Advertisement Kelly clarifies stance on repeal of business tax cuts, says she would keep enterprise tax cuts in place Democrat’s campaign rejects Republican accusations she’s ‘flip-flopped’ Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Democratic candidate for governor Molly Kelly has clarified her call to repeal business tax cuts signed into law last year by her Republican opponent, incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu.Kelly has said throughout the campaign that she would repeal the “business tax cuts” signed by the governor in 2017. The cuts he signed affected both the Business Profits Tax, which is a tax of profits, and the Business Enterprise Tax, which is essentially a payroll tax unrelated to profitability.In a questionnaire published in the New Hampshire Business Review this week, Kelly for the first time addressed her position on each tax individually. Her campaign spokesman said Friday it was the first time she was asked specifically to provide her position on each tax.The Business Review asked both Kelly and Sununu: “Would you extend or pull back cuts in the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax?”Kelly answered, “While I would keep the Business Enterprise Tax cut in place, I would repeal the Business Profits tax cut passed in 2017 that was largely a tax giveaway to the wealthiest corporations in New Hampshire. Instead, I would invest that revenue in a way that benefits businesses and workers, including in public education, job training and affordable college.”Sununu answered, “I would not repeal or pull back the job-creating business tax cuts I signed into law last year. Tax relief is working for New Hampshire. More people are working than ever before in our state’s history, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and the highest median income in America. Repealing these tax cuts would send us in the wrong direction.”The budget signed by former Gov. Maggie Hassan in 2015 lowered the Business Profits Tax from 8.5 percent to 7.9 percent and the Business Enterprise tax from .75 percent to .675 percent.The budget signed into law last year by Sununu further lowers the BPT to 7.7 percent effective Jan. 1, 2019 and to 7.5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2021. That budget also lowers the BET to .6 percent effective Jan. 1, 2019 and to .5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2021.The Republican Governors Association said Kelly’s answer in the Business Review questionnaire was a “major flip-flop” from her previous statement on business taxes “in a desperate attempt to mislead voters.”The Sununu campaign said, “We appreciate that Molly Kelly has finally come around to the realization that Gov. Sununu’s Business Enterprise tax cuts will strengthen the New Hampshire economy. With just 25 days left until the election, taxpayers can only hope that Molly Kelly also flip-flops on some of the 60-plus tax and fee increases she previously voted for as a state senator."The conservative issues group Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire, which has been critical of Kelly on business taxes in a digital ad campaign, said that Kelly is “reversing course.” “We’re encouraged to hear that Molly Kelly now appears to realize the damage that her massive tax increase on small business would cause the employers of New Hampshire,” said AFP-NH state director Greg Moore. He said a repeal of a tax cut is a tax hike. But Kelly campaign spokesman Chris Moyer said Kelly’s position has been “totally consistent” throughout the campaign, and he rejected what he called “Sununu campaign propaganda.” He said Kelly addressed each tax individually in the Business Review questionnaire because it was the first time she was asked to do so.“Molly supports keeping the lower tax rates that resulted from the compromise under the Hassan administration,” Moyer said. “She opposes the $100 million in tax breaks Sununu gave to the wealthiest 3 percent of corporations via the BPT, which is a significantly larger amount than the revenue the state receives from the BET. She would keep the BET cut in place.”Moyer said Kelly believes repeal of the upcoming Sununu-signed BPT cut would produce $100 million over a five-year period, at about $20 million annually. He said she has not suggested that the repealing the cut would produce $100 million in one year or over a two-year budget period.Kelly again addressed a question on the issue from a voter during a Facebook Live session Friday afternoon with WMUR political director Adam Sexton.“I’m talking about the Business Profits Tax, and that’s what I have continued to talk about, and that’s where the $100 million that I speak of comes from,” she said.Both taxes are major revenue producers.In Fiscal Year 2018, which ended in June, under the current rates enacted in 2015, the BET brought in $297 million while the BPT brought in $479 million. Respectively, those revenues were 18 percent and 25 percent more than they produced in Fiscal Year 2017.