Shaun Thomas: SB 3 delivers the tax relief recovering businesses need | Op-eds

GOVERNOR Chris Sununu has signed into law SB 3, a bill that passed both houses of the legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support and gives businesses a double tax benefit associated with federal Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness.

Specifically, it excludes forgiven PPP loans from taxable income under the state’s business profits tax (BPT) while still allowing a BPT deduction for otherwise deductible business expenses paid with forgiven PPP loans. New Hampshire conforms to the federal tax treatment of PPP loans with SB 3 becoming law, thus providing additional financial support to those small businesses hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a significant departure from the state’s usual treatment of forgiven loans for BPT purposes. In the case of PPP, without SB 3, the forgiven loans would have been included in taxable income but with the deductibility of business expenses. Generally speaking,…

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