Bill Text: NJ A1258 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides corporation business and gross income tax credit for employment of persons who have experienced job loss due to automation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A1258 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1258-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Provides corporation business and gross income tax credit for employment of persons who have experienced job loss due to automation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act providing a tax credit for the employment of persons who have experienced job loss due to automation and supplementing P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-1 et seq.) and chapter 4 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A taxpayer with a headquarters in New Jersey shall be allowed a credit against the tax due pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5) in an amount equal to 10 percent of the salary and wages paid to each person employed by the taxpayer whose previous employment with another taxpayer was terminated as a result of automation during the immediately preceding privilege period. In order to qualify for the credit, the taxpayer shall employ the person for at least seven months of the privilege period for which the taxpayer claims the credit. The credit allowed pursuant to this section shall not exceed $2,500 per employee per privilege period.
b. The order of priority of the application of the credit allowed pursuant to this section and any other credits allowed against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5) for a privilege period shall be as prescribed by the director. The amount of the credit applied pursuant to this section against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5) shall not reduce a qualified taxpayer's tax liability for a privilege period to an amount less than the statutory minimum provided in subsection (e) of section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5).
c. As used in this section, "automation" means a device, process, or system that functions without continuous input from a human operator.
2. a. A taxpayer with a headquarters in New Jersey shall be allowed a credit against the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., in an amount equal to 10 percent of the salary and wages paid to each person employed by the taxpayer whose previous employment with another taxpayer was terminated as a result of automation during the immediately preceding taxable year. In order to qualify for the credit, the taxpayer shall employ the person for at least seven months of the taxable year for which the taxpayer claims the credit. The credit allowed pursuant to this section shall not exceed $2,500 per qualifying employee per taxable year.
b. The order of priority of the application of the credit allowed pursuant to this section and any other credits allowed against the tax imposed pursuant to N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq. for a taxable year shall be as prescribed by the director. The amount of the credit applied pursuant to this section against the tax imposed pursuant to N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq. shall not reduce a taxpayer's tax liability for a taxable year to an amount less than zero.
c. As used in this section, "automation" means a device, process, or system that replaces human labor and functions without continuous input from an operator.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to privilege periods and taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the year next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would provide a corporation business and gross income tax credit for businesses with a headquarters in New Jersey for employment of persons who have experienced job loss due to automation. According to a 2020 ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report from United Way of New Jersey analyzing living conditions for households with incomes above the Federal Poverty Level but below the basic cost of living found that 84 percent of jobs paying less than $20 per hour and 42 percent of jobs paying more than $20 per hour in the State are at high risk of becoming automated. The sponsor notes that Ocean County is among the State's counties with the highest rates of these types of jobs, leaving many of the county's residents and families vulnerable to the impact of job loss due to automation.
The amount of the credit would be equal to 10 percent of the salary and wages paid to each person employed by the taxpayer whose previous employment with another taxpayer was terminated as a result of automation during the immediately preceding privilege period or taxable year, as the case may be. In order to qualify for the credit, the taxpayer would be required to employ the person for at least seven months of the privilege period or taxable year for which the taxpayer claims the credit. The amount of the credit would not exceed $2,500 per employee per privilege period or taxable year. The bill defines "automation" as a device, process, or system that replaces human labor and functions without continuous input from an operator.
