Appearing on the GSI Briefing podcast, NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer Christopher Emigholz said New Jersey businesses face an “unrelenting” tax climate and discussed the changes needed to get the governor’s proposed FY25 budget plan back on track.
“There is no other state in the nation that is in the top tier in … corporate, sales, income and property taxes,” Emigholz told Regina Egea, the president of Garden State Initiative, during the recent GSI podcast. “The tax situation is currently unrelenting.”
New Jersey had the highest corporate income tax in the nation until a temporary 2.5% surcharge on the 9% corporation business tax (CBT) sunset on Jan. 1. But the governor’s proposed FY25 budget would return the rate to the highest in the nation again (11.5%) by proposing an additional, retroactive 2.5% tax on corporate income to fund NJ TRANSIT.
Just a week before unveiling the new tax, Gov. Phil Murphy “had been on the record saying a higher corporate tax scares away jobs,” Emigholz said. “He’s saying that on public radio and then a week later he’s proposing to increase corporate taxes again.”
The sudden reversal was shocking to the business community, which was left asking why it was left holding the bill for a $1 billion tax increase to fund trains and buses. The ripple effect will be felt beyond the corporations paying higher taxes.
Emigholz said it may be “politically advantageous to look at a tax increase on business when you don’t run a business yourself – and most of the population doesn’t. But there is a significant chunk of our population that has a corporate job. And so, whether or not they are paying the corporate tax directly, they are being impacted.”
To listen to the complete podcast, go here.
