MSEA Members Rally at Whole Foods for Corporate Tax Fairness

Members of the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) rallied in front of Whole Foods in Portland Saturday to draw attention to how much corporations pay, or don’t pay, in state corporate taxes. The event was planned in advance of Tax Day to raise awareness about new state legislation, LD 1337, sponsored by Rep. Ann Matlack (D-St. George), that would require corporations in Maine to disclose the amount they pay in state income taxes and the amount they receive in state subsidies.

“As Tax Day approaches, we are bringing light to all the businesses and corporations who don’t pay their fair share of taxes,” said Kevin Russell, an eligibility specialist for the State of Maine and a member of MSEA-SEIU. “LD 1337 would make sure that funding stays in the state and funds departments like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and make sure workers like myself are able to feed our families.”

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, at least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in 2020 despite collectively earning almost $40.5 billion in income. But in Maine, our lack of disclosure requirements make it impossible to find out how much these companies pay in state taxes.

“We know multi-billion dollar corporations avoid taxes at the national level, but we do not know the full extent,” MSEA-SEIU president Dean Staffieri told the Maine Beacon. “The lack of transparency affects Maine workers and families, as they face the pressures of inflation and rising costs of living. The revenue from these taxes could be used instead to invest in healthy and resilient Maine communities, increase capacity for public services, and help ensure that the state remains a place with unrivaled natural beauty, vibrant downtowns, and a safe place to raise families.”

According to the Maine Center for Economic Policy, LD 1337 will address two problems:

• Shareholders can gauge the financial health of a company before they invest in it, but the same opportunity is not afforded to Maine taxpayers who subsidize businesses with their tax dollars. Corporations are already required by law to include profit and loss information in their annual securities and exchange commission filings to be transparent to investors, but they aren’t required to report the same information at the state level.

• There’s no way of knowing how much Maine cuts in checks to wealthy, out-of-state corporations that don’t pay taxes here, because that data isn’t collected.  Maine gives away over a billion dollars in tax breaks to businesses every year. Some of these tax breaks are refundable, meaning the state not only lowers businesses’ taxes but may also cut them a check — just like when an individual gets a tax refund after filing their income taxes, except to the tune of millions of dollars. By requiring corporations to file an annual income tax disclosure, Maine can find out who is contributing their fair share and who is not.