Several months ago, we posed a question about corporate tax reform to Business Record readers as part of the most recent Leaders Survey.

Most respondents agreed that reform was needed for Iowa to be competitive economically. But most who agreed with the statement said a review of the current laws on the books was likely needed. Plenty of participants said they weren’t sure about the topic or that Iowa did not need corporate tax reform and needed to focus on other priorities.

The Iowa Legislature currently is in session, starting Jan. 8. We’ve been following what different business organizations say are their top priorities for lawmakers at the Statehouse (see page 8 for more); tax reform has come up repeatedly in those wish lists so we wanted to share the results and some of the comments.

As always, thank you for sharing your opinions and for your continued reading of the Business Record.

Suzanne Behnke, editor

QUESTION: True or false: Corporate tax reform is needed in Iowa.

True:

“Large tax incentives to bring in data centers with large names did not bring any significant jobs to Iowa.”
Debbie Korver, manager, Project Management Office, Farm Bureau Financial Services

“While this is not the most crucial issue facing our state, some reform could bring further equity and opportunity for growth 
to Iowa.”
Mike Ralston, president, Association of Business and Industry

“Iowa always needs to be looking for ways to provide tax incentives to keep and attract businesses that provide jobs.”
Andrew Kleis, partner, Insight Wealth Group
“We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the nation, which makes it much harder to compete for economic development projects.”
Drew Kamp, director of business retention and expansion and government relations, Ames Chamber of Commerce

“Again, perception is reality, and we don’t advertise the additional tax offsets included in the Iowa Code. It’s complex and appears uncompetitive compared to our neighboring states.”
Jed Gammell, vice president, insurance and risk management, Lincoln Savings Bank

“Iowa needs to simplify our tax code by lowering the tax rates and broadening the base. Similarly situated businesses should be taxed in the same way. Government should not be picking winners and losers.”
John Sorensen, president and CEO, Iowa Bankers Association

“I would support the elimination of many of the ‘carve out’ type tax exemptions and credits if the overall tax rate is lowered. In my industry, we need additional reform to modernize how our infrastructure is taxed.”
Michael Sadler, assistant vice president, CenturyLink

“Any corporate tax reform needs to include reform for small business that are pass-through entities for company income. Small business owners in this realm are overtaxed compared to bigger corporations.
Scott Turczynski, vice president and partner, Heartland Companies

False:

“We need to adequately fund our state. Education and the environment are suffering because of Iowa’s recent tax breaks.”
Eric Wessels, architect, Simonson

Passing a living wage is far more important. Companies are not choosing to locate elsewhere because of our tax rate, they are choosing to locate elsewhere because we lack a deep talent pool.”
Zachary Mannheimer, principal community planner, McClure Engineering

Uncertain:

“I do feel that there is an unreasonable amount of tax incentives given to these ‘data centers’ and similar organizations to move to Iowa. I feel that there is a need to provide greater oversight on this.”
Jaimie Miller, executive director, Iowa Credit Union Foundation

“While changes might be valuable, the idea of cutting taxes with the intent of generating economic growth simply has no sign of ever having worked here.”
Susan Judkins, client development director, RDG Planning & Design