在预算短缺的情况下,旧金山重新审查大企业的税收负担
Amid Budget Shortfall, San Francisco Reexamines Tax Burden On Big Businesses

原始链接: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/amid-budget-shortfall-san-francisco-reexamines-tax-burden-big-businesses

旧金山市正在努力应对估计达 8 亿美元的重大预算缺口,在与领先企业的紧张关系日益加剧的情况下,寻求重组其营业税体系。 据《旧金山观察报》报道,这五个实体的营业税收入约占该市总营业税收入的四分之一。 由于潜在的离职会危及市政金库,伦敦市长伦敦·布里德 (London Breed) 和行政人员与企业和工会代表合作起草改革提案,拟于 11 月供选民批准。 他们的目标是:简化税收结构,在顶级企业之间公平分配负担,同时避免因搬迁而导致工作岗位流失。 然而,人们对意想不到的后果感到担忧,例如增加销售税或减少对遭受重创的零售业的支持。 相比之下,一些人认为税收冲突的激增是由于选民批准的新税收和经济挑战的复杂性和数量。 2020年以来,通用汽车、GM Cruise、德勤、Gap、WeWork、AppLovin、Chime Financial、Block等知名企业累计要求退税超过3亿美元。 与此同时,市长政府致力于通过拨款计划和城市改造举措来帮助依赖旅游业的产业。 尽管有人批评该市街道恶化、犯罪率高、审批程序繁琐和税收飙升,但导致收入差异的关键因素包括远程工作导致办公市场疲软、零售和商业空间空置、大流行后复苏缓慢以及 旅游人数减少。

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原文

Authored by Brian Back via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Facing mounting budget woes this election year, as spending far outpaces revenues, the City of San Francisco is scrambling to reform its infamously large and complex tax burden on business.

Several San Francisco companies have been mired in tax disputes with the city. Above, a view of downtown on Feb. 6, 2019. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

San Francisco’s five largest employers now account for nearly a quarter of the city’s total business tax revenue, according to an April 14 report in the San Francisco Examiner. If any were to relocate outside of the city, such would leave San Francisco—currently facing an $800 million budget deficit—vulnerable.

As such, Mayor London Breed and city officials are currently negotiating with business and labor leaders to devise tax reform measures for the November ballot that could simplify its tax code and even out the load on top businesses, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

In particular, city officials say they would like to see changes that would not incentivize businesses to move jobs out of San Francisco, since the city’s largest employers are required to pay a disproportionate amount of business taxes.

But shifting the tax burden elsewhere, such as increasing the city’s already large sales tax, could hurt a retail sector that has been decimated by a flurry of closures in recent years, analysts say.

City Controller Greg Wagner has said the complexity and number of new taxes passed by voters in recent years combined with a poor economy have increased tax disputes between the city and large businesses, according to Alyssa Sewlal, a spokesperson for his office.

Such disputes include a legal demand from General Motors for more than $121 million in tax refunds, as well as tens of millions of dollars in refund claims, and settlements and lawsuits on behalf of companies who say they were overtaxed such as Deloitte, Gap, WeWork, AppLovin, Chime Financial, and Block—formerly Square—since 2020, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

At the same time, the mayor’s office has been trying to direct more attention toward helping tourist-reliant businesses including hotels, restaurants, and arts and entertainment groups, including launching new small business grants and laying out plans to revitalize its downtown. Several such businesses have denounced the city’s street conditions, crime, costly permitting, and escalated taxes.

Factors such as a struggling office market aided by the rise of remote work, retail and commercial vacancies, poor recovery from the pandemic, and lagging tourism have played a role in revenues not keeping up with city spending that has increased significantly over the past decade.

Currently at $14.6 billion, San Francisco’s budget rivals most major U.S. cities. Because it is forecast to escalate by more than $1 billion over the next five years, the city will be on track to post a deficit surpassing $1 billion by 2027 barring major changes, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

City employee salaries, pension benefits, and health care costs are projected to increase by about $500 million within the upcoming four fiscal years, according to Ms. Breed’s office.

The mayor, who is up for re-election in November, told city departments in December they will be required to cut their budgets by about 10 percent in the upcoming fiscal year, and that they must also consider an additional 5 percent in cuts as a “contingency reduction.”

The city’s next budget, which goes into effect July 1, is scheduled to go before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a vote June 1.

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