Facing a serious budget deficit, some state lawmakers in New Jersey are wondering if the windfall coming to businesses thanks to the Republican tax overhaul could help fill the hole.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, says the tax cuts will save corporations based in New Jersey about $2.9 billion this year. On Tuesday, Sweeney proposed a 3 percent surcharge on companies that earn more than $1 million a year as part of an effort to “recapture” some of that increased profit. According to NJ.com, there are about 2,375 corporations that large in the state, and they’ll pay roughly $2 billion in taxes to Trenton in 2018. Sweeney said the surcharge would raise an additional $657 million.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is also looking for a new source of revenues and has proposed a temporary millionaire’s tax that would raise about the same amount of money. Sweeney supported that plan last fall, but shifted his focus to corporations once it became clear that some wealthy taxpayers in New Jersey could end up paying more to the IRS due to new restrictions on state and local tax deductions.
