The Buckeye Institute: Time for the Ohio General Assembly to Get Serious about Closing Tax Loopholes
Oct 17, 2017Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute issued the following statement on the inaugural meeting of Ohio’s Tax Expenditure Review Committee.
“Today’s meeting of Ohio’s Tax Expenditure Review Committee is an important step in closing down the voluminous list of tax loopholes that riddle Ohio’s tax code,” said Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute. “As we outlined in our Tax Reform Principles for Ohio, every loophole creates an unfair special interest tax break that must be paid for by fewer taxpayers, and once ensconced in statute, they become entrenched and immune to substantial scrutiny.”
Lawson continued, “When Buckeye first called for the creation of the review committee, we, along with the Center for Community Solutions and the Greater Ohio Policy Center, identified 20 loopholes that should have been closed, accounting for $300 million in lost revenue. That figure pales in comparison to the estimated $18.6 billion in lost revenue from the 129 loopholes outlined in the Office of Budget and Management’s (OBM) fiscal year 2018-19 Tax Expenditure Report.”
“While the recent reforms in Ohio’s tax policy have resulted in new jobs and improved personal income, more needs to be done. It is now time for Ohio’s General Assembly to get serious about shutting down tax loopholes and it is critical that they create a tax climate that is positive for job creation and helps hard-working Ohioans,” Lawson concluded.
# # #