re: CA tax inititaive

[jlgulick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Small firms can't practice creative accounting techniques which
shift tax obligations if they have only one site of operation,
right ? My understanding is that a lot of the business flight from
CA to Utah, Idaho, Arizona, etc. has been small, single-unit
firms engaged in highly polluting production (paints and solvents,
eg.) who are seeking some "regulatory relief" (in addition to less
stringent environmental regulations, also less bureaucratic procedures
regarding workers' comp, zoning, building permits, etc.). Also, a
lower tax burden does mean more profits (since taxation means diverting
surplus to the state), and less taxation can mean less social services,
which is a way of disciplining local labor pool and inducing higher
productivity.



--John Gulick
  Sociology Graduate Program
  UC-Santa Cruz
  (Research focus: eco-Marxist sociology
   of the built environment)
  email:jlgulick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx