Maryland Senate panel sidelines tax-break proposals for manufacturers
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Version 0 of 1. Maryland lawmakers will not vote this year on Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to provide tax relief for manufacturers in the state. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee this week sidelined proposals from Hogan (R) and Sen. Roger Manno (D-Montgomery) designed to boost the state’s manufacturing industry with tax breaks, agreeing to do so without an actual vote. Instead, members of the panel said they would not have enough time to work through concerns about the nearly identical bills before the end of the legislative session, which comes in less than two weeks. Hogan’s plan called for a 10-year exemption to the state’s corporate income tax for new manufacturers in high-unemployment areas, such as Baltimore, Western Maryland and the lower Eastern Shore. It also would have exempted employees of those companies who earn less than $65,000 a year from paying state income taxes during that period. Republicans have pushed for the proposed tax breaks to apply to manufacturers’ corporate headquarters and distribution centers in addition to their factories. The Senate leadership’s tax-relief package for this year did not include the tax break for manufacturers. However, it included bills that would lower the corporate income-tax rate from its current 8.25 percent to 7 percent and allow individuals to exempt the first $20,000 of their business income from taxation. |