Running out of ways to cut federal taxes, Congress looks to other jurisdictions. A bi-partisan effort to give federal tax breaks to corporations at the expense of the states has gained the attention of the Washington Post editorial board: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA) would drain $1 billion from state government treasuries during its first year in effect and $3 billion a year by 2011 as corporations rejigger their activities to take advantage of this new tax avoidance opportunity. This is an unwise shift of resources from state treasuries to corporate bottom lines -- as the National Governors Association put it, "a federal corporate tax cut using state tax dollars." [...] The measure, sponsored by Virginia's Robert W. Goodlatte (R) and Rick Boucher (D), would limit states' ability to impose "business activity" taxes, chiefly corporate income taxes, on out-of-state corporations. It would allow states to tax only businesses with a "substantial physical presence" in the jurisdiction -- not a sensible standard in an Internet era when being there and doing business aren't necessarily one and the same.