Philadelphia Council Minority Proposes Tax Changes
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Small businesses will be hurt under proposed changes by Mayor Parker, say Council members Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke. Currently, small businesses in Philadelphia do not pay city tax on the first $100,000 they make. This is called the BIRT exemption. The plan is to do away with this exemption. Minority council members say this will hurt about 80,000 small businesses.
A small business is like a barbershop, food truck, small store. Huge retailers and behemoth businesses like Comcast or huge law offices and insurance companies do not benefit from this exemption. The minority proposal is to double this from $100,000 to $200.000.
The council members are reintroducing a wealth tax. The first $100,000 will be exempt and there are carve outs, for college savings, small businesses and lower income individuals. The new proposal would be about $4.00 per thousand dollars, after the first $100,000 O’Rourke said. A previous version of the bill was not brought up for a vote.
The wealth tax is expected to be the hardest proposal to pass, as wealthy people will not want any of their money to be taken. Lots of negotiations will be had if this is to see the light of day.
The council members also want to cut the regressive wage tax, which is the highest in the nation. There is no reason for working people to have their pay skimmed from the top; . It leaves people hurting , especially with wages stagnant and prices rising. Locally in Pennsylvania a billion dollar business can legally hire someone and pay them no more than $7.25/hr.
The council members spoke about charity and how giving to charity does not trickle down to those that need it the most. The say cutting the wage tax, implementing the wealth tax and tweaking the BIRT exemption is the way to benefit the city. The press conference was held on the north apron of city hall, Mayor Parker arrived at city hall just minutes before the conference started She did not attend.