For Ohio to be successful in a global economy, the state’s tax structure must encourage investment and growth and be competitive nationally and internationally. A globally competitive tax system is characterized by (a) certainty, (b) equity, (c) simplicity and (d) transparency. Economy of collections and convenience of payment also are important considerations. Generally, manufacturers support efforts to broaden the tax base, which enables lower rates. To preserve the integrity of the broad tax base and ensure fairness, credits and exemptions should be reduced and discouraged. Where needed, government incentives are best structured as grants rather than as tax credits. And, in general, earmarking and dedicating tax revenues should be discouraged. Good tax policy also generates necessary revenues to support the essential functions of government. To ensure transparency regarding the true cost of government and the rate of its growth, however, funding government programs with fee revenue instead of general fund revenue should be discouraged. Good budgeting and spending restraint at all levels of government are vital to ensure a competitive tax environment. Major tax reforms approved by the Ohio General Assembly in 2005 have led to significant improvements to a tax system that was for many years widely regarded as outdated. Reforms included reducing overall tax rates, eliminating tax on investment, broadening the tax base, providing more stable and predictable revenues, and simplifying compliance. While progress has been made, additional policy reforms are needed to support manufacturing competiveness, economic growth and prosperity in Ohio. Tax policy priorities include the following:

• Preserve the integrity of Ohio’s 2005 tax reforms, including a zero-tolerance response to any efforts via legislation or the court system to carve out exemptions or credits to (a) avoid paying the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) or (b) earmark any portion of CAT revenues for specific government services.

• Improve Ohio’s tax appeals process, which due to bad economic conditions and subsequent state budget cuts, staffing cutbacks and increased caseloads, has contributed to such a backlog of cases at the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals that it routinely takes two years to advance from the date of filing an appeal to the date of the first hearing.

• Preserve the repeal of Ohio’s estate tax, which for so long served as a disincentive for business owners to invest in existing businesses and as an impediment to the capital formation that is so vital to Ohio’s economy.

• Streamline and simplify the sales tax, which over time has become riddled with exemptions, carve-outs and credits that result in some taxpayers subsidizing exempted taxpayers.Exemptions, carve-outs and credits should be reviewed periodically for economic justification.

• Promote taxpayer uniformity. Consolidate and streamline the collection of municipal income tax by creating a uniform statewide municipal tax code, with uniform definitions of taxable income, consistent rules and regulations and a generic municipal income tax form.

• Lower the effective tax rate in Ohio by reducing the number of government entities that are taxing jurisdictions. This will help address the problem of pancaking state and local state taxes, which puts Ohio at a competitive disadvantage with many other states.