Indianapolis – Tomorrow, Governor Mike Pence will join the Indianapolis Airport Authority for a ceremony to commemorate the 14^th anniversary of 9/11, remembering the thousands of people who lost their lives and honoring the heroic acts of all responders. The remembrance will feature an Honor Guard, a musical performance by the Ben Davis High School choir and a displayed artifact of World Trade Center steel recovered from Ground Zero. Governor Pence will offer remarks prior to departing for Japan on his seventh international jobs and economic development mission. Details below.

Friday, September 11:

8:30 a.m. EDT – Governor Pence to commemorate 9/11 anniversary

*Media are welcome to attend.

Civic Plaza – Indianapolis International Airport, 7800 Col. H. Weir Cook Memorial Dr., Indianapolis, IN

**There will be an opportunity for B-roll and photos at 8:00 a.m. EDT at the Delta Airlines ticket counter as the Governor and First Lady arrive and check their luggage. Immediately following the 9/11 ceremony, Governor Pence, First Lady Karen Pence, and the delegation of Hoosier business and community leaders will have a media availability to discuss their trip to Japan.

Governor Mike Pence, First Lady Karen Pence and a delegation of Hoosier business and community leaders will travel to Japan tomorrow to bring jobs and investment to Indiana.

“With more than 250 Japan-owned businesses operating in Indiana today, the state’s relationship with Japan is crucial to our economy and continued job creation in the Hoosier State,” said Governor Pence. “Since January 2013, we have announced more than 2,100 new job commitments and nearly $800 million in planned capital investment from Japanese companies operating in Indiana. I’m looking forward to returning to the site of my first gubernatorial jobs mission to continue this momentum by sharing Indiana’s story as a state that works for business.”

This will be Pence’s seventh international trade mission and his second to Japan as Governor. Members of the state delegation include economic development professionals, local elected officials and business leaders representing industries such as manufacturing, compliance, construction, finance, legal and utilities. In addition to Governor Pence and First Lady Karen Pence, the state will be represented by Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith.

The cost of the state delegation is being covered through private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation.

The Governor will depart Indiana tomorrow, Sept. 11, and return on Sept. 18. Below is the daily trip itinerary:

Sunday, Sept. 13

Governor Mike Pence will attend the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference Executive Meeting and welcome reception in Tokyo. Pence is one of five Midwest representatives, including four governors and one lieutenant governor, scheduled to attend the conference.

Monday, Sept. 14

Governor Pence will address attendees at the opening ceremony of the Midwest-U.S. Japan Association Conference and meet with representatives from Honda Motor Company and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Both Japan-based companies have operations in Indiana. The Governor and members of the delegation will also meet with executives of Hitatchi Ltd. to learn about the company’s new Smart City technology.

The First Lady will visit the Tokyo International School during the day before joining the Governor to attend the conference’s annual dinner.

Tuesday, Sept. 15

The Governor and Indiana delegates will meet with business executives from Japanese companies with Indiana operations, including Mitsu Kinzoku, Mitsubishi Corporation and Subaru, which combined employ more than 7,500 associates in the Hoosier State. They will also meet with representatives from Marubeni, one of the top five largest Japanese trading companies, and Keidanren, Japan’s largest business lobby, which sent a delegation to Indiana earlier this summer.

The First Lady will visit NPO Resilience, a Tokyo-based non-profit organization that provides seminars for victims of domestic violence. In the evening, the Governor and the First Lady will host a Friends of Indiana reception with representatives from Japanese companies with operations or investment in Indiana.

 

Wednesday, Sept. 16

The Governor, First Lady and delegation will travel by train to Kyoto to visit Japanese cultural and historical sites. The delegation will then travel by train to Nagoya.

Thursday, Sept. 17

Governor Pence and members of the delegation will conduct business meetings with executives from Aisin, Toyota Industries Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation. Together, these companies employ more than 8,000 Hoosiers through their Indiana operations.

In 2014, Aisin Chemical Indiana and Aisin Drivetrain announced plans to invest $45.35 million into their Crothersville operations, creating up to 74 new jobs. Just last month, Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM), which is a joint venture of Toyota Industries Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation, announced plans to invest $16 million to expand its Columbus campus by 50,000 square feet.

