SAINT PAUL (May 25, 2017): According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Minnesota’s smallest businesses stand to gain a lot thanks to a recent tax agreement that has passed in the House and Senate and is headed to the governor’s desk for his signature soon. The state’s largest small business advocacy group said today that while the package will be most beneficial to businesses with low property values, the agreement left other vital reforms on the table by failing to include them in this year’s budget deal.
“Businesses with market values of $100,000 or less will receive a reduction in their property taxes of 20 to 30%. The impact of such substantial savings for Minnesota’s most vulnerable small businesses will be profound,” according to NFIB Minnesota State Director, Mike Hickey. “Larger businesses will see a tax reduction to the tune of hundreds of dollars while farmers will finally be provided with a 40% property tax credit on the portion of their bill that is attributable to school bond levies. We certainly appreciate the impact all of this will have on our members, but they were hoping the tax agreement would go even further.”
NFIB, along with other business groups, has been advocating for Minnesota to match its estate tax exemption and Section 179 expensing threshold to the federal level for years. Earlier in the session, a tax bill was vetoed that would have accomplished both. However, the most recent agreement with the governor failed to do so.
“Our members are disappointed that this was not the year to see the estate tax and section 179 expensing finally match the federal level. These are critical issues that will go a long way to help small business owners and farmers pass on family enterprises or expand existing businesses in our state,” continued Hickey. “While progress was certainly made with our property tax issues as well as repealing the automatic inflator provision on the state general tax, unfortunately, Minnesota is politically gridlocked, and some issues will remain to tackle next year.”
