Manufacturers Applaud Tax Change

Member Group : PA Manufacturers' Assn.

HARRISBURG – (March 5, 2011) Pennsylvania’s manufacturing employers thanked Gov. Tom Corbett for his decision to extend to state businesses President Obama’s accelerated depreciation rules. The policy will encourage new purchases of industrial equipment by granting employers the immediate benefit of tax relief from future years. New private sector investment will increase capacity and spur production and hiring.

"By following the new federal rules on accelerated depreciation on industrial equipment, Pennsylvania will experience the full benefit of the tax policy enacted in December by President Obama and Congress," said David N. Taylor, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association.

"If Pennsylvania had rejected President Obama’s new rules, it would have established yet another structural disadvantage for us relative to our competitor states," Taylor noted. "In that instance, the price Pennsylvania would have paid in reduced investment, economic activity, and job growth would far exceed the short-term reduction in revenue collected.

"Accelerating depreciation of equipment purchases is the most direct way for government to encourage private-sector investment," Taylor said. "After multiple rounds of tax payer-funded ‘stimulus’ and ‘economic development’ the best policy for sustained economic growth and job-creation is for government to reduce burdens on the productive sector. On behalf of Pennsylvania’s manufacturing employers, we thank Gov. Corbett for taking the long view and moving one step closer to a competitive business climate for our commonwealth."

Founded in 1909, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association is a Harrisburg-based statewide trade group representing the manufacturing sector in Pennsylvania’s public policy process. Manufacturing is the engine that drives Pennsylvania’s economy, adding $75 billion in value every year, directly employing over 550,000 Pennsylvanians, and sustaining millions of additional jobs through supply chains and distribution networks. For more information, visit www.pamanufacturers.org

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