Taxation and State Taxation -- 2005



Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler Corp.   (6th Circuit)

State investment tax credit program

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 1/18/05 denied DaimlerChrysler's petition for rehearing of an adverse ruling on state investment tax credits for business. The NAM and the U.S. Chamber filed a joint brief 9/20/04 urging the full court to overrule a panel decision declaring Ohio's 1995 investment tax credit program to be unconstitutional as violating the commerce clause. The decision threatens hundreds of similar state tax laws in which a state offers a business a tax break to invest in their state. The plaintiffs, financed by Ralph Nader, are using this decision as a test case to challenge state pro-business tax incentives across the country. However, the NAM argued that invalidating state tax credit programs would have devastating effects upon both manufacturers and states. States would no longer be able to bargain with businesses by trading tax relief for more jobs, worker training, research and development, environmental remediation or other important state goals. We argued that the Supreme Court has already approved tax laws that allow a state to bestow benefits on its citizens, and that this local assistance does not burden interstate commerce.