At a business roundtable hosted by Americans for Prosperity, small business owners and GOP lawmakers made the case for a new round of New Hampshire tax cuts, NH Journal reports. Proposals on the table included increasing Section 179 business deductions and further lowering the Business Enterprise Tax rate.
As NH Journal explains, the Section 179 provision is aimed at encouraging in-state investment.
(“179 deductions” let New Hampshire businesses immediately write off major equipment purchases instead of depreciating them — a key tax policy tool for encouraging in-state investment and job growth.)
NH Journal
AFP’s Greg Moore pushed back on the argument that prior tax cuts have starved state government.
Moore pointed out that when Republicans forced through the first round of business tax cuts in 2015 — over then-Gov. Maggie Hassan’s veto — the state’s biennium budget was $11.3 billion.
NH Journal
Five rounds of reductions later, the rates are meaningfully lower, NH Journal notes.
Five rounds of tax cuts later, the Business Profits Tax has been cut from 8.5 to 7.5 percent, and the Business Enterprise Tax from 0.75 to 0.55 percent.
NH Journal
Even with those cuts, the budget has grown sharply over the same period.
At the same time, the budget passed this year was nearly $16 billion, a 41 percent increase from 2015.
NH Journal
Sen. Keith Murphy argued the real problem is spending discipline, not revenue, NH Journal reports.
“It isn’t a lack of revenue, it’s a lack of self-control,” said Sen. Keith Murphy (R-Manchester).
NH Journal
The roundtable came as Democrats argue that years of GOP tax cuts have left the state short of revenue, a claim Republicans at the event rejected, NH Journal reports. Participants noted that while New Hampshire holds a clear edge over its neighbors on broad-based sales and income taxes, its business taxes remain comparatively high, with Rep. Brian Labrie calling the BET and BPT his “two biggest enemies.”
Backers argued that the proposed changes would encourage in-state investment and job growth while keeping New Hampshire competitive with its neighbors, NH Journal reports. The roundtable underscored the GOP framing heading into the session: that the path to relief runs through restraining spending rather than raising taxes.
The roundtable was organized around a single argument, that the state’s budget challenges stem from spending growth rather than a shortage of revenue, NH Journal reports. Backers pointed to the gap between five rounds of rate cuts and a budget that has still expanded by roughly 41 percent since 2015.
Participants made the case for increasing Section 179 deductions, which let businesses immediately write off major equipment purchases, and for further lowering the Business Enterprise Tax, according to NH Journal. Several noted that while New Hampshire holds an advantage over its neighbors on sales and income taxes, its business taxes remain comparatively high, with Sen. Keith Murphy arguing the real issue is a lack of self-control on spending.
Supporters framed the proposed deductions and the lower Business Enterprise Tax as tools to encourage in-state investment and job growth, NH Journal reports. The roundtable underscored the GOP framing heading into the session, that the route to relief runs through restraining spending rather than raising taxes, even as Democrats continue to argue the cuts have left the state short of revenue.
Read the full story at NH Journal.
