With countless New Jersey businesses financially impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assembly Democrats Raj Mukherji, Daniel Benson and Carol Murphy sponsor a bill to provide relief to small businesses through a tax deferral program. The Assembly unanimously passed the legislation on Thursday.
Under the bill (A-4030/S-2347), an Employment and Business-Related Tax Deferral Assistance Program would be created within the Economic Development Authority (EDA). The program’s goal would be to help New Jersey businesses with 10 employees or less that have encountered financial issues as a result of lost revenue, supply chain disruptions, reduced hours, limited employee availability or having to shut down altogether because of the pandemic.
Businesses that apply and are approved for the program would be permitted to defer the payment of applicable employment and business-related taxes such as the sales and use tax, motor fuels tax, gross income tax and more. These businesses would then have until June 30, 2022 to pay 50 percent of the deferred taxes and until one year after that to pay the remainder of the deferred taxes.
Upon the bill’s passage, Assembly sponsors Mukherji (D-Hudson), Benson (D-Mercer, Middlesex) and Murphy (D-Burlington) released the following joint statement:
“This pandemic has been financially disastrous to many small businesses throughout the country, including here in New Jersey. It is critical for the survival of our small business community that we provide financial relief wherever and however we can.
“We want small businesses to be able to succeed and thrive once again as we come out of this pandemic. By allowing eligible businesses to defer tax payments for the time being, we can offer relief as they seek out ways to fulfill other financial obligations and get back on their feet.”