(INDIANAPOLIS) — The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has hired former state legislator and current Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) Commissioner David Ober to join its lobbying team. Ober starts his new position as vice president of taxation and public finance in late June. David Ober The Indiana Chamber is the largest, broad-based business advocacy group in the [...]
Our long-time vice president Bill Waltz is set to retire from the organization on June 30. Bill has expertly led the Chamber’s tax and public finance lobbying efforts for the last 18 years. For over 10 years, he has also been our wise general counsel. I’m thrilled for Bill as he enters this next stage in life, but he will [...]
By Bill Waltz, Indiana Chamber of Commerce vice president of taxation and public finance It was largely overshadowed by other headlines, but Congress recently passed a very significant piece of legislation. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 spends a lot – I mean a lot – of money: $1.3 trillion over the next fiscal year. It includes many substantial [...]
On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee held a joint hearing to take informational testimony concerning the utilities receipts tax. The tax – paid by all ratepayers – is 1.4% and applies to the taxable gross receipts of Indiana’s utilities. A few Chamber members provided information about the impact of [...]
Bill # and Title: SB 257 – Sales Tax on Software (SaaS) Author: Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) Summary: Provides that for purposes of the sales tax, a person is a retail merchant making a retail transaction when the person grants a user the right to use prewritten computer software delivered electronically. Specifies, however, that a transaction in which a [...]
Bill # and Title: HB 1005 – Township Government Matters Author: Rep. Cindy Ziemke (R-Batesville) Summary: Allows a participating unit in a newly formed fire protection territory to phase in the unit’s property tax levy over a period not exceeding three years. Requires all townships with a population of less than 1,200 to merge with other townships, effective not [...]
The Indiana State Budget Agency released the revenue collections report for October. The overall collections for the fiscal year now stand 2.8% ($136 million) below projections; not good, but not critical at this juncture. The troubling numbers for the revenue watchers are the corporate tax collections. They were down again this month and are now at 52% below the [...]
Closing the skills gap to enable more jobs to be filled and ensuring the state’s tax environment is ripe for business expansion are top priorities for the Indiana Chamber in the upcoming 2018 legislative session. These initiatives and more were announced today at our annual legislative preview in Indianapolis, where six state legislators were also honored as 2017 Indiana [...]
