NASHVILLE, Tenn. – House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett, R-Goodlettsville, today passed an amendment killing a major tax increase on Tennessee businesses.
House Bill 2043<https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB2043>, sponsored by a Democrat lawmaker, would have enacted the Business Enterprise Tax Act, raising taxes on all Tennessee businesses with gross receipts of $250,000 or more annually. Garrett’s amendment eliminates a nearly $800 million annual tax increase on Tennessee businesses. It also strips a proposal to enact a burdensome multinational reporting requirement, known as the Worldwide Combined Reporting Act.
“This is a bait-and-switch bill that punishes virtually every business owner in Tennessee with a massive tax increase,” Garrett said. “Our small businesses are the backbone of our state economy, and the more money they keep, the better able they are to expand and hire more workers.”
Tennessee remains one of the lowest-taxed states in the nation. Since 2012, Tennessee Republicans have cut $2.5 billion in state taxes through sales tax holidays and elimination of other taxes, including the Hall income tax, inheritance tax and nearly all professional privilege taxes on citizens in certain occupations.
Republicans last year passed the largest tax cut in state history, including a three-month-long tax holiday on groceries, through the Tennessee Works Tax Act of 2023<https://www.tn.gov/revenue/tennessee-works.html>. In addition to benefitting families, these cuts provide important relief for small businesses through various changes to business, franchise, and excise tax collections. These reforms will encourage future entrepreneurship and further strengthen our state’s economic competitiveness.
“Tennesseans know best how to spend their own money,” Garrett said. “Our tradition of good conservative governance has served us extremely well in tough times and now as we fight against the federal government’s reckless inflationary policies. House Republicans will continue to deliver the wise fiscal stewardship Tennesseans have come to expect and deserve.”
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