Progressive think tank urges tax hikes to close budget gaps

New Jersey Policy Perspective calls for a new multimillionaires' tax, a broader sales tax, and new reporting requirements for businesses. (Illustration by Alex Cochran for New Jersey Monitor)

New Jersey should adopt a host of progressive tax changes to generate nearly $4 billion in revenue to bridge structural deficits over the coming years, including new tax brackets for millionaires, an expanded sales tax, and a revived estate tax, a new report from a left-leaning think tank urges.

The report from New Jersey Policy Perspective calls for the state to levy higher income taxes on multimillionaires, undo a Christie-era sales tax cut, and apply sales tax to a range of services excluded under current law to bridge a gap between state spending and state revenues that threaten to drain New Jersey's surplus over the coming years.

"New Jersey has to start raising more revenue, and it's important to raise revenue in a fair way. We have to make sure that those who have wealth are paying more and those who are working and middle class are not facing as much fiscal burden to continue to live in New Jersey," said Peter Chen, the report's author and a senior policy analyst for the think tank.

New Jersey's current budget calls for the state to spend $2.1 billion more than it collects through taxes and other sources of revenue, and that gap is set to expand next year when revenue from a recently enacted surcharge on some highly profitable businesses will move from the general fund to NJ Transit.

Rowan University's Sweeney Center for Public Policy in June warned the deficits threaten to drain New Jersey's surplus in the coming years under most economic conditions, noting the state's reserves would be significantly reduced even under their most optimistic forecast.

It's unclear whether New Jersey lawmakers will seek to raise taxes when they enact a new annual budget in June.

Trenton's Democratic caucuses launched an affordability kick and have resisted tax increases following legislative losses in 2021, and it remains to be seen whether they will reverse course with gubernatorial and Assembly elections on the ballot next year.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), who has championed his caucus's affordability push, declined to comment. It's unlikely the proposals will win support from Republican lawmakers.

"This is just another report to justify the progressive Democrats' tired playbook of increasing fees and taxes on New Jerseyans. At first glance, it suggests identifying new revenue streams that include raising the state sales tax that will undoubtedly leave New Jersey more unaffordable," said Sen. Tony Bucco (R-Morris), the Senate's minority leader. "Instead, we should be focusing on reforms that Republicans put forth to cut wasteful spending and give New Jerseyans the relief they deserve."

The think tank's report urges legislators to create new income tax brackets for the state's highest earners — 12% for those making over $2 million, 13% for those making more than $5 million, and 14% for those with more than $10 million in income — to boost collections.

At present, New Jersey's highest marginal rate of 10.75% is applied to all residents with more than $1 million in income. The report estimates the new brackets would boost collections by $1.2 billion, though it urges expansions to the state child tax credit and earned income tax credit that would decrease income tax collections by $432 million.

Because the pool of taxpayers shrinks in higher income brackets, revenue from taxes on multimillionaires can be volatile year-to-year. Chen said enacting new brackets alongside other tax increases could defray volatility risks.

"The idea here is if we can look at the revenue across the spectrum, we can limit the degree to which volatility in any one tax is going to be affected," Chen said.

The report says New Jersey should undo a cut enacted under Gov. Chris Christie that brought New Jersey's sales tax rate to 6.625% — it used to be 7% — and expand the tax to apply to a range of professional services like those provided by attorneys, accountants, and architects, among others.

Raising the sales tax back to 7% would boost revenue by roughly $700 million, the report says, and expanding the tax to services could raise far more. The report's authors cautioned those gains would be difficult to predict and depend on which services were subject to taxation.

Including more services could make the state's sales tax more progressive because a larger share of wealthy residents' spending goes toward services than toward goods, said Nicole Rodriguez, the think tank's president.

"For example, rather than buying a lawnmower, they're hiring a landscaper to work on their lawn. Part of this is not only to ensure equity and fairness in how we're raising revenue but also around being in line, in step with the economy that we're growing into more and more," she said.

Applying sales tax to some services could boost bills for low-income workers, but Chen said that impact could be defrayed somewhat by enacting new exemptions or boosting other tax credits aimed at low- and middle-income residents.

The think tank's other recommendations call for the state to raise a tax on sales of homes above $1 million from 1% to 3% and impose a 5% tax on homes worth at least $2 million.

Those taxes would generate $410 million annually — though collections could change drastically based on activity in the housing market — while impacting only 10% of home sales, the report says.

The report says the state should also require corporations to report income from foreign subsidiaries instead of only those based in the United States, arguing the state's current business tax structure allows corporations to shield some income from taxation.

Mandatory worldwide combined reporting would generate $888 million in tax revenue each year, the report says.

Business groups would oppose a shift to worldwide reporting. New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Tom Bracken warned increasing corporations' tax burden would harm the state's economy.

"It's just finding a different way to attack the business community. It's going to be money out of their pocket whether you do it with a corporate transit fee, whether you do it with taxing their international income, which they have every right to have in place. It's all money coming out of the same business community," he said.