For the past several months, the S.F. Controller’s Office has been working with the S.F. Treasurer’s Office, the City Attorney’s Office, and local businesses on a redesign of the City’s business tax system. The current business tax system levies taxes based on a business’ total payroll, and many believe that such a payroll tax penalizes businesses for creating jobs.
Today, the Mayor and President Chiu jointly introduced gross receipts tax legislation based on this ongoing work. Their proposal would generate an additional $13 million in new revenue from business license fees. The full text of Mayor Lee’s and President Chiu’s proposal can be found here. In addition, City Supervisor David Avalos also introduced gross receipts tax legislation today that was similar in many respects, although it was designed to generate $40 million in additional revenue from business license fees. The full text of Supervisor Avalos’ proposal can be found here. A comparison of the competing plans can be found here.