APP.com: Most CPAs telling clients to relocate out of NJ: Thomas

Certified public accountants often hear objections about New Jersey’s high taxes from clients who are looking to leave New Jersey — and this past tax season was no exception, according to members of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA). A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll done in collaboration with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) serves to underscore why.

The overwhelming majority of New Jersey residents polled — 82 percent — said they are overburdened by taxes and are not getting their money’s worth in services. Similarly, 81 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the way state leaders are addressing New Jersey’s affordability challenges.  

Against this backdrop of taxpayer angst about some of the highest personal and business taxes in the nation, Gov. Phil Murphy’s FY 2020 budget proposes more tax increases on top of the $1.6 billion in tax hikes enacted last year. He is proposing a top 10.75-percent marginal tax rate affecting income over $1 million. If enacted, more New Jersey residents and small businesses that flow income through their personal returns would be taxed at rates well above New York State’s 8.82 percent and Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07-percent rate.

It is no wonder a recent NJCPA member survey found that 75 percent of CPAs have advised some clients to relocate their homes or businesses out of New Jersey in order to reduce their tax burden.

New Jersey must break its destructive tax-and-spend habit by addressing the structural imbalances in its budget in order to put the state on sounder financial footing.

Read the full piece here.