Lawmakers are settling back into the swing of session in their second week back in Raleigh, and the Senate’s plan to end routine committee meetings after this week means we can expect to see the conversation around budgets and taxes begin gaining momentum. The 2015 session has seen a number of attempts from both chambers to further reform the state tax code. While the NC Chamber supports various measures included in many of the proposals, we continue to use the five tax policy principles developed by our members in 2012 – tax competitiveness, equity, efficiency, simplicity and certainty – to provide a steady voice of support for North Carolina’s business community in the ongoing discussion around tax reform.

We aim to further simplify and modernize the state tax code by maintaining our advocacy focus on single sales factor apportionment for businesses, franchise tax reform, lowering the personal income tax (PIT) and addressing revenue triggers for reducing the corporate income tax rate (CIT). In addition, we continue to support preserving key economic development tools that allow North Carolina companies to match the competition in recruiting and retaining new business growth.

As discussions around tax and economic development planning continue to unfold this session, it is important to recognize that the state business climate should not be viewed as a competition between large and small employers, but rather as an ecosystem that should create a healthy environment to foster new growth for companies of all sizes, and therefore, create new economic opportunities for each and every citizen of our state. Reforms that further simplify and modernize North Carolina’s tax code will provide all businesses with more certainty in the tax process, contributing to the overall competitiveness of that ecosystem.

In 2015 and beyond, the NC Chamber remains engaged in tax discussions on behalf of our state’s job creators. Add your voice to the conversation and let us know what you think about the NC Chamber’s efforts to push for a more competitive tax code for North Carolina’s businesses.

Gary J. Salamido
Vice President, Government Affairs
North Carolina Chamber