BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's business lobbying groups are calling a centerpiece of Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget proposal for next year a multimillion-dollar tax hike on business.
Jindal wants to lessen spending on refundable tax credits, in which the state pays out more than the taxes owed. He proposes to use the savings for public colleges and health care services.
Business organizations are objecting to the most expensive tax break targeted for scale-back: the inventory tax credit, which refunds businesses for paying local property taxes on their inventory. Jindal wants to trim it by about $377 million.
The National Federation of Independent Business outlined its criticism Tuesday, along with the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. The opposition is shared by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, run by Jindal's former chief of staff.