In response to the proposed tax Protect IL Tech, a social media campaign, has launched in opposition. As part of the efforts, the campaign brings together several social media platforms. The ultimate goal is to have the tax removed from the budget by mobilizing as many people as possible to contact their legislators.
Protect IL Tech is on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and an informational blog.
This new tax would hurt Illinois for a number of reasons:
1. Encourages software users to go out of state - By taxing Illinois custom software and software licenses, the software tax actually encourages Illinois companies to lease software outside Illinois. That hurts our state’s economy. Unfortunately, at a time when price matters more than ever before, Illinois is considering a tax that would put its own entrepreneurs and employers at a competitive disadvantage.
2. Taxes every software upgrade - Many Illinois employers lease software to stay competitive. Under this proposal, a new tax is applied every time a business upgrades its leased software. Many Illinois employers upgrade their software frequently to stay ahead of the competition - this tax would dramatically increase the cost of doing business in Illinois.
It hurts the Illinois software company that leases its product to business users. It also hurts the Illinois business users who must pay more to lease the software.
3. Penalizes businesses who invest in innovation and technology - Many Illinois businesses invest in software that is customized to better serve their customers. The new proposal places a new tax on those Illinois businesses - because they took the extra step of investing in software that helps them compete in the marketplace.
4. Taxes Technology jobs - the one area where the economy is gaining - Tech is where the economy is actually growing right now. Taxing Illinois tech entrepreneurs and businesses will make Illinois fall behind other states. Illinois is home to many entrepreneurs and tech companies that develop software and software programs and customize that software for their clients. This tax would make it more expensive to sell that software in Illinois, putting our businesses and our economy at a competitive disadvantage.
5. “Outsources” Illinois tech jobs to other countries and states - The largest companies will simply move their high-tech jobs and operations to another country or state to avoid paying the Illinois software tax. That hurts Illinois workers and the state’s economy. At a time when national and state leaders complain bitterly over the outsourcing of technology jobs to countries like India, Illinois is actually considering creating an incentive to export those jobs.
Those who oppose the tax are encouraged to reach out to their legislators.