise that they need tax breaks to create jobs or remain economically competitive. However, as the report shows, many profitable corporations already pay little or nothing in state income taxes. Additionally, there is very little evidence that tax breaks and incentives create economic growth.