Domestic Production Tax Credit Will Reduce Wisconsin Income and Franchise Taxes by $360,000,000 in 4 Years

And where do you think the cuts will be applied? K-12 education? The University system? Aids to municipalities? All of the above?

Editorial: New state tax credit raises big questions. (Appleton Post-Crescent, 6/18/2012)

Excerpt: It’s called the domestic production tax credit. Basically, it’s a tax credit for any profits that come from manufacturing or agriculture. It starts next year and gets phased in over four years. It’ll cost the state $360 million in that time in lost revenue and $130 million each year after that, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the state’s nonpartisan number crunchers. In many cases, businesses in these industries won’t be taxed on their incomes at all by the time the credits are fully implemented. 

The theory behind the credits is that, with less or no taxes, businesses will hire more people, which will grow the state’s economy.

Windfall! Rich will get richer from new tax credit. (Capital Times, 5/29/2012)

Excerpt: Slipped into Gov. Scott Walker's 2011-2013 budget at the last moment, the domestic production tax credit will cost the state $360 million in revenue over the next four years and some $130 million each year thereafter, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Critics warn the impact could be even greater, a key point in a state still struggling with budget shortfalls.

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One of the most outspoken critics of the production tax credit is Mark Harris, the Winnebago County executive. Struggling to balance the budget in his own manufacturing-heavy county in the face of shrinking state support, Harris has been sounding the alarm on the issue for months but has generated little interest, in part because of its complex nature and its highly charged political implications.