OPINION: Illinois Suffers
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 8:01AMEarlier this year, the state of Illinois dramatically raised personal income taxes and corporate taxes.
Now companies are looking to leave Illinois. Trying to keep them, the state is offering them money to stay. For example, a Motorola subsidiary is being offered $100-million if they will stay put, along with 3,000 jobs. Another company got $65-million not to move. Now Sears says it may take 6,000 jobs to other states unless it gets incentives.
Who knows? Illinois might end up paying more for companies not to move than it ever expected to gain from higher taxes.
States that burden business with taxes and red tape are finding that it chases away jobs to other states. There’s a moral here for Uncle Sam. With our world’s worst corporate income taxes, is it any wonder when companies expand overseas instead of here in America?
From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.
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