MADISON, Wis. - Calling for banks to "pay their fair share,"members of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice staged aprotest April 15 in Madison and Milwaukee to draw attention to thediminishing contributions of banks and corporations to state andfederal tax coffers. The protestors met in front of the AnchorBankbuilding on Capitol Square and then walked down the block to theM&I Bank. According to a series of stories that ran in TheCapital Times last summer, corporations' share of state taxrevenues fell from 11.3% of the total in 1979, to 4.5% in 2001. Aseparate national study last year estimated that tax sheltering byall corporations cost Wisconsin about $174 million in revenue in2001. Currently about 60 banks in the state are under scrutiny byDepartment of Revenue officials looking into banks' practice ofshifting some income producing investments and assets tosubsidiaries in non-tax states such as Nevada. It is estimated thatabout 75% of the 320 banks in Wisconsin have taken advantage ofthis tax loophole.