Good Jobs First Blog

Public school districts in South Carolina lost $423 million in property tax revenues during the 2019 fiscal year, due to tax abatements county governments granted to corporations. That’s an increase of $99 million – or 31 percent – compared to just two years earlier, according to a new Good Jobs First report released today: “The Revenue Impact of Corporate Tax Incentives on South Carolina Public Schools.”

More than 43,000 businesses and non-profit organizations that received CARES Act funds have a history of misconduct, collectively paying $13 billion to settle civil and criminal penalties over the last decade.

Tax abatement disclosures often need to be enforced at the state level. We have isolated a few states that have abnormally low disclosure rates among their local governments. Is there underreporting going on? Is underreporting a statewide problem?

For local governments, acknowledging GASB Statement No. 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures is not a bad start, but not disclosing the amount of taxes abated is bad for transparency. This blog exposes the common "excuses".

A new compilation of regulatory enforcement actions shows that states have collected more than $17 billion in penalties from financial services companies over the past two decades. Most of that sum comes from cases brought by New York State against major U.S. and foreign banks