Only the NCGOP could tax the unemployed while cutting corporate taxes. After announcing a tax plan that included yet another tax break for big corporations and would completely eliminate the corporate income tax by 2028, State Senator Paul Newton responded to a reporter’s question about the logic of their decision to tax unemployment benefits, saying: “North Carolina offers the very best unemployment benefit in the nation, and that’s a job.”
“The priorities of Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly could not be made any clearer to the people of our state,” said Kate Frauenfelder, a spokeswoman for NCDP. “They are now doubling down on taxing unemployment benefits for those that lost their jobs during an unprecedented global pandemic and are still recovering, while at the same time proposing yet another tax cut for big corporations who have seen their profits soar coming out of the pandemic.”
As an editorial from NC Policy Watch pointed out, the tax plan is not the right direction for North Carolina as we emerge from the pandemic and many are still struggling to make ends meet.
- NC Policy Watch: “It targets tax cuts to the top. The combined personal and corporate income tax changes will deliver 56%of the tax cuts in the bill to the top 20% of North Carolina taxpayers.”
- NC Policy Watch: “It fails to reach those struggling to get ahead in the economy. The bottom 60% of taxpayers would receive just 23% of the net tax cuts. The continued rejection of working family tax credits by legislative leaders leaves out many people across the state who pay taxes but don’t earn enough to pay income taxes or file taxes.”
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