Quote:
Originally Posted by tis
Yes. I don't know what you would call the NH Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax if not income taxes.
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The business taxes and the I&D are both income taxes.
But Meals & Rental, fuel, tobacco, communications, sand/gravel, timber, MET, RETT... these are all sales taxes.
BPT was instituted long ago to tax profits rather than the old system that would add equipment and even livestock to the property tax. But this money would flow to the State, as no really local services were being provided by it. Now some of it is return as education adequacy grants... which is why we even formulated the EFA to use the same sourcing. A well-educated workforce being to the benefit of business productivity. The BET was enacted due to businesses using excessive accounting gimmicks to overcome the BPT. A business pays the greater of the two... and thus it is not really worth the effort to arrange business processes to avoid a profit. Many of those tax avoidance processes using up product time and assets that should go towards growing top line revenue and seeking efficiencies to deliver it to bottom line results.
The desire to lower the BPT is largely to be competitive with other States... looking at more than New England and thinking of the northeast quadrant as our focus. Doing so has served us well.
The I&D was originally enacted on all interest and dividends earned outside NH. The purpose was to get more internal investment in our own growth rather than fuel the development of areas outside NH. It was found unconstitutional to do so and became universal on all interest and dividends. Which is why disposing of it is the correct action.