Chicago's Business Tax Bounty Program

When are Chicago business owners going to say enough to the Daley administration? A new plan by the City of Chicago poses a great threat to Chicago businesses. Business will now have to worry if every effort they make to pay Chicago’s ridiculously high business taxes are 100% by the rules. One wrong step, and as you know tax codes are complicated, could end up with a competitor or an employee turning a business in.

What’s in it for the employee or the competitor? The city is offering a cash bounty for people to turn in people who make mistakes or cheat on their taxes. Boy, does this open a can of worms. In fact, in a period of high-employment, many businesses will need to consider if an employee they are hiring is paid by a competitor to search for information so they can be turned into Mayor Daley’s machine.

All forms of government continue to successfully turn American against American. This seems like the latest ploy to do just that. What a better way to embarrass and possibly put your competitor out of business than attempt to prove they aren’t paying their share. As small businesses across Chicago struggle in these tough economic times, they now have to worry about increasing their accounting budgets all so Daley gets what Daley feels is his. This is just another example of the greedy hand of government pushing more business towards to point of putting out of business signs on their doors. This of course means less jobs for the people.

Businesses must worry about so many tax laws, that it would be easy to catch a business not paid up to the dime. There’s federal, state, and local taxes. There’s property taxes. Some states and communities even have inventory taxes (I know Indiana taxes on inventory.) There’s sales taxes to collect and pay. It’s a headache for most business owners, and now we have to worry about neighbors, employees, and competitors turning you in in Chicago. For competitors that think this is the way to play, Karma is a very nasty thing.