[13409]
April 12, 2001
TO: TAX COMMITTEE No. 15-01
MINNESOTA MEMBERS
RE: INSTITUTE LETTER OPPOSING EXTENSION OF MINNESOTA SALES TAX TO
SERVICES
Legislative proposals advanced by Minnesota Governor Ventura, and under active
consideration in the Minnesota legislature (as H.F. No. 511 and S.F. No. 473), would extend the
Minnesota sales tax to numerous services, including investment advisory and brokerage.
In the attached letter, a personalized copy of which was sent to each member of the
Minnesota House and Senate Tax Committees and to the Governor, the Institute urges that the
sales tax not be extended to any services consumed within the investment company industry.
The three principal reasons for this recommendation, as stated in our letter, are that:
• additional costs could be placed on Minnesota residents seeking to save and invest to
meet their long-term needs, which could have the unintended (and most unfortunate)
consequence of discouraging adequate saving by Minnesota residents;
• our Minnesota members, who strongly value their relationship to the state and
appreciate the stable and qualified workforce available to help their businesses flourish,
could be placed at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis their out-of-state competitors;
and
• imposition of tax on these services would be extraordinarily difficult (if not impossible)
to administer efficiently and fairly.
Keith Lawson
Senior Counsel
Attachment
Attachment (in .pdf format)