State Economic Development Director Joe Driskill welcomes a discussion on certain corporate tax breaks that Governor Bob Holden has called tax loopholes. Driskill understands some lawmakers are hesitant to eliminate anything that might chase business away from Missouri. But Driskill says some incentives have been abused. He points to one called the Geoffrey provision, named for the giraffe used as the Toys R Us logo. Its registered with a holding company located in Delaware and the company sends royalties to it roughly equal to its profits, thus avoiding Missouri taxes. Two others have been discussed by Holden: one allows corporations to change the method used to calculate taxes to pay the least possible, the other allows corporations to avoid paying taxes on interest-income received from out-of-state sources. Driskill emphasizes that the tax breaks targetted by Holden are used by only a few corporations.
