Speaking of large PA companies....

[anti_shrub]

The post about Verizon wetting their pants over the bill allowing competition made me remember that Comcast is lobbying hard for a huge tax break in PA.

They're playing the sport team card and threatening to move their headquarters out of PA (they're in Philly I believe) if thet don't get their zillion dollar tax cut.

PA's in a hard spot here. If Rendell tells them to GFY and they move, it would give any future Repub challenger a lot of ammo to defeat him in the next election. The alternative is to become a whore to a multibillion dollar company in order to keep jobs in PA.

Hell of a choice, ain't it?

[vivalarev]

1. Their tax break is probably deserved...Believe me

I know....Im self employed and I live in Philly. And in Philly, every company has to pay a "business priveledge tax". Not that theres really any priveledge to owning your own business in Philly, but anyway, that BPT as its known is an extra 15% tax on your earnings. I end up paying 45% of my earnings to taxes.

Philly is ass backwards when it comes to inviting and keeping businesses in this city. If they dont fix this shit soon, Comcast wont be the only company leaving. Disney already nixed their deal, and Im moving out as soon as possible. Tax breaks for businesses in this city would be the best thing that could happen here, so please dont find fault with Comcast. This tax is ridiculous.

P.S. They also make you pay for a year in advance as well, just in case you decide to move your business out of the area.

[Joy Anne]

2. thanks for reminding me of how I suffered

Those business privilege taxes may very well be fair to large corporations and stores, but for a self-employed person, they're onerous. In the Harrisburg area here now, I pay a $10 occupational privilege tax.

Guess I won't move back to Philly, even if there's WiFi, and even though it's bluer. Sniff.