SB 291

Under current law, a tax credit awarded by the Wisconsin Economic

Development Corporation (corporation) may normally only be claimed by the person

certified by the corporation to claim that credit; the credit may not be sold or

transferred to another person.

The bill directs the corporation to create a program for the sale or transfer of

tax credits awarded by either the corporation or, beginning on January 1, 2011, by

the former Department of Commerce (Commerce). Under the bill, the corporation

may authorize the sale or transfer of a portion of a tax credit if the corporation

determines that the activity for which the corporation or Commerce awarded the tax

credit is substantially related to economic development in counties experiencing

persistent high rates of unemployment, called "qualifying counties" under the bill,

and the person meets at least one of the following additional conditions:

1. The person is headquartered in a qualifying county.

2. The person intends to relocate its headquarters to a qualifying county.

3. The person intends to expand its operations in a qualifying county, and that

expansion will increase by at least 10 percent the number of full-time jobs the person

maintains in that county.

4. The person intends to expand its operations in a qualifying county, and the

person will make a significant capital investment in property in that county as a

result of that expansion.

Once the corporation authorizes a person to sell or transfer a tax credit, that

person may sell or transfer up to 85 percent of the tax credit to another person who

has Wisconsin tax liability. The person selling or transferring the credit must notify

the corporation and either the Department of Revenue or, if appropriate, the

commissioner of insurance of that sale or transfer. The person to whom a credit is

sold or transferred may carry forward any unused amount of the transferred value

of that credit for up to 15 years until fully claimed. Also, the corporation may prevent

that person from claiming the tax credit for up to three years after the credit is sold

or transferred.

The bill also authorizes the corporation to waive or modify a requirement of a

certification for a tax credit issued by the corporation or Commerce if a person who

may sell or transfer the tax credit applies to the corporation for that waiver or

modification and the corporation determines that the requested waiver or

modification will support economic development in qualifying counties. If the

corporation revokes a person's certification for a tax credit and that person has

already sold or transferred a portion of the tax credit, that person, not the person to

whom the credit was transferred, must repay the full amount of the tax credit to the

state.

Under the bill, the corporation may authorize the sale or transfer of up to

$10,000,000 in partial tax credits over five years. However, if after reaching that