Full disclosure? Bill would require it of top-earning corporations

Cracking open the books, just a bit: That’s the purpose of HF4513.

“This bill makes sure that Minnesotans and their representatives have the information that we all need to make governing decisions,” said Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL-Mpls), the bill sponsor. “How can the public and their elected representatives make decisions about how to structure our corporate tax code if we don’t know how it’s impacting our biggest companies?”

Greenman’s bill would require the Revenue Department to disclose the corporate franchise tax return information of corporations with over $250 million in total domestic sales in a taxable year. Two to three years after a corporation’s taxable year has ended, the information would be made available on a website.

The House Taxes Committee laid the bill over Wednesday for possible inclusion in a larger tax bill.

Disclosure of federal returns or return information would be prohibited. But Beth Kadoun, vice president of tax and fiscal policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, questioned whether that was possible.

“We oppose this bill, as it violates the longstanding policy of taxpayer confidentiality and likely runs afoul of federal law that prohibits states from releasing tax return information,” she said. “And it undermines Minnesota’s competitiveness, as other states do not require similar public disclosure of confidential tax return information.”

Kadoun pointed to several entry lines on Minnesota’s corporate tax return forms in which federal income information is required. But Greenman said the bill is constructed to not run afoul of federal law, adding that information from federal returns would be excluded from what is released.

Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) also sees the bill as unfriendly to business.

“We’re constantly trying to incentivize businesses to come and grow and be part of the fabric of our communities,” she said. “And the more we pile on mandates and requirements, I feel that we are undermining our ability. We need to attract labor and we need to attract capital to Minnesota. We are long-term-trends bad on both.”

Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins) views it differently.

“From my understanding, this bill just helps us get information to make evidence-based decisions on how we’re spending taxpayer dollars. We need accountability to make sure we’re spending them wisely.”