Title
Opposing proposed taxes for technology and computer services in Pennsylvania.
Body
WHEREAS, Governor Tom Wolf has proposed a 6% state tax on technology and computer services such as system design, software consulting, hardware consulting, data processing, and web hosting. The proposed tax would take approximately $330 million from Pennsylvania's technology sector in order to help close a $3 billion deficit in the state's FY18 budget; and
WHEREAS, The proposed tax for technology and computer services is the highest business tax proposal from Governor Wolf this year; and
WHEREAS, The state tax would replace an exemption for such services that has been in place since July 1, 1997. Governor Robert P. Casey instituted the tax in 1991, and it was repealed under Governor Tom Ridge 6 years later as part of a bipartisan effort aimed at restoring Pennsylvania's ability to compete for technology jobs; and
WHEREAS, As a result of the repealed tax on technology and computer services, Pennsylvania has seen a prolonged growth of thousands of family-sustaining jobs in the technology sector; and
WHEREAS, Governor Wolf's tax rate proposal of 6% far exceeds those of the few states which impose a similar tax. Only Connecticut (1%), Hawaii (4%), New Mexico (5%), and South Dakota (4%) apply broad taxes on computer services, and these states do not have nearly as significant of a technology sector as Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, According to a 2015 report produced by the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), Ernst & Young, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Fairmount Partners, Comcast Corporation, CEO Council for Growth, and Select Greater Philadelphia, more than 6,000 information technology (IT) companies call Greater Philadelphia home and employ nearly 90,000 people. The report tracked over 1,000 investment rounds in IT companies in Greater Philadelphia that generated investments and exits totaling over $1...
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