NFIB has concerns with several House provisions
With only weeks to go before the end of session, Governor Lee’s franchise reform bill has advanced in differing forms in the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives.
Both the House and Senate versions have similarities, including: 1) Would eliminate the alternative minimum measure on the F&E tax (savings of $400M annually for those taxpayers); 2) use the net worth calculation going forward; and 3) set up refund programs for taxpayers who have used in recent years the alternative minimum measure, which is suspect constitutionally.
The Senate bill (SB 2103) passed last week. The House bill is expected on the floor late next week or on Monday, April 15.
NFIB has several concerns with the House version, which if passed, would:
- Make public taxpayer information (name and amount) of all refund recipients. This would violate the Tennessee Taxpayer Bill of Rights and confidentiality clauses in Chapter 67 (67-1-110 and 67-1-1701 and 1702). No other state publishes taxpayer information, according to the Council on State Taxation.
- Limit these refunds to one year instead of three years, which would violate a basic taxpayer right. No state has one year for refunds.
- Make all F&E refund claims going forward one year only instead of three years. TN would become the only state with such a policy. States around us generally have three-year refund claim periods, the same as the IRS.
NFIB is communicating these concerns with lawmakers.
