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One of the hallmarks of New Hampshire government is its insistence on maintaining low personal and business tax burdens. To that end, there’s no broad-based standard income, sales or estate tax. Inventory, capital gains, and professional services are also tax-free.Unlike other New England states, however, New Hampshire maintains two major business taxes. The first to be instituted was the Business Profits Tax (BPT). But since the bulk of the state’s businesses range from the small-to-very-small, larger firms complained they were shouldering the bulk of the tax burden. So 1993, the Legislature instituted the Business Enterprise Tax (BET). As Jennifer Weiner writes in “How Does New Hampshire Do It?,” a report released by the Boston Federal Reserve, the BET taxes “wages and salaries, interests and dividends paid by businesses.” In other words, it is, technically, an income tax, but the burden’s placed on businesses, rather than individuals. At 0.75 percent, the BET is also a lower rate than a standard state income tax.The other major piece of New Hampshire’s revenue pie is property tax. Residents pay both a state and town property tax. In 2010, Kiplinger’s reports the State Education Income Tax was “$2.35…per $1,000 of total equalized valuation.” Town rates, meanwhile, can vary widely across the state. If you don’t combine New Hampshire’s two business taxes, property tax makes up the largest slice of revenue, at 16 percent.Another notable aspect of New Hampshire’s tax system, as Weiner notes in the Boston Fed report, is that it’s highly diversified. No one tax makes up 20 percent of money coming in. Other major state taxes include Meals and Rooms, Tobacco, Liquor Sales and Distribution, Real Estate Transfer, Interest and Dividends, Insurance Premium, Communications, and Utility Property Taxes.Summary provided by StateImpact NH

The expiring tax breaks you might NOT have heard about

(Photo by Brian J Matis via Flickr Creative Commons)

Over the weekend, the Senate overwhelmingly approved extending the payroll tax cut for two months...but before earners could count their thousand-dollar chickens, house speaker Boehner announced the extension would be DOA at the House, sparking a fierce public debate on a week better known for empty halls on Capitol Hill. But with all the kerfluffle over the payroll tax, there are a number of smaller, targeted tax cuts set to expire this year you probably haven't heard about. With us to run through some of them is Bill Ardinger. He's head of the tax practice at the New Hampshire Law Firm Rath, Young, and Pignatelli, and spent the early part of his career in Washington, where he worked on tax policy. 

Producer's note of disclosure:

Rath, Young, and Pignatelli is an NHPR underwriter. /RL

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