About $50 million of the state's $17.5 billion in pension fund assets are invested in Virginia companies. The Board of Trade survey also showed support from the legislators and candidates for another key issue on business leaders' wish list: a big increase in the amount of state pension fund dollars invested in companies across Virginia. It's incumbent on the business community to say what kind of tax or source of revenue they propose ," Cranwell said. "I'm not opposed to repeal as long as we come up with an alternative source of funding for local government. Richard Cranwell (D-Vinton), who opposed repealing the BPOL tax last winter, said his view had not changed: Unless offsetting revenues are found, he will not support eliminating BPOL. It is a deterrent to companies coming here and staying here," Callahan said.īut House Majority Leader C. "I think there's a united front of the high-tech industry - the backbone of this economy's future - that is dead-set against it. Rob Krebs, Board of Trade vice president for regional affairs, said the results show a strong consensus for eliminating the tax, a view echoed by Del. Seventeen percent opposed repeal and the rest had no opinion. Another 34 percent said they would support repeal, but only if a way was found to replace the funds so that localities did not bear the burden. In all, 41 percent favor a phaseout of the BPOL tax without substituting revenue from new taxes. The Board of Trade survey includes responses from 21 state legislators and eight declared challengers in this year's elections.
"It's the biggest concern we have," Gooden said. Most of the out-of-state businesses his company competes with do not pay state taxes on that basis, he said. His company gets about half of its revenue from defense contracts. Michael Gooden, president of Integrated Systems Analysts Inc. The BPOL tax particularly hurts small high-tech firms in Northern Virginia that are spending money on research and development, but are not yet generating substantial profits, the Board of Trade says.Īlso affected are hundreds of companies in the region whose revenues depend on competitive government contracts that create a large BPOL tax obligation, but produce thin profit margins, said C.
#Target receipts license
The target of the repeal effort is the state's Business, Professional and Occupational License tax, usually referred to by its acronym, BPOL. George Allen's attempts to phase out the tax in last winter's legislative session. It was just this issue that derailed Republican Gov. Led by its high-tech sector, the business community is attacking the tax as a critical competitive burden that companies in other states do not face.Ī survey of legislators and declared statehouse candidates by the Greater Washington Board of Trade, released yesterday, shows broad support for repealing the tax - with a major caveat.īut many of those responding said they would favor eliminating the tax only if the state comes up with other funds to offset the effect of repeal on Virginia cities, towns and counties, who now share the $300 million. Northern Virginia's corporate leaders yesterday began an aggressive campaign to eliminate the state's unique $300 million gross receipts tax on businesses, pressing the region's state legislators to support repealing the tax in Richmond next year.
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