(The Center Square) – A coalition of New Jersey chambers of commerce is opposing Gov. Phil Murphy's budget proposal, saying it would harm employers and the state's economy.
Mr. Murphy's $55.9 billion budget proposal, which is being negotiated by House and Senate leaders, includes expanded tax breaks for seniors and other relief measures, including more than $3.5 billion, Mr. Murphy said. “It will go back into the pockets of New Jersey taxpayers.”
But the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is leading a group opposing Murphy's budget, saying it would “reverse” the economic momentum the state has built in recent years and damage New Jersey's reputation as a business-friendly state. I am against the budget bill.
“This also creates a lack of confidence among our business leaders that the country will not fulfill the promises they have made,” they wrote in a letter to lawmakers. “And that makes our state even more expensive and less competitive.”
The coalition includes “employers in the state who believe these moves will negatively impact New Jersey's business environment, undermine the state's businesses' recruitment and retention efforts, and put good-paying jobs at risk. It includes 40 chambers representing a significant proportion of the
Specifically, business leaders took aim at Mr. Murphy's proposed corporate pass-through fee, which would impose a new 2.5% tax on an estimated 600 New Jersey businesses that make more than $10 million in annual profits.
The new tax replaces the state's corporate business surcharge, which imposed a 2.5% surcharge on net income over $1 million, which expired at the end of December.
The surcharge was introduced in 2018 in response to the 14-point federal tax cut under the Jobs and Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The surcharge was supposed to be temporary, but Murphy agreed to extend it several times during the coronavirus pandemic.
The coalition said the new tax would burden businesses, saying it was a “totally unjust tax increase and the amount is more punitive for those affected than the recently expired CBT surcharge”. Ta.
“This is simply a more egregious and expensive extension of the surcharge,” they wrote.
They also cited Murphy's proposed “back-a-truck” tax, which would impose a $1 excise tax on trucks entering and exiting the state's e-commerce distribution facilities.
The group also lamented Murphy's proposed cuts to agencies that are “very helpful” to the state's employers, including the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the New Jersey Business Action Center, and the New Jersey Small Business Development Center. Ta.
“This budget will reduce support for a business community that is already overtaxed and overregulated,” they wrote. “Right now, the biggest threat to our country is our economic future.”
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce also blasted Murphy's proposed tax, saying it would return New Jersey to “an extreme outlier status” with the highest corporate tax rate in the nation.
Murphy, who is in the final year of his second term as a Democrat, specifically points to tax cuts in his budget, including expanded ANCHOR benefits for older homeowners and renters. The fiscal year begins on July 1st.