Some of the current proposals to reduce business taxes ignore facts about N.H.’s tax structure and, more generally, about the impact taxes have on economic activity. Here’s an overview to help put things in perspective.
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The House Way and Means Committee predicts that total General and Education Fund revenue will grow very little, if at all, over the next 30 months. As a result, the Committee’s estimates serve to underscore the role that declining revenues have played in creating New Hampshire’s fiscal difficulties. If the Committee’s estimates come to pass, total General and Education Fund revenue in FY 2013 will reach its lowest level, in inflation-adjusted dollars, since the advent of the Education Fund more than a decade ago.
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A look at some of the trends in tax collections over the past decade with a brief description of each of the state’s eight major sources of tax revenue — highlighting some of the characteristics that can help guide policymakers in devising a response to the fiscal challenges now before New Hampshire.
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The federal minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that can be paid to most workers anywhere in the nation. Since its inception at the national level in 1938, when only certain workers were covered, the wage has increased and encompassed more types of employees over time. State law sets New Hampshire’s minimum wage to the federal minimum level, currently at $7.25 per hour. An individual working 40 hours per week at this wage will make about $15,000 per year, assuming they work all 52 weeks. This income level is below the federal poverty guidelines for all households other than a single person, and well below the levels for households that include a partner and children.