House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Emilie Kornheiser (D-Brattleboro) announced her new tax proposals shortly after the Governor’s budget address. These new taxes come into consideration as businesses and workers will soon feel the $100 million first-ever state payroll tax to be levied starting July 1. This tax proposal is also in tandem with statewide concern for double-digit property tax increases and the confusion around how school spending works.

New taxes that have been introduced include:

• A wealth tax of 3% aimed at tax filers, filing single or jointly, earning over $500,000.
• A new personal income tax on unrealized capital gains.
• Moving to a worldwide combined reporting corporate tax.
• A cloud tax containing tax on software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Raising these taxes will not reduce the tax burden on middle-income Vermonters. To make meaningful progress on improving affordability for middle-income Vermonters we can instead address the root causes of what is making the state unaffordable. The Vermont Chamber will continue to raise concerns about these tax proposals and share with businesses with the potential impact they would have on the Vermont economy in the weeks ahead.