Wisconsin Advanced Technology Advocates, Inc.

Madison tech company qualified for investor tax credits

The Capital Times —  6/26/2008 8:22 pm

Perscitus Biosciences LLC of Madison is one of two companies the state Department of Commerce has qualified for investor tax credits under the Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit programs.

The Angel Investor and Venture Fund Tax Credit programs offer Wisconsin income tax credits to angel investors and investors in seed-stage venture capital funds. The programs are designed to increase the supply of both qualified angel investors and investors in qualified venture capital funds. The tax credits are available only for investments made in technology businesses qualified by the state.

"Spurring more venture capital investment is essential to the state's economic growth," Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement. "By encouraging investors to make crucial investments, we are turning great ideas into viable, job-creating businesses. "

Founded in 2006, Perscitus is developing and commercializing a novel chemoprotectant molecule and a protein assay. The molecule has shown an ability to protect healthy human cells against the harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation. The assay allows researchers to accelerate the identification of unknown binding proteins. To learn more, go to www.perscitusbio.com.

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Doyle aims to help tech firms

By Judy Newman
608-252-6156
January 8, 2008

More tax breaks and more state funding — those are some of the tools Gov. Jim Doyle will recommend as a way to encourage investment in young technology companies.

Doyle told a meeting Monday of the steering committee of Thrive, the economic development arm for the eight-county Madison region, that he is proposing a plan called Accelerate Wisconsin.

"My vision is for Wisconsin companies to have access to the capital they need to flourish," Doyle said.

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Stem-cell firm gets big boost

Stem-cell firm gets big boost
00:00 am 9/27/05
JUDY NEWMAN jdnewman@madison.com

Cellular Dynamics International - the young company founded by UW-Madison stem- cell research pioneer Jamie Thomson and his partners - is getting a $2 million jump-start from the state.

Using the announcement Monday as both a political statement and an economic growth message, Gov. Jim Doyle said the state is providing a $1 million grant and a $1 million loan to the Madison company. Coupled with $4 million in private investment, Cellular Dynamics plans to use the technology to screen for drugs for heart patients, starting as soon as early 2006.

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State tech firms gain tax equity in budget

State tech firms gain tax equity in budget

The Capital Times
July 27, 2005

The state budget signed into law Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle puts technology companies on equal footing with other businesses by extending the so-called single-sales factor tax treatment to tech firms.

Two years ago, the state began a phase-in of the single-sales factor tax treatment for firms in other business sectors, such as manufacturing.

Under current state law, Wisconsin-based tech companies face the threat of double taxation when they make sales outside Wisconsin: By Wisconsin, which has treated out-of-state sales as Wisconsin sales, and by the destination state. A Wisconsin firm's corporate income tax has been determined using a formula that included the value of in-state property and payroll, as well as sales.

Starting with this year, revenues from the licensing of computer software and services will be treated as Wisconsin revenue only if the purchaser of the software or services uses them in Wisconsin.

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Cigarette tax just the start, some say

Cigarette tax just the start, some say
But state denies it would seek to collect taxes from other products bought over the Internet
By PATRICK MARLEY
pmarley@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 20, 2005

Madison - The state's pursuit of more than $1 million in back taxes and penalties from online cigarette customers could hint at the Department of Revenue's plans to go after taxes on computers, books and other goods bought over the Internet, tax attorneys and analysts said Wednesday.

Department of Revenue officials disputed that speculation, saying they would pursue only online cigarette customers.

They also said Wednesday that they recently received lists of Wisconsin customers from four more such businesses that would generate at least $2 million more in tax bills.

With people increasingly buying products online without paying the state sales tax, experts said the department would soon seek ways to collect those funds.

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States Move Forward on Internet Sales Tax

States Move Forward on Internet Sales Tax

By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Friday, July 1, 2005; 4:02 PM

Tax officials, state lawmakers and industry representatives agreed Thursday to establish an 18-state network for collecting taxes on Internet sales, a compact they hope will encourage online retailers and Congress to endorse a mandatory national program.

Meeting in Chicago under the auspices of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, the officials agreed that 11 states will oversee the project and outlined incentives to encourage retailers to participate. Forty states have been negotiating since 2000 to create a framework for collecting sales taxes on all remote transactions, whether through regular mail or online.

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Majority of states pressing for taxing all Internet sales

Majority of states pressing for taxing all Internet sales
written by: Paola Farer Web Producer
reported by: Mark Koebrich 9NEWS Consumer Reporter

Created: 6/3/2005 4:52 PM MDT - Updated: 6/4/2005 4:46 PM MDT

DENVER - 9News has learned that 43 states have joined together in a coalition to collect sales tax on all Internet purchases.

You already pay sales tax when you go online to buy from an established business like Eddie Bauer or Wal-Mart. But a lot of small Internet businesses and individual transactions float under the radar.

The coalition is seeking expertise from Colorado's high tech industry to get the tax collection done electronically.

"The Internet Tax Freedom Act says that states cannot treat sales on the Internet differently than they treat any other kind of sale--and this system that we've created does exactly that," says Scott Peterson with the Conforming States Committee, which is spearheading the effort.

"It treats every sale exactly the same regardless if it's over the counter, over the catalogue, over the phone or over the Internet," he says.

The states say they've been losing as much as $16 billion annually to the Internet. They say that new software will make collecting the money almost automatic and that they can have a system in place by Oct. 1.

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WI Joint Finance Committee Rejects Tax on Internet Downloads

Budget committee rejects tax on Internet downloads
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Legislature's budget committee Tuesday rejected the governor's plan to begin taxing music, movies and books downloaded from the Internet, a proposal that could have cost Wisconsin consumers an additional $1.3 million over the next two years.

The Joint Finance Committee also dumped Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to change Wisconsin's sales tax code to join a national effort to make sales and use taxes more uniform. Approving the change could have cost consumers $19.1 million more over the next two years.

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Senate Republicans set high-tech policy goals

Senate Republicans set high-tech policy goals
Permanent Internet tax moratorium and R&D tax credit on the list

By Grant Gross, IDG News Service
March 09, 2005

U.S. Senate Republicans want to pass patent reform, a permanent Internet tax moratorium and a permanent research and development tax credit in the next two years, members of the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force (HTTF) said Wednesday.

Congress also must encourage math and science education, pass a spyware penalties law and delay a proposal that would require U.S. companies to expense stock options, said 11 Republican senators from the task force, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, who attended a press conference in Washington, D.C.

Republicans enjoy majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and HTTF members said they will work hard to push their 40-item agenda through Congress. The group hailed the IT industry as a major driver of the U.S. economy, with Frist saying two out of three U.S. jobs in the future will be related to technology.

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Doyle proposes sales tax on Internet downloads

Doyle proposes sales tax on Internet downloads
Republicans vow to delete provision in governor's budget plan
By STEVEN WALTERS
swalters@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 7, 2005

Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle wants you to pay Wisconsin's 5% sales tax whenever you pay to download a song, book, movie or piece of art.

A little-noticed provision of the Democratic governor's proposed state budget would extend the sales tax to those Internet transactions, officials said Monday. There would be no Internet sales tax police, however, because compliance would be on the honor system.

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