VICTORIES
Small Business Expensing Conformity
NFIB won full permanent state tax conformity with federal Section 179 expensing, which allows Maine small businesses to fully write off up to $500,000 of qualified equipment purchases instead of only $25,000.
Estate Tax Relief
NFIB obtained a higher threshold of amount excluded from the Maine estate tax to equal the federal exemption ($5.43 million) starting in 2016.
3% Income Surtax
NFIB won full repeal of 3% surtax on household incomes above $200,000 that was intended to both increase state funding of K-12 education and partially undue tax relief enacted several years ago.
Independent Contractor Classification Reform
NFIB obtained a uniform standard for determining who is an independent contractor under workers' compensation and unemployment insurance laws.
CHALLENGES
3.8% Senior Care Tax
NFIB is fighting to defeat a Maine People’s Alliance referendum ballot proposal to impose a special 1.9% payroll tax on employee W-2 earnings above the amount subject to Social Security taxes ($128,400 in 2018) and a new 3.8% tax on individuals and families with Maine wage and adjusted gross income above that threshold, to pay for free home care for disabled people and senior citizens regardless of their income.
Paid Leave Mandate
NFIB is pushing back against the idea that legislators should dictate leave policies of private employers, mandate that employers provide a minimum amount of paid time off, and impose new unfunded costs on employment.
Unemployment Taxes
NFIB is fighting to reduce unemployment taxes so that more money stays with employers instead of sitting idly in a government account (the unemployment fund did not get lower than $269 million during the recession).
12.4% Family Care Tax
NFIB is fighting to quash a Maine People’s Alliance proposal to impose a 12.4% payroll tax employee earnings above $127,200; a 12.4% “worker solidarity tax” on self-employment income above $127,200; and, a 12.4% tax on non-wage income above $127,000 to pay for universal childcare and eldercare.
