Increase in the business personal property tax exemption highlights accomplishment for small businesses
The 2021 half of the 73rd Colorado General Assembly adjourned June 12 with the passage of a big measure beneficial for Main Street businesses and the defeat of a harmful one.
House Bill 21-1312, Business Personal Property Tax Exemption, Passed
A major win for Colorado’s small business owners subjected to filing Business Personal Property Tax was the passage of Hb 21-1312, which raises the current exemption from $7,900. To $50,000. for tax years 2021 and 2022. Beginning with the property tax year January 1, 2023, the amount of the exemption is readjusted biennially to account for inflation since the amount of inflation.
Senate Bill 21-176, Hostile Work Environment Bill, Stopped
SB 21-176, the so-called Protecting Opportunities and Workers Rights bill, would have defined a hostile work environment as anything that undermines a person’s sense of well-being. The measure also called for doing away with having to prove the behavior is ‘pervasive or severe’ in the workplace. A single instance can be enough for a charge to be brought based upon ‘hurt feelings.
A needlessly punitive, small-business-killing bad idea was intentionally killed by the sponsors when it became apparent passage was doubtful. In fact, the bill even drew fire from the Colorado Civil Rights Division. But it was the Action Alert put out to NFIB Colorado members that may have been the tipping point. Members responded in a big way and can rightly be credited getting some lawmakers to think twice.
