Dear Neighbor,
The recent announcement that Medtronic plans to move its place of incorporation to another country over taxation should be a huge red flag.
Instead, Gov. Mark Dayton seems to view it as a checkered flag, as if an iconic homegrown company moving its headquarters across the sea were a trophy. Dayton called it a “good deal” for the people of Minnesota, apparently wooed by promises that Medtronic will keep its operational headquarters in Minnesota with the intention of adding jobs in the future.
Are you kidding? Talk about a short-sighted view.
Medtronic is a medical device company that got its start in northeast Minneapolis. It now is set to become the nation’s largest company to lower its tax bill by moving its operations offshore. Yet Dayton insists Minnesota taxes were not a factor in this decision.
The reality is U.S. corporations currently face the highest income tax rate in the world at nearly 40 percent (Medtronic did maneuver to lower its effective tax rate in 2013). Within that landscape, Minnesota has one of the nation’s worst business climates. Meantime, Ireland’s main corporate rate is a mere 12.5 percent.
Minnesota is the home to over-taxation, over-regulation, and over-government. Medtronic can reduce its tax obligations by moving its legal home to friendlier shores and that’s what it plans to do.
Some people may have missed the memo, but we have to compete globally. The historic tax increases of more than $2 billion Dayton and fellow Democrats passed in 2013 damaged us in that regard. I am a small-business owner who is negatively impacted by this bad tax policy every day.
We cannot continue to cross our fingers and hope flagship companies like Medtronic will remain incorporated in Minnesota – and America, for that matter – for sentimental reasons. They are not obligated to pay more in taxes and are not in business to pay taxes.
Of course, the Medtronic relocation will not cripple Minnesota’s economy all on its own. But it should be cause for concern that failed tax-and-spend policies and general fiscal irresponsibility are coming home to roost. We just received word that state revenue has fallen beneath projections for four consecutive months.
Minnesotans deserve better.
Sincerely,
Mark Anderson