Mrs. Pence will travel to Miyoshi, the sister city of Columbus, Indiana, to conduct an art exchange with fourth grade students at Miyoshigaoka Elementary School. In the evening, the Governor and the First Lady will host a Friends of Indiana reception in Nagoya.

Friday, Sept. 18

The Governor, First Lady and the Indiana delegation will return to Indiana from Nagoya.

Members of the official delegation are:

Governor Mike Pence

First Lady Karen Pence

Victor Smith, Indiana Secretary of Commerce

Steve Akard, Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC)

Marvin Blade, Duke Energy

Kai Chuck, IEDC

James Finan, AEP/Indiana Michigan Power

Clayton Force, Force Construction

Harold Force, Force Construction

Abby Gras, IEDC

Harold Gutzwiller, Hoosier Energy

Bill Hanna, Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority

Jason Hester, Columbus Economic Development Board

Melanie Walker Hart, Japan-America Society of Indiana and Tsuchiya Group North America

Rebecca Helmke, IEDC

Christina Householder, Cass County Economic Development

Larry Ingraham, Ingraham & Associates

Michael Kern, Gaylor Inc.

Theresa Kulczak, Japan-American Society of Indiana

James Lienhoop, City of Columbus

Cynthia Madrick, Cornerstone Environmental, Health and Safety Inc.

Kendall Millard, Barnes & Thornburg

Mark Miller, Cornerstone Environmental, Health and Safety Inc.

Sara Miller, Old National Bank

Paul Mitchell, Energy Systems Network

Brenda Morrissey, Office of the First Lady

Peter Morse, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Hide Niiyama, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Yukihito Ozaki, Force Construction

Richard Pease, Pease International Ventures

Jim Plump, Jackson County Economic Development Corporation

Tom Prather, DEEM LLC

Susan Reed, Indiana Municipal Power Agency

Michael Roeder, Vectren Corporation

Paul Roland, IEDC

Dale Stackhouse, Ice Miller LLP

William Stephan, Indiana University

Thomas Zupancic, DEEM LLC

Two members of the Governor’s security detail will also travel.

Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalwayer.com

A ruling from the Indiana Tax Court has positioned a retailer who recorded a banner year in sales and growth in 2003 to get a tax refund from the state of Indiana.

In 2003, Rent-A-Center East, which includes the stores in Indiana, filed an Indiana corporate adjusted gross income tax return reporting zero AGIT liability and requesting a nearly $500,000 refund. The Indiana Department of State Revenue countered the retailers owed $513,272.60 in AGIT, penalties and interest for the 2003 tax year.

The dispute first came before the Indiana Tax Court in 2011 where summary judgment was granted in favor of RAC East. However, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

Again, the Tax Court has granted summary judgment in favor of RAC East in Rent-A-Center, Inc., v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 49T10-0612-TA-000106.

“While the Court is aware that a taxpayer may use its business structure and transfer pricing policies to lower its state income tax liability, the evidence designated in this case simply does not indicate that RAC East has engaged in any improper tax avoidance measures,” Judge Martha Blood Wentworth wrote.

The revenue department contended that RAC East spread its revenue around to the other corporate divisions, RAC West and RAC Texas, in order to reduce its Indiana taxable income to zero. RAC East, the department argued, should have filed a combined income tax return with its two affiliates.

In particular, the revenue department pointed to the results from 2003 and argued RAC East’s separate return did not fairly reflect its Indiana source income. RAC East enjoyed a record-setting year because its Indiana property, payroll and sales factors all grew and the Indiana operation contributed more than two-thirds of the $2.2 billion revenue increase within the entire RAC company.

The Tax Court acknowledged the growth and revenue results do not facially support the retailer’s zero tax liability. Yet, the Tax Court pointed to a change in Indiana’s corporate income tax laws between 2002 and 2003 which limited companies to only paying AGIT.

“Indeed, the designated evidence reveals that RAC East requested a refund because it had overpaid its Indiana income tax liability by making estimated tax payments in both 2002 and the first two quarters of 2003,” Wentworth wrote. “….In this case, therefore, the amount of RAC East’s 2003 profits, the fact that its 2003 Indiana AGIT liability was zero and its nearly half-million dollar refund request do not show that its separate return failed to fairly reflect its Indiana source income.”