Corporate Tax Giveaways Harm State Revenues

According to a recently released report by Good Jobs First, “for Colorado, reducing corporate subsidies can go a long way to salvage the revenue needed to meet its yearly public pension obligations and reduce the burden on both employees and employers.”

The report, Putting State Pension Costs in Context, looked at 12 states where public employee pensions are being debated and found that those states continue to give high tax breaks and other subsidies to corporations. Such subsidies often exceed the amount a state owes to maintain its pension obligations.

In Colorado report, Good Jobs First found corporate giveaways were double the cost of pension obligations:

  • 2018 Colorado Public Employee Pension Obligations $378,203,901
  • 2018 Cost of Colorado Subsidies and Corporate Tax Breaks $757,983,403

The report includes the full list of these corporate giveaways. As the state is balancing its budget and plugging the hole caused by the COVID-19 crisis, its time for lawmakers to seriously look at this list.

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