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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Illinois’ corporate tax dodge. More on “Illinois is broke.” « Fred Klonsky

Illinois’ corporate tax dodge. More on “Illinois is broke.” « Fred Klonsky:

Illinois’ corporate tax dodge. More on “Illinois is broke.”

When the Illinois General Assembly gave CME and Sears a massive $371 million tax gift this week, it wasn’t the first tax gift to a major corporation.

“Illinois is broke,” said Ty Fahner and the Civic Committee when they were going after public school teacher pensions.

But a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, as reported in Progress Illinois, shows who are the real culprits and thieves. And it’s not your child’s kindergarten teacher.

For example, Baxter International and Integrys Energy Group — paid no state corporate income taxes between 2008 and 2010 while reporting combined profits totaling more than $1.7 billion for the same period.

“It seems you’ve got this parade of companies going to the governor and the