The final minutes…the fight to get the SUTA tax reduced
We are nearing the end of the first phase of the fight over the SUTA increase as we approach the time when the Senate will decide if and when to provide relief to those companies facing a daunting tax bill April 31st. My companies bill alone is almost $600k higher than last years. And that’s just for the first quarter! I could NEVER have imagined in South Carolina I would face this kind of situation.
But the fight has been worthy. We have been joined by companies all around the state. Senators and House members have rallied to our side and recognize both the injustice and the recklessness this bill projects. Change is close at hand. In the end no one will love where we are at. But if the Senate does as it should, some relief will be conferred upon tiers 13-20 and the state will still gain ground on its debt. A win for both sides. A good result for job creation in the state.
Scenario 23 (Senate bill S.478) extends the federal debt repayment out extra time and passes this relief on to tiers 13-20 in a reduction of about 35% on the huge tax increases received Jan. 31st. The bill modifying the tax hike protects tiers 1-12 from a tax change and still keeps the tax cuts for the earliest tiers in place.
There is a lot of confidence in the senators pressing for the bill to come to the full LCI committee for a vote. The only obstacle now is getting the bill to the full committee.
Why would a bill be locked in a sub-committee on an issue so important and so IMMINENT? Taxes are due in 30 days. Taxes were increased at two levels: the wage cap was increased, and a new 20 tier “array” structure was implemented. Neither was tested for fairness. The result has been laughable if it wasn’t dangerous. Bill S.478 NEEDS to be laid out, testified about and voted on. Anything short of this equates to the same shady underhandedness that generated the initial bill…a tax increase many of us found out about on January 31, 2011.
Call your Senator and tell him to provide relief to companies facing a huge tax increase while trying to recover from the worst economy in 70 years. Urge him to allow S.478 to be heard in the full LCI committee and be voted on in the senate.
It’s the minimum companies in SC deserve.
Herb Dew President Human Technologies, Inc.