Sherrie Matula is running for State Representative of House District 129. One of the cornerstones of her campaign is fair taxation. Here is what she has to say about the new "business tax" passed by the Republicans in 2006:
Yesterday was the deadline for businesses to submit to the State the business margins tax they owe. This is a tax on the gross receipts of a business (the income of a business), supported and passed by Republicans, including my opponent , in the 2006 Special Legislative Session.
Small business owners in House District 129 have come to me, expressing their concern about this new business tax because of the increased tax burden they are facing. The owners of a Seabrook company that provides products for offshore drilling is seeing an increase in their business tax from $350 in 2007 to $3500 in 2008. An anchor company in Nassau Bay is facing an increase from $1800 to $38,000. A school architecture firm is seeing their business tax bill rise nearly $115,000 this year. A space industry firm is facing an increase of over $30,000.
These are the personal accounts I related in a press conference on July 12th, with Representatives Hochberg and Hernandez, as well as State Representative candidate Joel Redmond, himself a small business owner. In all cases, the business owners in my District are willing to pay a tax to help fund public schools, but they want it to be fair and equitable. A copy of the press release regarding that event, can be found on my website.
The tax is so confusing that the State Comptroller extended the deadline for filing this tax by 30 days. But, yesterday was finally Tax Day for these businesses. When elected, I will work for a business tax that is fair to everyone, not just the ones that have lobbyists in the room.
Sherrie Matula
The tax my S corp paid was reduced by 80% under the new rules. The old "franchise tax" was paid by only certain types of business organizations (partnerships, for example, were exempt) and was based on net income. It was really a corporate income tax - but was called a "franchise tax". In addition to extending the tax to more businesses, the way the tax is calculated was changed. I suspect that lawmakers did not want it to be calculated on net income because it would be labelled a business income tax.
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