Two top Business Council priorities, adoption of the single-sales factor for apportioning corporate taxes and expansion of the state's Empire Zone program, will be a central focus of The Business Council's annual Conference on State Taxation June 19-21 in Saratoga Springs.

Single-sales factor: Five industry tax experts will discuss proposals to adopt the single-sales factor in New York State at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 21. Adopting the single-sales factor is The Business Council's top tax-cut priority for 2001.

Participants in this discussion will be: Glen C. McCoy of BDO Seidman, LLP; William Gerow of Corning Incorporated; David Kornberg, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.; Goldwyn Ling of Eastman Kodak Company; and William Mahoney of Avon Products, Inc.

In New York, corporations now use three factors to calculate state taxes: percentage of worldwide payroll within the state; percentage of worldwide property value in the state; and percentage of worldwide sales with a final destination within the state. The higher each number, the higher the eventual tax.

As a result, companies that put their jobs and plants in New York (thus increasing their in-state percentage of payroll) pay more in taxes than companies that locate their jobs and facilities elsewhere but sell products or services in New York.

The Business Council is proposing basing corporate taxes on only one factor, in-state sales, which would effectively encourage companies to locate jobs and plants here by removing the current disincentive.

Empire Zone expansion: Deborah Liebman and Roger McDonough of the state Department of Taxation and Finance and Empire State Development (ESD), respectively, will discuss Empire Zones from 9:15-10 a.m. Wednesday, June 20. Specific topics to be discussed include current and proposed zones, the franchise and real property tax credits, the sales and use tax exemption, and other credits.

New York has 52 Empire Zones in which employers can receive tax credits and other incentives for creating jobs. The zones are located in economically disadvantaged regions, most of which are urban or rural.

Other agenda items: Other sessions scheduled during the conference include:

• A keynote address by Arthur Roth, commissioner of the state Department of Taxation and Finance, during a dinner that begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.
• A briefing on the structure and key players in the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
• A briefing on changes in the last year in the state's sales and use tax, by experts in the Department of Taxation and Finance.
• A briefing on combined reporting by Domenick R. Sciortino, The Gelber Organization.
• A briefing on energy utility taxation by Christopher L. Doyle of Hodgson Russ LLP.
• An update on electronic services provided by Department of Taxation and Finance.
• A presentation on litigating a state tax case, by Michel Cassier of Hodgson Russ LLP.

Conference history: The Business Council organizes this annual conference, with help from the state Department of Taxation and Finance, to give tax professionals from business a chance to network with the technical and policy experts who write and implement state tax laws.

Since the conference began in 1984, it has become the premier session of its kind on state taxation. The agenda includes both formal presentations on technical aspects of tax law and opportunities for networking.