Hello from the State Capitol,
With Minnesota projected to see a $1.6 billion surplus, there is no excuse not to protect Minnesota’s business owners from unnecessary taxation on a forgivable federal government loan.
Tax bills are due in a couple of months, and many Blaine business owners are facing enormous increases because they accepted a federal loan in order to stay in business. This is a problem the legislature needs to address immediately.
Impacted business owners who accepted Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans are being unnecessarily targeted by state government. If businesses used those PPP funds to pay wages, rent, or other criteria approved by the federal government, the loans were ultimately forgiven and were free from federal taxation.
But Minnesota has not conformed its tax code to match the federal law, and in doing so, is the only state in the Upper Midwest that has yet to exempt forgiven PPP loan income from state income taxes.
I’ve spoken to two local mechanics and a local dentist, who each owe tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on their accepted loans.
Let’s remember, these businesses were forced to close last year, and some of them still aren’t able to operate at full capacity due to executive orders. With the projected surplus, we can eliminate this tax problem now and allow our already struggling store owners to avoid another unwanted financial headache.
Legislation that would exempt forgiven PPP loan income from state taxes currently awaits action in the Minnesota House Taxes Committee.
Have a good weekend,
Nolan