Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-Wyckoff) issued a statement this morning calling on state leadership to decrease corporate tax rates in response to a report by the right-leaning Tax Foundation that ranks New Jersey last on its State Business Tax Climate Index.
The state “cannot keep coming in last for business climate and be competitive,” DePhillips added.
Cutting our corporate business tax is the first step in implementing strategies to attract and maintain businesses in our country.
Once again, I am requesting that my legislation be made available for review by the legislative leadership.
The legislation to which DePhillips refers is S.1146; if passed, it would lower New Jersey’s corporate business tax from 11.5% to 2.5%, making it tied with North Carolina for the lowest rate in the US.
It has never been brought up for a vote in committee, and it probably never will unless Republicans gain control of the legislature.
In defense of his legislation, DePhillips said that the potential negative consequences were not worth the benefits of the surcharge and high corporate tax rate.
“The longer we pursue policies that force major enterprises and businesses to leave the state, the more ordinary people will suffer.”
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The state of New Jersey is singled out in the Tax Foundation’s report for the high rates of taxation it imposes on its inhabitants across the board, from corporate taxes to inheritance taxes.
“The states in the bottom 10 tend to have a number of ailments in common: complex, nonneutral taxes with relatively high rates,” the research states.
New Jersey, for instance, “has the highest rate corporate income taxes in the country and has one of the highest rate individual income taxes in the country.”
During election years, it is par for the course for New Jersey Republicans to say that the state’s taxes are too high.
Governor Phil Murphy’s statement that “if you’re a one-issue voter and tax rate is your problem, we’re probably not your state” was used over and over again by Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli during the 2021 gubernatorial race to highlight Ciattarelli’s vow to decrease taxes.
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“Here’s the thing: taxes are a concern for a lot of New Jersey households,” Ciattarelli stated in his first statewide campaign ad. An even greater one is Phil Murphy’s remark that “if you don’t like it, you should leave.”
