NJBIA Statement on Proposed Permanent Corporate Business Tax Rate Increase

NJBIA President and CEO Michele N. Siekerka issued the following statement opposing today’s proposal for a permanent increase on New Jersey’s corporate business tax rate as a dedicated funding source for New Jersey Transit.

“NJBIA supports the concept of responsibly dedicating funds to infrastructure and the priority of making improvements at NJ TRANSIT. But we do not need more revenue raisers to do it.

“While we understand the need to prioritize improvements at NJ TRANSIT, today’s call for a permanent increase on New Jersey’s corporate business tax is very discouraging and it will greatly impact our largest employers who have already provided historic revenue to the state over the past year. Its permanence will also serve as yet another deterrent for any corporation looking to relocate here.

“More disappointingly, our policymakers continue to only target solutions to our challenges through more taxation and spending, rather than the comprehensive reforms we have been calling for. In fact, we would not need to consider tax increases today if our policymakers acted on the Path to Progress structural reforms.
“That we continue to seek to bring more tax burden to our businesses and residents during a time of dramatic revenue over-performance, and not act on proposed reforms to fix what is fiscally and structurally broken in New Jersey, is confounding. These reforms need to get done. We cannot tax ourselves out of these challenges.”