
(AUSTIN) - Representative Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) filed a series of bills Tuesday aimed at significantly reducing the impact of the Texas franchise tax and helping to keep jobs. A small business owner and fourth-term legislator Harper-Brown has extensive personal and professional experience on these issues and believes her legislation will not only help keep the Texas economy in the black but also keep Texans working.
Michael Sullivan executive director of Empower Texans said Rep. Harper-Brown is leading the way in promoting the right kind of stimulus. Her legislation will free small business from onerous taxes that are imposing such overwhelming compliance costs.
Rep. Harper-Brown said she filed and sponsored these bills to address growing concerns from her constituents and citizens across the state about burdensome taxes and the precarious job market. We cannot as legislators in good conscience continue to ignore the pleas of countless Texans who have lost their businesses or lost their jobs the Representative from Irving stated. In the current economic climate it would be reprehensible at best to simply do nothing.
Taking aim at the franchise tax:
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HB 2943 gives all businesses in Texas a 25 percent franchise tax reduction explicitly for job creation and retention;
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HB 2944 cuts the current rate of the franchise tax in half and;
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HB 2945 allows for any business with a total revenue less than $1 million an exemption from the franchise tax for one year starting in January.
Rep. Harper-Brown has also filed legislation (HB 1261) to give Texans a sales tax holiday for purchasing a motor vehicle for one weekend this year. Harper-Brown said Allowing consumers this advantage would substantially increase their ability to purchase a vehicle ultimately boosting the market for this product and helping to keep jobs.
Representative Harper-Brown is a small business owner who understands that you cant spur job creation and entrepreneurship with over-taxation said Will Newton Texas Executive Director of The National Federation of Independent Business of Texas (NFIB). This legislation shows a commitment to protecting the very group that historically leads us out of economic crisis.
Additionally Harper-brown has joint authored HB 127 to lower the limitation on property appraisal increases and is the proud co-author of several bills including HB 832 which exempts payments to independent contractors from business taxable margins HB 2534 which raises the minimum taxable revenue to $5 million and HB 720 which raises the floor to $1 million.
Her legislative package will keep those dollars in the hands of the people who can actually create jobs and build us out of the slowing economy. Thats good responsible public for all Texans said Sullivan.
We cannot keep crippling the very businesses that are the backbone of the Texas economy Harper-Brown stated. Texas created more jobs last year than the rest of the entire nation combined but to those people who have lost theirs that is little consolation. The Representative went on to explain that this legislation is intended to put people back to work and prevent future layoffs. Were number one in the nation for a reason and I intend on fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way.